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Monthly Bulletin, February 2020
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The media in the Republic of Moldova is still in a severe state, as revealed by the 2019 Moldovan Press Status Index (MPSI), published by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) on Wednesday, February 26. For the fourth consecutive year, the report examines existing problems and the most important developments in journalism during the year. The complicated situation did not change much: Moldova received a score of 24.14 out of a maximum of 60. Threats to the security of media outlets and the safety of their employees originate from state bodies, politicians, and civil servants. At the same time, ineffective/failed law enforcement constitutes the main source of journalists' insecurity. The MPSI methodology contains seven indicators: regulatory legal framework, political context, economic environment, professional environment, quality of journalism, information security from a media perspective, and safety of journalists. The MPSI was made as part of the ‘Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M)’ project, funded by the USAID, the UK and implemented by Internews in Moldova.
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On February 29, the Rîșcani Chisinau court rejected RISE Moldova’s action against the Central Election Commission (CEC) regarding the violation of the right of access to information. On January 16, 2019, the journalists of RISE Moldova requested the CEC to give them access to the statements of wealth of candidates for the parliamentary elections. Reporters justified their request by the fact that they needed more information about candidates after they encountered difficulties in conducting journalistic investigations on the subject. However, they were rejected on the grounds that the requested documents contained personal data. Lawyer Vitalie Zamă, who represented the journalists in court, was surprised by the decision, given that he has had success in similar cases in the past. The decision may be appealed within 30 days of the ruling, and the lawyer stated his intention to file an appeal. The Independent Journalism Center (IJC) offers free representation to RISE Moldova journalists for this case.
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On February 18, it was officially confirmed that Igor Chaika, son of Russia’s former Prosecutor General, is the co-owner of Primul and Accent TV channels in Moldova. He owns 51% of the shares of the Russian company Media Invest Service, founder of Telesistem TV, that owns both channels. The other 49% of the shares are owned by Vadim Ciubara from Moldova. Evidence of this ownership was recently published on the website of the Broadcasting Council, which discussed the subject during the public meeting on February 13. |
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On January 24, after the TV broadcast of a report about the rise of water and sewerage tariffs in Nisporeni, the Chair of SA Apa-Canal Nisporeni, Ion Gangan, called journalist Eugenia Sarbu to express his dissatisfaction with the report. Later, the lawyer of the institution, Ion Arseni, came to Albasat TV headquarters and threatened the team with a possible lawsuit. Eight media NGOs, including the Center for Independent Journalism, Association of Independent Press and Association of Electronic Press, issued a joint declaration condemning the threats, harassment, and intimidation of the Albasat TV team by the management of SA Apa-Canal Nisporeni. The signatories reminded civil servants that threats and intimidation are not an acceptable ways to solve dissatisfaction with journalistic activity, and that they should contact the Press Council if they disagree with reporting materials. Later, two civil servants lodged a complaint with the Broadcasting Council, requesting that Albasat TV refute the ‘erroneous and defamatory information about the service provider.’
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Seven media NGOs reacted to a Facebook post by the Mayor of Balti, Renato Usatii, in which he named a media outlet – Tvn.md portal – “a dirt factory.” The media outlet announced that it filed a complaint against the Mayor with the police for slander. They asked Usatii to present evidence that confirms his accusations or to refute his statement publically. The signatories of the declaration, including the Independent Journalism Center, the Association of Independent Press and the Association of Electronic Press, condemned the inappropriate language of Renato Usatii and called on local elected servants to adopt proper behavior toward the media. They reminded officials that freedom of expression and freedom of the press are fundamental rights protected by the Constitution.
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While Moldova committed to completing the transition to digital terrestrial television by March 1, 2020, a part of the population risks losing their access to TV channels due to the fact that they have yet to receive devices necessary for receiving the digital signal. On February 12, the Government adopted a new policy stipulating that these families will need to request free-of-charge converter boxes by March 20. The company that will provide devices will be selected via a public tender, and converter boxes will be distributed within two months after the contract with the winning business entity is signed. The Head of Radiocomunicații, Mihail Iacob, stated that, as of 12:00pm on February 29, 2020, the enterprise should stop broadcasting the three TV channels that currently broadcast in the analogue format: Moldova 1, Primul and TVR Moldova. He admitted that the deadline could be extended if he receives an official request from either the Broadcasting Council or the Ministry of Economy or if the law is amended.
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On February 3, Orhei TV and Central Television channels, affiliated with the politician and businessman Ilan Sor, started to rebroadcast shows of the Russian TVCi (ТВ-Центр) channel and the Turkish DTV series. The management of these media providers reported changing the broadcast grid based on surveys and TV viewer requests.
The representatives of Orhei TV and Central Television announced that they will broadcast economic, social, cultural, scientific and children TV programs. Dumitru Chitoroaga, manager of those two TV channels, stated that they changed the broadcast grid on the basis of TV viewer requests, “building on surveys, on what people want to watch.”
Lia Gutu, Head of BC Division for Licensing, Authorization, and Monitoring said that both channels will cover 30% of the broadcast grid with this content. Thus, movies, documentaries and television series will be broadcast from the Russian TVCi, while Turkish DTV will broadcast television series only. |
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Moldova 2, a public broadcaster, and NTV Moldova affiliated to the Party of Socialists, were selected in a contest to be included in the digital broadcasting of Multiplex A, organized by the Broadcasting Council. The two TV channels will have an extended coverage of about 80% of the territory of Moldova that will reach 85% of the country’s population. Five TV channels – Moldova 2, Accent TV, NTV Moldova, Canal 5 and Familia Domashniy - participated in the contest to fill two free slots in Multiplex A. Multiplex A has a broadcasting capacity for 15 slots, out of which 13 were taken. In fact, only eight of them use this frequency – Moldova 1, Primul in Moldova, TVR Moldova, Prime, Publika TV, Canal 2, Canal 3 and CTC Mega. Currently, a TV channel has to pay EUR 5,600 monthly for a slot in Multiplex A (if all 15 slots are occupied). After the cessation of the analogue broadcast, the tariff will be EUR 9,900 per month. When the coverage rate of the digital signal reaches 99% of the country’s population, the costs will increase to EUR 11,100 per slot.
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The Nika TV Media Company was permitted by the Broadcasting Council to launch the religiously-themed channel Nika TV. Granting of the license was unanimously decided during the Council’s meeting on February 13. The channel will broadcast religious TV shows from Moldova, Romania and Russia.
Serghei Jelihovschi - cleric of the “Dominion of the Mother of God” Church in the village of Salcuta in the Causeni district, and manager of the TV channel - said the project was launched “as a cultural-religious program to preserve Christian-Orthodox traditions.” He added that he didn’t know exactly when the TV channel would be launched and that its team was still forming. The priest refused to talk about sources of funding, stating that he would like to find money from various projects promoting holy places. Jelihovschi gave assurance that Nika TV “won’t be political television.” |
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A team of Moldovan journalists launched a new weekly newspaper, Gazeta de Chisinau, which is supposed to be an “independent, socio-political attitude” weekly newspaper.
Rodica Mahu, Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, stated that the editorial team would make every effort to withstand the trend of diminishing the written press and would try to find ways to support it. In addition, the editorial office relies on diaspora support, and is going to publish the online version of the newspaper so that those working abroad can read it. Gazeta de Chisinau was founded by Headlight Media, registered on June 7, 2019. The company’s founder and manager is journalist Victoria Popa. The first issue came out with a circulation of 5,300 copies, one copy amounting to MDL 6. Part of the team consists of former employees of Jurnal de Chisinau, which shut down on January 1, 2020.
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Viorel Filimon, Director of the retail distribution network of newspapers and periodicals Moldpresa Grup, said during a press conference that “Chisinau risks being left without print media.” According to him, authorities of the capital city did not extend plans of installing street kiosks, due to the development of a new concept on street trade and booth activity by the Mayor’s office. So far, ten booths were removed from Chisinau’s Ciocana sector. Others from Riscani sector are facing the same fate. According to Moldpresa Group Director, these actions lead to the liquidation of the retail distribution of newspapers and other periodicals and violate citizens’ right of access to information. On February 28, the group of journalists accused the authorities of destroying the distribution system of periodicals by reducing the number of places where newspapers and magazines are marketed.
In his activity report of 100 days after taking office, Mayor of the municipality Ion Ceban stated that the new concept of placing booths would be ready by mid-May. The municipality management is going to discuss the issue of newspaper booths in order to find an appropriate solution.
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A draft law, prepared by media experts Ion Bunduchi and Vasile State, stipulates that music, children, religious or sports TV channels and radio stations, should no longer have the obligation to host election debates. In addition, the authors propose that media service providers should decide themselves on the format, duration, airing frequency and time of the debates. They want to prohibit the media from conducting electioneering. It is also proposed that fees for election advertising may not exceed the usual fee for commercial advertising, charged six months before the polling date. These amendments are intended to avoid possible abuses by some media service providers, which increase their advertising fees at the start of the election period.
Media NGOs asked the Parliamentary Committee to register the draft law as a legislative initiative and to support its adoption. The document was drafted as part of a legislative improvement project, implemented by the Association of Independent Press (AIP), the Association of Electronic Press (APEL) and the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC).
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Individuals who are part of governing or executive bodies of political parties may be prohibited from owning TV channels. The provision is found in a draft law registered in the Parliament by Sergiu Litvinenco and Veronica Rosca, PAS MPs. According to the authors, the current legislation does not expressly provide for such a prohibition; hence, there are cases when an individual with a leading position in a party owns or benefits from a private media service provider. This makes a television completely obedient that party’s policy. The document also provides for the prohibition of ownership in the case that natural or legal persons reside in offshore jurisdictions. If they enter into force, the amendments would also target Corneliu Furculita, a socialist MP who is part of the PSRM Political Executive Committee and owner of NTV Moldova and Exclusive TV (TNT) channels.
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The monitoring conducted by the Broadcasting Council (BC) showed that a number of media service providers continued to rebroadcast advertising during the shows of foreign TV channels, although the law forbids this. Thus, during a meeting on February 13, BC members sanctioned Moldtelecom, TV Box (Starnet), Orange and Arax-Impex with a fine of MDL 5,000. In their turn, operators argued that they have neither the right to intervene with the rebroadcasted content, nor technical possibilities to process it, requesting the postponement of the sanction until the issue is discussed in Parliament.
The BC sanctioned the cable operators after monitoring their compliance with the new provision, which is in force since December 27, 2019. The new Article, proposed by the socialist MP Adrian Lebedinschi, obliges the cable operators and other media providers to remove advertising and teleshopping from rebroadcast foreign audiovisual services.
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On February 25, the Broadcasting Council (BC) rejected Apa-Canal Nispore’s complaint that requested sanctions for local TV channel Albasat TV, which broadcasted a report on the rise of tariffs for water and sewerage. The Director of Apa-Cana Nispore, Ion Gangan, was dissatisfied with the material and called on BC members to review the case to refute “the erroneous and defamatory information about the service provider.” BC members unanimously rejected the complaint by Apa-Canal Nisporeni, concluding that journalists covered the subject fairly and that all concerned parties were featured in the report.
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On February 14-16, a special training program in Cahul was organized by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC). 23 teachers from Russian schools in the southern districts of the country (Vulcanesti, Cahul, Comrat, Taraclia and Ceadar-Lunga) gained skills to teach education on media for an elective course. The trainers were Loretta Handrabura and Natalia Griu, authors of the Education on Media curriculum and textbook for primary schools. During the three-day training, the participants got acquainted with the content of the course and methods of teaching the Education on Media elective course in the 3rd and 4th grades. In November 2019, IJC organized a similar training in Balti for 24 teachers from the northern districts of Moldova, who teach in Russian. The training was organized by the IJC in partnership with Internews Moldova. The Project is financially supported by the Dutch Embassy.
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IJC Resumed the Training Cycle for APA New Civil Servants
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In 2020 the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) continued a series of lessons at the Academy of Public Administration on access to information and transparency of the decision-making process. During the first course of this year, the new civil servants from central public authorities were trained by Tatiana Puiu, expert in media law and representative of Freedom House in Moldova, and Nicolae Cuschevici, RISE Moldova journalist. The participants in the program learned about requests for access to information and a petition, including how to distinguish them, how to register and process the requests, how to answer the requests, the legal deadlines to comply with, etc. The training is part of a broad cycle of lessons that IJC organizes at APA, following a collaboration agreement signed in September 2019, that aims to improve civil servants’ knowledge of media law and ensure effective communication with the media. The next two trainings will be held in March and May.
This training was conducted by the IJC as part of the “Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M)” project, funded by USAID and UK Aid, and implemented by Internews in Moldova.
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On February 5, about 100 students from the “N. Gogol” Theoretical Lyceum in Chisinau participated in the first lesson of education on media – part of a new series of lessons on relevant subjects, launched by the Independent Journalism Center (ICJ). The Education on Media elective course has been taught at “N. Gogol” Lyceum since the 2019-2020 school year. At the primary and secondary levels, students are already familiar with key concepts in this area. Journalist Dumitru Stoianov, who led the event, reminded students of the need to develop their critical and analytical skills during this elective course and explained a number of new terms, including cybermobbing, flaming, cyberbullying, cyberstalking and trolling. The Education on Media lessons are conducted by the ICJ in partnership with Internews in Moldova under the project “Strengthening the support for independent Russian-language media outlets and for the efforts in education for media field.” The project is financially supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. One of the objectives of the project is to develop the critical thinking of Russian-speaking students.
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New Freedom House Policy Brief: Defending Digital Spaces in Moldova
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In February, Freedom House published a new policy brief by local expert Victoria Rosa, which examines the trends and proliferation of freedom of expression online in Moldova, as well as the most acute challenges and threats, with an emphasis on information security. The brief examines the current legislative framework governing information security in Moldova, as well as the important efforts by civil society organizations (CSOs) to identify and draw attention to disinformation and fake news in the country’s digital space. It concludes with targeted recommendations for government, civil society, and the media community.
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Two years ago, journalists came out for a protest in front of the Superior Council of Magistracy, demanding that court decisions or judgments not be excessively anonymized. However, the issue has not been solved so far. How does the Agency for Court Administration explain this and what solutions does it have? Victoria Palanciuc, Agency Director, offered a number of answers during a new edition of the Media Azi show.
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In mid-January, the Court of Accounts launched a new audit mission to Teleradio-Moldova. It will assess how TRM managed its financial resources and assets during 2017-2019. In addition, the auditors will analyze the implementation of the recommendations made in the latest report (2018). Find out more watching the Media Azi show.
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