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Monthly Bulletin, July 2020
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Seven media NGOs signed a public statement condemning the intimidating and aggressive actions of the Mixed Peacekeeping Forces against TV8 journalists Viorica Tataru and Andrei Captarenco on July 21. While the two were on a fact-finding mission near Molovata Noua village for an investigative article on war veterans, a peacekeeper from security posts on the Nistru River hit Tataru, took her cellphone, and deleted several files from the device. After the journalist and her colleague got on a ferryboat to cross the Nistru River, three other peacekeepers stopped the boat by force, keeping the journalists and other passengers aboard for about an hour until police arrived. The statement condemned these actions and called on the Moldovan Delegation to the Unified Control Commission (UCC) and the Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration to request a UCC meeting to discuss the incident. The statement concluded by calling on the OSCE to monitor the process of investigating the incident and punishing those responsible.
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On July 2, employees of the State Protection and Guard Service (SPGS) aggressively blocked TV8 reporter Mihaela Dicusar from approaching Igor Dodon, Parliament Speaker Greceanii, and Prime Minister Chicu to ask them questions after a public ceremony. In a joint declaration, nine media NGOs called the SPGS’ actions abusive, and condemned resorting to physical force to obstruct the access of accredited journalists to officials, arguing such an act is an intolerable antidemocratic abuse. The statement reminded the SPGS staff that their mission is to protect the dignitaries from physical threats, not from journalists’ questions. The NGOs also expressed criticism of statements later made by Speaker Greceanii – who called the incident a “provocation” – and encouraged the Speaker to reconsider her position and show real, rather than merely declarative, openness to the press; the declaration closed by requesting the General Prosecutor’s Office check the legality of the SPGS’ actions and inform the public of the outcome of the investigation. |
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On July 1, in response to questions asked by TV8 journalist Natalia Ghetu, PSRM MP Anatolie Labunet used indecent language which denigrated her honor and human dignity, and violated the behavioral norms generally expected of people in a democratic society. The MP’s reaction was recorded in a video shared on social media. Eight media organizations published a press statement condemning the MP’s behavior, calling it inappropriate for a person in public office. Signatories of the statement demanded that MP Labunet apologize to Ghetu and asked the leadership of Parliament and the PSRM to condemn his behavior. |
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Media NGOs expressed their concern with a recent Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) ruling which invalidated the Law on Access to Information. On June 17, the SCJ Civil, Commercial and Administrative College found that the Law on Access to Information became inapplicable after the Administrative Code came into force on April 1, 2019, and that only the provisions of this Code will be applicable going forwards. Eight media NGOs signed a statement highlighting the “deficient judicial practice” that may result from this ruling. Signatories of the statement asked Parliament, the Superior Council of Magistracy, and the Plenum of the SCJ to ensure a sufficient, efficient and functional legal framework on access to information by examining and adopting a draft law prepared by independent media experts and submitted to Parliament in June. They also requested that measures be taken to mitigate the negative impact of the SCJ's ruling on the right of access to information of public interest and ensure that no obstruction and limitation of that right is allowed.
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At the end of a July 24 press conference organized by President Dodon at the presidential residence in Condrita, journalists were offered gift bags containing wine, honey, and other food products. Dodon did something similar in December 2019 at an end-of-year press conference held at the President’s Office; other politicians and businesspeople have also made a habit of giving journalists gifts which cannot be regarded as purely symbolic. The Press Council put out a statement calling on media representatives to comply with the Journalists’ Code of Ethics, which demands that “the journalist shall not accept money, presents, paid trips, or any other advantages that are offered to them to influence the journalistic act and whose acceptance would compromise their independence and authority before the public, and would affect trust in journalists as a whole.“
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Vitalie Dragancea, Communication Adviser to Prime Minister Chicu, resigned on July 8, stating that the decision to resign was his own. On the morning of July 9, the Prime Minister’s official Facebook page disappeared for a period of time before appearing again. According to Dragancea, this had nothing to do with his resignation, as Prime Minister Chicu personally manages his account. In the lead up to his resignation, NGOs asked Chicu and Dragancea to publicly apologize to media representatives for their denigrating attitude towards journalists and media outlets; for example, for the statement by Dragancea to Ziarul de Garda that the government doesn’t need the media to counter fake information. Subsequently, Media Azi published a cartoon on this topic. |
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Parliament voted to appoint three candidates to the Broadcasting Council (BC): Ala Ursu-Antoci, Larisa Manole and Ion Robu, bringing the BC up to full strength with nine members. Ursu-Antoci and Manole will hold their positions until December 7, 2023, while Robu, who was nominated by the President, will hold his until April 3, 2021. Media Azi previously wrote that the process was accompanied by accusations in the Parliament. PAS MP Lilian Carp said there had only been an imitation of a competition, and that the majority coalition had appointed people who were loyal to them for political reasons. DA MP Vasile Nastase also argued that the competition was flawed and that the Parliament Standing Bureau served as a ‘political filter’ which did not allow people not affiliated with the majority to be considered. |
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Following another audit of Teleradio-Moldova (TRM), the Court of Accounts (CoA) concluded the TRM had continued to lease out its unused premises from 2017-2019 in violation of the law. CoA experts also found issues with TRM’s approval of budgets and salaries, and with its failure to transfer its audiovisual fund to the National Archive. These conclusions were discussed by CoA members on July 27 in an online public meeting with TRM representatives.
The audit began in mid-January to check on the implementation of the recommendations made in the last report in 2018. Three previous audits conducted by the Court of Accounts over the past 10 years revealed many issues related to unjustified spending and foregone earnings, amounting to millions of lei. A criminal case initiated back in 2015 based on one of these audits has yet to reach a final resolution in court.
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Pro Moldova party leader Andrian Candu accused Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) of not reporting on the party’s initiatives and not giving them a right to reply. Candu sent an official letter to the Supervisory Board (SC) of TRM, the Broadcasting Council and several media NGOs which argues that because of this, citizens are "incorrectly and subjectively" informed about the party. The issue was discussed at the SC meeting on July 29. TRM’s administration rejected the accusations, claiming that it reflected the activity of Pro Moldova in a balanced way and that, in fact, Candu never requested a right to reply.
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The TV channels RTR Moldova, Primul in Moldova and NTV Moldova – all of which rebroadcast content from Russia, and the last two of which are affiliated with the Socialist Party – had the largest nation-wide audience in May and June, according to the TV MR MDL audience measurement. RTR Moldova had the largest viewership, Primul in Moldova, owned by the Russian businessman Igor Ceaika and Vadim Ciubara – an ally of President Dodon – ranks second. NTV Moldova, which belongs to Corneliu Furculita, PSRM’s parliamentary faction leader, ranks third. Moreover, in June, NTV Moldova ranked first in viewership in Chisinau for the first time. |
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In a July 6 meeting, the Broadcasting Council (BC) decided to issue a broadcasting license to the Roma Awareness foundation for the next nine years. Their new channel, Noah TV, will broadcast news in Romani, and will focus on the theme of promoting the rights of national minorities. A representative of the channel, Victorina Luca, stated that the channel will represent a platform for national minorities to become involved in the social life of Moldova, and will provide opportunities for multicultural dialogue.
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Parliament passed a draft law amending the Electoral Code, Contravention Code and Audiovisual Media Services Code in the first reading. Per the law, the Broadcasting Council would apply tougher penalties to radio stations and TV channels for wrongful reporting on election campaigns. Broadcasters could even have their license withdrawn if they apply “preferential treatment” in election campaigns or if they cover election campaigns without having the right to do so. In addition, the draft law includes provisions which prohibit TV channels founded by NGOs from covering election campaigns. When contacted by Media-azi.md, TV8 News Department head Mariana Rata argued that unless this law is changed or withdrawn, all NGO media outlets will be at risk of not being allowed to cover the election. The draft law will soon be voted on in the second reading.
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Advertising of gambling, including lotteries and bet-making, might be prohibited on radio, TV, printed press, Internet and other public places if the Parliament passes a draft law developed by PAS MP Dumitru Alaiba. The bill was registered with Parliament on June 26, and prohibits all forms of advertising aimed at promoting or encouraging gambling. The law also imposes penalties for those who publish or broadcast such advertising; individuals might get fines ranging from MDL 3,000 to MDL 6,000, while organizations could be fined up to MDL 9,000 and can be deprived of the right to engage in certain activities for six months to a year. Alaiba argued that gambling makes victims of and creates addiction among the most vulnerable groups of the population, including minors, and negatively impacts gamblers’ financial condition.
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Starting on July 30, citizens can report cases of violations of law or professional ethics by radio and TV stations through the T (V) E Priveste! platform, launched by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC). The platform is part of the project "Strategic communication and support for the media in the Republic of Moldova", implemented by IJC with the financial support of the European Union. The project aims to increase media consumers’ involvement in monitoring media content, and to strengthen the accountability of regulatory institutions. All complaints submitted to the platform will be collected and brought to the attention of the Broadcasting Council (BC). The IJC will monitor how the BC responds to the cases and informs the public of the decisions they take.
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On July 16, TV8 management appealed the Broadcasting Council’s (BC) decision to fine the channel. TV8 received an MDL 10,000 fine in late May for broadcasting an ‘Internetu’ Graieste’ episode (produced by Andrei Bolocan and Nata Albot) about journalist Elena Pahomova, and later were fined another MDL 5,000 for not informing the public it had been fined. TV8 representatives submitted a request to the BC asking it to reverse its sanction decision; however, the regulator rejected it during a July 23 public meeting for being unsubstantiated. After this, TV8 decided to appeal the decision in court.
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During its July 23 meeting, the Broadcasting Council (BC) decided to issue a MDL 7,000 (EUR 360) fine to TV channel 10TV for not ensuring impartiality during the June 24 edition of its ‘In Direct’ show. Deputy Director of the Security and Intelligence Service (SIS) Artur Gumeniuc notified the BC about the incident because he had seen incitement to hatred and discrimination based on language and ethnicity in the show. The complaint noted as an example the phrase “those who don’t know the official language should be deported.” BC monitoring also confirmed that show’s guest, a public activist, launched a number of attacks on several public people, such as President Dodon, ex-President Voronin, PAS leader Sandu, and PPDA leader Nastase, but the show’s management did not give them the right to reply.
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The most recent release of the Public Opinion Barometer (POB) revealed that public trust in television as a source of information has halved over the last decade, while trust in the Internet has doubled. The research was commissioned by the Institute for Public Policy (IPP) and released on Thursday, July 2. The survey results show that television is still the most trusted source of information – rated trustworthy by 31% of respondents – but is significantly worse off than in 2010, when 67% of the respondents trusted television. On the other hand, trust in the Internet as a source of information increased from 10% in 2010 to 23% in 2020. Still, according to IPP Executive Director Arcadie Barbarosie, the skepticism of the population towards media in general has grown; 23.4% of respondents say that no source is trustworthy, compared to 4.4% in 2010. The survey was carried out over phone on a representative sample of 1,200 people from June 13-23.
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During the summer vacation, the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) invited teachers that teach the Media Education elective course in 10th and 11th grades to take part in two specialized trainings. One, for teachers from Romanian-language schools, took place from July 27 - 29, and the second, for teachers from Russian-language schools, took place from July 30 – August 1. The training programs were based on the Media Education curriculum developed by IJC and approved by the National Curriculum Council under the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research.
These trainings were supported by two projects: ‘Strengthening Freedom of Opinion in the Republic of Moldova,’ supported by the Deutsche Welle Akademie and funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development from Germany, and ‘Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M),’ funded by USAID and UK aid and implemented by Internews in Moldova.
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During a new online training organized by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) from July 1-3, 21 representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs) learned how to structure their communication strategies, what tools to use in order to disseminate various messages, and how to communicate effectively in times of crisis.
The trainers – Executive Director of the Bucharest Center for Independent Journalism Cristina Lupu and communicators Sorina Stefarta and Ludmila Andronic – helped participants better understand the role of communication in promoting CSOs’ messages. CSO representatives were encouraged to be transparent towards the public, to show solidarity by creating coalitions and releasing joint communications, and to quickly adjust their messages and activities to different contexts and emerging events. The training will be followed by an in-house consultancy program, during which five organizations will be helped to develop or update their communication strategies. The event was organized under the ‘Strengthening the capacities of civil society organisations through the professional development of their communicators’ project, implemented by the Independent Journalism Center with the support of Soros-Moldova Foundation.
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On June 22-23, Freedom House’s Local Representative in Moldova, Tatiana Puiu raised the profile of key media policy issues through participation at the virtual Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM) on Freedom of Expression, Media and Information organized by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE. Freedom House’s intervention on Moldova drew attention to the challenges journalists continue to face around access to information in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and provided concrete recommendations to the Moldovan government and OSCE participating States.
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On July 17, Freedom House partner Pilgrim-Demo published an article summarizing the legal framework regulating media activities in Gagauzia. The article is based on a report conducted by Pilgrim-Demo with key media experts and released last month, which analyzes the legal framework and makes detailed recommendations to local and national government on resolving existing problems. The article and study are part of Pilgrim Demo’s "Promotion of Freedom of the Press in Gagauzia” project, supported by Freedom House’s Media Freedom Matters small grants program under the MEDIA-M program, which is funded by USAID and UK Aid and implemented in partnership with Internews.
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A new draft law developed by Association of Electronic Press (APEL) experts Ion Bunduchi and Vasile State would amend the Electoral Code so that elections could be held in more transparent conditions. Bunduchi, Executive Director of APEL, explained in a new issue of Media Azi why these amendments are needed.
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Several media service distributors appealed a Broadcasting Council decision which fined them for broadcasting their own advertisements on the foreign television channels which they re-broadcast. The fines were applied as a result of a new law that entered into force at the beginning of this year, which obliges them to exclude all advertising from the rebroadcasted foreign programs. This topic is addressed in the Media Azi show.
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Women are most affected by hate speech and incitement to discrimination in public spaces. What can we do to end this problem in the 21st century? The subject is discussed by the Media Azi show’s guests - Alina Cebotari, Promo-LEX Association expert, and Nina Sutac, General Secretary of the Platform for Gender Equality. Șutac, General Secretary of the Platform for Gender Equality.
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