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On June 19, the decision of Chisinau Court Judge Rodica Berdilo to restrict mass media access to the court hearing on the validation of the local election of the capital’s new mayor triggered a wave of dissatisfaction. The journalists regarded this decision as an abuse of justice and argued that their access to information had been restricted as the event was one of major public interest. Their comments on the Media-azi.md portal of the Independent Journalism Center said that throwing the press out of the courtroom’s doors is proof of the fact that justice in Moldova is not independent.
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Non-governmental media organizations regret the decision to restrict mass-media access to the court hearing on the validation of the results of the new local elections in Chisinau, which took place on June 19. Numerous press organizations representatives that came to cover this issue of public interest were baffled at having been asked to leave the courtroom, says a joint statement signed by seven media NGOs – the Independent Journalism Center, the Association of Independent Press, the Electronic Press Association, the Center for Investigative Journalism, the Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Association of Independent Telejournalists, and the ‘Access-Info’ Center. The signatories urged the Superior Council of Magistracy to maintain an open environment in justice and to support the press in its effort to cover important events on the public agenda.
Several media NGOs, including the Independent Journalism Center, the Independent Press Association, and the Electronic Press Association, signed a statement stressing the fact that the access of some journalists of GagauzMedia.md and Nokta.md from Comrat was restricted on the territory of the Japanese company Fujikura, where Economy Minister Chiril Gaburici, Ambassador of Japan Masanobu Yoshii, and the leadership of the Gagauz autonomous unit were on a fieldwork visit. The journalists from the two portals were not allowed to enter on the grounds that only official press services were granted access to the event. However, the footage that appeared online show that media institutions such as Publika TV and Gagauzinfo.md were granted access to the event. The signatories to the statement disapproved of the selective admission of the press to events of public interest and reminded that the mass-media legislation safeguards the right of press staff to cover such public events.
Non-governmental media organizations are worried about the fact that the National Center for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP) requires media representatives to reveal the ways that they obtained certain information used in their journalistic materials. Thus, Ziarul de Garda published the article “Partidul ‘Șor,’ lider la capitolul venituri și cheltuieli. Cine sunt principalii donatori care finanțează campania electorală” ( The ‘Sor’ Party – Leader in Revenues and Expenses. Who are the Main Donors Funding the Election Campaign) on June 1, referring to the financial statements the political party submitted to the Central Election Commission, as well as to other unnamed sources. Later, on June 15, the publication received a letter from the NCPDP requesting ZdG to “... specify the ways it checks whether information is true or not.” Media NGOs remind the NCPDP that according to Article 14 of the Broadcasting Code, the confidentiality of information sources is safeguarded by law, and any journalist “is allowed not to disclose data that are likely to reveal the source of information obtained in direct connection with his or her professional activity.”
Media NGOs expressed their concern with the restriction of ZdG journalist Viorica Tataru’s access to the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) territory on June 25. The footage published on the zdg.md website showed that the journalist tried to clarify why additional police forces were dispatched to the SCJ territory, as there were already dozens of policemen in front of its headquarters, where citizens protested and requested the validation of Andrei Nastase’s mayoral mandate. The journalist’s attempt to find out why police forces were deployed to the SCJ territory was stopped by several masked persons, who forbade her access to the yard. The journalist was told that the management issued an order forbidding anyone’s access to the back of the SCJ building on the ground that the territory belongs to a state institution. Media NGOs asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) to take appropriate measures against those who have restricted the journalist’s access to a public institution, thus preventing her from doing her job freely.
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The management of Radio Orhei station intends to file a lawsuit against the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC), claiming that the said authority issued a broadcasting license in April for a radio station with a similar name – Radio Orhei FM. Radio Orhei management believes the decision is illegal, since no consideration was given to the similarity of the two radio broadcasters’ names. The founder and manager of the station, Tatiana Djamanov, stated that the similarity of the names will confuse the radio listeners. She filed a preliminary request to the BCC. The BCC rejected the request submitted by Radio Orhei, justifying its decision by the lack of any specific requirements in the legislation that would forbid the broadcaster from using the name.
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On June 18, the Association of Independent Press (API) issued a public call urging the Parliament, the government, and the members of the working group on improving media law to adopt, as soon as possible, legislative measures to support the print media after the price of newsprint paper increased by up to 25%. This increase could severely affect the periodical publications as they will have to raise the price, and as a result, readership will shrink. Sergiu Cornetchi, senior consultant of the Parliamentary Committee for Mass-media, said that the Committee had received API’s call and that it was to be discussed within the parliamentary group focused on improving the media law, which would find a viable solution.
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On May 20, Moldovan customs officers stopped Sabin Orcan, Director of Newsweek Romania and former manager of the “Adevarul” Moldova project, from bringing to Chisinau 250 copies of different issues of the magazine because the journalist did not have the required supporting documentation. The Customs Service reported that this number of magazines is considered as a commercial lot, in which case the customs inspector acted in line with the law. The representatives of the Customs Service argued that the journalist should have had an invoice, transport documents, and other permits required for bringing to Moldova 250 copies of the magazine. Sabin Orcan, who stated that his intention was to hand out the magazines at a conference organized in Chisinau, considered the incident at the Leuseni border crossing point as a reflection of “Stalinist attitude.”
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On June 14, the Parliament approved the National Concept on Media Development. The draft concept was supported by 53 MPs. The purpose of the document was to prove both the adherence of the Republic of Moldova to the European values on media functioning, and the commitment to create an environment enabling media to be economically and editorially independent. The concept will serve as a benchmark for media-related public policy, such as strengthening professionalism and adjusting vocational training programs for managers working in the media realm (written, audiovisual, and online). The cooperative relationship between all national and international institutions keeping an eye on the media will also be strengthened.
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On June 12, the Parliamentary Committee for Culture, Education, Research, Youth, Sport and Mass-Media held the first public hearings on the new draft Law on Advertising, recently registered in the Parliament by a group of MPs. The authors of the draft, advertising experts, and other persons interested in this subject participated in the debates. The new draft Law on Advertising, developed by experts of the Independent Journalism Center (IJC), was registered in the Parliament on June 4 as a legislative initiative by three MPs — Vladimir Hotineanu, Corneliu Mihalache, and Andrian Candu, the Speaker of the Parliament. Eugeniu Ribca and Ion Bunduchi, the IJC experts who developed the draft law, said that its main goal was to make the Moldovan advertising market more transparent and to protect and improve the informational and economic space in which the media operates. Note that the draft law is part of an extensive IJC campaign to amend the Advertising Law.
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On 4 June, the Constitutional Court (CC) rejected Moldovan President Igor Dodon’s statement declaring the “anti-propaganda law” unconstitutional and ruled that the respective amendments to the Broadcasting Code were constitutional. The president’s representative argued during the hearing that the law concerned violated several rules of the Constitution and provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In their turn, the representatives of the government and Parliament endorsed the idea that the law was constitutional. According to the “anti-propaganda law,” as of 12 February, Moldovan broadcasters and distributors shall no longer have the right to retransmit informative, informative-analytical, political, and military programs from countries that have not ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television. The Russian Federation did not ratify the Convention.
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The fifth Monitoring Report of the Association of Independent Press (API) on the implementation of media commitments undertaken by Moldovan authorities under the Action Plan Implementing the RM-EU Association Agreement revealed that this process needed to be sped up. The authors of the report, media experts Ion Bunduchi and Aneta Gonta, highlighted the main underachievements of the authorities in this regard from March to May 2018. Altogether, the report tells that as a result of the qualitative and quantitative analysis, 14 out of the possible 28 points were scored. According to API Executive Director Petru Macovei, this indicator reflects that the implementation of the National Action Plan needs to be sped up and that half of the work was already accomplished. The expert’s take is that the Moldovan authorities lack a strategic media development vision. API announced that it will develop one more monitoring report on this subject.
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The Report No 5 on Media Monitoring in the Campaign for New Local Elections, presented by the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) on June 5, states that some of the media outlets monitored during May 21 – June 2, 2018 reflected the second round of the campaign for the local elections of June 3 in a neutral light, while others continued to be involved in political partisanship. The overall conclusions of the monitoring showed that during the two week campaign for the second round of elections, some broadcasters have favored or disfavored one or another candidate, while some TV channels have massively promoted a particular candidate. The Monitoring Report was developed by the Independent Journalism Center, as partner of the “Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova” (MEDIA-M) project, funded by USAID and implemented by Internews.
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During its meeting held on June 8, the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC) fined several television broadcasters that failed to observe the principles of a balanced coverage of campaigns during the new local elections. Thus, having monitored Moldova 1, TV8, Accent TV, ITV, NTV Moldova, TVC 21, Exclusiv TV, Jurnal TV, Ren Moldova, and RTR Moldova television broadcasters with the focus on whether the electoral law was observed during May 10–20 and May 23 – June 3, Jurnal TV was fined MDL 25,000 (EUR 1,273), and Accent TV and NTV Moldova were fined MDL 15,000 (EUR 764) each. RTR Moldova and TVC 21 were also fined MDL 10,000 (EUR 508) and MDL 5,000 (EUR 254), respectively, for the violation of the electoral law. TRM, ITV, and TVC 21 television broadcasters were warned by consensus, while PRO TV was fined for the same violations MDL 5,000 (EUR 254) and by public warning after examining the results of the monitoring of this television broadcaster following a BCC member’s self-report.
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During its meeting held on June 8, the Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) fined the RTR Moldova TV channel MDL 85,000 (EUR 4330) for broadcasting the Moscow Victory Day Parade. BCC members found that the “Anti-propaganda” Law was violated and agreed that the broadcaster had no right to rebroadcast military videos. In February, BCC fined RTR Moldova MDL 50,000 (EUR 2547) for broadcasting the news of the Russian TV channel, Rossia 1, in the international news category.
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On June 8, journalists from several media outlets from the Republic of Moldova participated in a discussion with Corneliu Comendant, graphic designer at Urma Ta and creator of designtutorials.md, about the potential of the mobile phone. The journalists learned about a number of mobile apps that can facilitate their work and provide them the opportunity to create quality media products with minimal effort, but with great potential consumer impact. Adobe Premier Clip, Snapseed, WavStudio, and Graphic Design Tutorials are some of the apps. The event was organized by the Independent Journalism Center under the “Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M)” Project, funded by USAID and implemented by Internews.
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Following a comprehensive needs assessment, Freedom House has continued to provide technical assistance to the Press Council of Moldova by arranging tailored consultations with international experts. On June 28, Vytis Jurkonis, Freedom House Project Director in Vilnius, led a workshop in Chisinau on strategic planning alongside Aistė Žilinskienė, President of the Lithuanian Online Media Association, for the members of the Press Council.
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Freedom House commissioned a legal analysis of the first reading of the new Audiovisual Code, and submitted the document to the Parliament of Moldova in early June. In May, Speaker Candu formally requested that Freedom House provide expert analysis on the legislation to help in the development of the Code for final adoption.
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During June 11-13, the Independent Journalism Center conducted a training program about the audience and digital development of media institutions. At the training, several media experts learned about how to identify the key features of a media portal audience, about techniques that can be used to maintain and expand the target audience, etc. The training was conducted by Jason Lambert and Michelle Foster – two foreign experts specialized in new media and founders of “Newsgaing” organization. The participants in the training are expected to provide in-house advice to a group of national media outlets on issues related to audience and online management. The training program took place under the “Understanding Audience Through Digital Support” Project, implemented by the Independent Journalism Center, financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and implemented by Internews Europe.
On June 7, the Independent Journalism Center invited female teachers who taught media education as a subject during the 2017-2018 academic year to a follow-up activity to share their experience. Loretta Handrabura and Silvia Spac, two of the authors of the curriculum and of the textbook “Media Education,” also participated in the activity. The women who attended trainings and who are going to teach the subject during the next academic year had also come to learn more from the most knowledgeable sources. Ina Grejdeanu, strategic development director at the IJC, who facilitated the activity, mentioned that the optional subject was implemented in 20 schools across the country. Gradually, this will expand to other education institutions too. The activity took place under the “Strengthening Freedom of Opinion in the Republic of Moldova” Project, supported by the Deutsche Welle Akademie and funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany.
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The media coverage of the electoral campaign for the new local elections didn’t go without violations of the Journalist's Code of Ethics. The behavior of the media during the local elections and the lessons to be learned for when the Parliamentary Elections come around in autumn were tackled in the 79th episode of the Media Azi talk show. This time, the producer of show, the Executive Director of the Independent Journalism Center – Nadine Gogu, had a discussion with her guests Dorina Curnic, member of the Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC), and Olga Manole, program coordinator at Promo-LEX Association and Press Councilmember. The 80th episode of the talk show was about the way the mass-media covered the story of the young man that was beaten by K1 fighters in front of a shopping center and then passed away a few days after the incident. Some journalists, willing to get as much audience as possible, used personal data from the victim’s file. How should we actually treat sensitive matters and subjects of public interest? This topic was addressed by the journalist Irina Gotisan and the Ziarul de Garda Director, Alina Radu. “Why does the online press need to be regulated?” – this topic was tackled at the 81st episode of the Media Azi talk show by the host, journalist Anastasia Nani, and her guests – lawyer Tatiana Puiu and the director of UNIMEDIA news portal, Cristian Jardan. The participants in the show provided pros and cons in relation to the regulation of online press and made references to European standards in this area. How will the printed media survive the rise in the prices for paper, with half of the cost ending at Posta Moldovei state-owned enterprise? What policies could the government develop to support this aspect of the mass-media? These were the questions that journalist Ivan Sveatcenko discussed with his guest – the founder of ‘Berega Dnestra’ [‘Nistru Banks’] newspaper – Andrei Varenita during the 82nd episode of the Media Azi talk show.
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