US Department of State Report: Political Control, Unfair Competition and Intimidation of Journalists Characterize the Moldovan Media

Limited freedom of the media, pressure on the independent press and concentration of ownership are just a few of the issues described in the US Department of State Report on the human rights situation in 2018 in Moldova. The report notes that, due to the high concentration of media ownership, oligarchs continued to distort media messages for their benefit through individuals and media institutions they control. Journalists continued to be intimidated and verbally assaulted. The report points to several such instances, for example, Orhei Mayor Ilan Sor’s hate speech against journalists, which was condemned by the United Nations, but remains uninvestigated by Moldovan prosecutors. The report also points to the stalking of Liuba Sevciuc, RISE Moldova investigative journalist reporting on vacation properties owned by Democratic Party (DP) leader Vlad Plahotniuc, online threats received by Ziarul de Garda reporters, and the denial of access of TV8 and Jurnal TV filming crews at DP events.

Media NGOs React to the Repeated Denial of TV8’s Access to Democratic Party Events

What Did the Elected Parties Promise to do for the Media?

The Media Azi Portal of the IJC examined the electoral platforms of the four political parties that won Moldova’s parliamentary elections to see what promises were made to voters regarding reform of the media sector. The Party of Socialists would like to set up a public council, formed of influential figures, which would supervise the observance of moral norms by TV stations. The ACUM Electoral Bloc intends to ban offshore companies that manage media outlets and collaborate with neighboring countries and the European Union to combat pro-Kremlin propaganda. The Democratic Party and the Sor Political Party did not include media reforms in their electoral programs or manifestos.

OSCE Urges Moldovan Authorities to Grant Foreign Journalists Free Access to the Country 

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Desir, urged Moldovan authorities to make it easier for foreign journalists to travel to Moldova. “I call again on Moldovan authorities to facilitate travel of foreign journalists from one OSCE country to another,” he wrote on Twitter. The call was made after two Greek investigative journalists – Aggelos Provolisianos and Triantis Vangelis – were apprehended by the border police on March 13 at the Chisinau Airport. They had no accreditation and were allowed to enter the country only after the Greek Ambassador in Moldova intervened.

Accreditation of Foreign Journalists Monitoring the Election Campaign

ECtHR Notified the Government of the Republic of Moldova About the Complaint Submitted by RISE Moldova on the Case of the ‘Dodon’s Money from Bahamas’ Investigation

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is to examine the complaint of RISE Moldova against the Republic of Moldova after journalists were sued because of the article ‘Dodon’s Money from Bahamas’ and lost the trial in national courts. The Chisinau Government was informed about the case on 6 March. Strasbourg magistrates will decide if the freedom of expression of the journalists and the right to disseminate information set out in the Article 10 of the ECHR were violated. The investigation, published in September 2016, referred to an offshore transaction involving the Exclusive Media Company, managed by the socialist MP Corneliu Furculita, founder of ‘NTV Moldova’ and of the ‘Аргументы и Факты в Молдове’ [Arguments and Facts in Moldova] publication. According to the investigation, over MDL 30 million were transferred through this company and entered Moldova a few months before the Presidential election. The transfer came through an offshore company connected to the Russian Federation and created in the Bahamas.

Supreme Court of Justice obliged Orhei Mayoralty to provide Radio Orhei Station with Information

Orhei Court Annuls Prosecutors’ Ordinances in the Case of Journalist Victor Sofroni

The Orhei Court on February 26 annulled the ordinances on the commencement of contravention proceedings against Victor Sofroni initiated by the Rezina Prosecutor’s Office. Sofroni, founder of the ‘Cuvantul’ independent weekly newspaper from the town of Rezina and Director of ‘Impuls TV’ from the town of Soldanesti, was accused of making an intentionally false police call, while the journalist only asked police officers to verify the information about a possible crime about which he learned from anonymous sources. Previously, media NGOs called the reason for initiating this process and the legal classification of the alleged “contravention” absurd. The Court in this case annulled the decision due to procedural errors of the prosecutor; consequently, a new case against Sofroni is technically possible. The IJC is currently providing legal aid to Sofroni in this case.

TV Audience Measurement Company with Roots in Offshore Areas

TV audience measurement in Moldova for the next five years will be performed by TV MR MLD (the official representative of AGB Nielsen Media Research), which is the same company that performed this function in the past. The Tender Committee for this decision, consisting of representatives of media service providers, advertising agencies and sales houses, disclosed that this was the only company taking part in the tender and that others declined to take part due to lack of interest for the Moldovan market. TV stations PRO TV Chisinau and Jurnal TV announced that they would not use the services of the selected company, because the procedure for selection leaves room for doubt on the results and quality of measurements it will provide. TV MR MLD was founded by the English company TV MR LLP, which itself was founded by two offshore companies in Belize.

Chairperson of the Press Council Elected

International Organizations Criticize the Media Coverage of Elections and the Broadcasting Council

Several international organizations reported on media regulation during the elections in Moldova. The EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova, Election Observation Mission (IEOM), the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) as well as the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) have all identified irregularities in their reporting. For example, some national TV stations failed to comply with the rules of fair election campaign coverage and demonstrated biased reporting for certain election competitors. At the same time, the Broadcasting Council’s monitoring and sanctioning mechanism was not effective enough to tackle that issue due to its slow response to violations. 

Final Report of IJC and API on Media Behavior During the Election Campaign

Although the amount of online fake news during the February 2019 election was a little lower than in previous elections, the trend of favoring or disfavoring some political actors by certain media remained. In addition, the sanctions applied by the Broadcasting Council were insignificant and disproportionate to the deviations from the legislation on broadcasting on the part of the broadcasters. These were some of the topics discussed at the round table ‘Mass Media in Elections: Information, Misinformation and Electioneering’ held on March 13. The event also launched the Final Report on Media Monitoring during the Election Campaign for the Parliamentary Elections of February 24, 2019, developed by IJC and API.

The Broadcasting Council Replaces Sanctions with a Set of Recommendations

The Broadcasting Council Will Monitor the Linguistic Correctness of the TV Stations
 

During March and April the Broadcasting Council (BC) will monitor the use of language of 13 TV stations – Moldova 1, TV8, Prime, Publika TV, Canal 2, Canal 3, Accent TV, NTV Moldova, PRO TV Chisinau, Jurnal TV, RTR Moldova, Orhei TV and Televiziunea Centrala. This decision was made at the BC’s meeting held on March 5. BC member Corneliu Mihalache mentioned at this meeting that, although linguistic correctness is an important issue, it is equally necessary to monitor the broadcasters in terms of ensuring compliance with sharing local content. Earlier, during a Press Club organized by the IJC to discuss propaganda, information manipulation, and violation of journalism ethics in the local media, several journalists also pointed out that broadcasting institutions admit committing these violations, but there is lack of monitoring and reaction on the part of the BC.

Media-M Project Updates

Media Expert Urged Journalists to Promote their Products on Social Networks Creatively

Media Policy Forum “Media, Elections, and Participatory Democracy: How Free?”

Consultations on Amending the Journalist Code of Ethics

Photo Exhibition on the Russian Refugees from Lithuania

The photo exhibition “While the Red Is On” was presented by the journalist organization “Nanook” from Lithuania on March 12 at the American House in Chisinau. It is a photographic documentary on Russian refugees who settled in Lithuania due to flee repression in their homeland. The photos narrate the story of political dissidents, human rights and environmental advocates, independent journalists, representatives of the LGBT community or other communities that were subjected to persecution and repression under the regime for political and ideological reasons. The event is organized with the support of the Embassy of Lithuania in Chisinau.

A New Group of Teachers Trained to Teach “Education for Media”

At the beginning of March the IJC held the sixth training program on media education for primary school teachers. 18 teachers from various districts of Moldova and from the capital took part in this training, where they learned about content and methods for teaching the course “Education for Media” in 3^rd and 4^th grades.

Previous study sessions on the same topic brought together 86 teachers, and three training courses for teachers of lower secondary school were attended by 56 teachers.

The Broadcasting Council (BC) has sanctioned eight out of the 13 TV channels that were monitored during the recent electoral campaign but the said channels kept violating the legal rules even after being sanctioned by the BC. On the Media Azi Show the BC Chair Dragos Vicol explained the inefficiency of the measures applied by the broadcasting regulator.
 
On the Media Azi Show journalist Nicolai Paholnitchi and his guest, Arturas Morozovas, co-founder of the Lithuanian Nanook organization, discussed the Lithuanian media market and how crowdfunding and other media support methods are used.
How can you increase a newspaper’s run in the digital age? Journalist Ivan Sveatcenko and Editor-in-Chief of Ziarul de Garda Aneta Grosu discussed the ways of attracting new readers, including via social networks, on the Media Azi Show.
 
The platform Recorder.ro has is one of the most successful media projects in Romania. What explains the success of the platform and what can Moldovan journalists learn from it? This topic was tackled during a new edition of the Media Azi Show featuring Cristian Delcea – one of the journalists who founded Recorder.ro.
 

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