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May 2019

Monthly Bulletin, May 2019

Media News

Press Freedom Days in Moldova

Every year in May, Press Freedom Day is celebrated in Moldova with a program of events that lasts for more than a week. This year the program started with the launch of the Memorandum on the Freedom of the Press and the installation of a “Press Enemies” poster in front of the Parliament, where a flash mob was also organized by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) and partner media organizations. The document emphasizes that Moldovan media continued to degrade last year, reaching alarming levels; moreover, the problems present last year, including the safety of journalists and the economic environment, have only increased. The “Press Enemies” poster depicted the pictures of several Government officials who last year either physically or verbally abused media representatives, were intolerant to the press, or restricted the access to information. In the journalists’ flash mob, they used the slogan: “The role of the press = to notify about governance issues. The role of government officials = to solve problems, not ... the journalists!”

Second Annual Moldova Media Policy Forum: Media, Elections and Participatory Democracy: How Free?

The second annual Media Policy Forum, entitled “Media, Elections and Participatory Democracy: How Free?” was held on May 14 in Chisinau. It discussed such topics as the fight against misinformation in the media and social networks and the role of the media in providing quality information, especially during election campaigns. The event was attended by journalists, media experts, political analysts and representatives of civil society. The speakers represented a broad range of stakeholders, including, media, state institutions and civic society, and came from Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Latvia, Ukraine and other countries.
During the first plenary session of the Forum, moderated by Corina Cepoi, Internews Chief of Party in Moldova, a number of foreign diplomats – Dereck J. Hogan, the Ambassador of the United States of America in the Republic of Moldova, Urszulla Pallasz, Chargé d'Affaires of Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova, Lucy Joyce, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom in the Republic of Moldova, and Christopher Duggan, Representative of the Embassy of Canada in Romania, Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova, urged the journalists to promote media pluralism and freedom of expression in the Republic of Moldova.
The second edition of the Media Policy Forum in Moldova was organized by the Freedom House with the support of USAID, UK Aid, Internews, The Black Sea Trust for Regional Development, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Friedrich Naumann Stiftung für die Freiheit and the Embassy of Canada. It came as part of the broader programmatic Media-M effort, funded by USAID and UK Aid and implemented by Internews in partnership with Freedom House and local organizations.

Misinformation – a Common Media Phenomenon in Moldova, Georgia and Armenia

During the Media Policy Forum, experts from the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Armenia came to the conclusion that misinformation, hate speech and the invasion of fake news in the media are common phenomena and have gained momentum during the election campaigns in the three countries. The reasons why citizens are misinformed via the press are different. The Chair of the Press Council in Moldova said that Moldovan broadcasting is dominated by the politically affiliated media and that reliable information doesn’t reach the voters easily. In his turn, Zurab Khrikadze, member of the Central Electoral Commission of Georgia, believed that citizens should know who finances the media outlets. That knowledge would allow them to make reasoned judgment on whom to support in the elections. Armenian MP Aruseak Julhakyan spoke about the efforts of the Armenian MPs to find a balance between fighting against misinformation and protecting the freedom of expression. 

 
 

Media Organizations Took a Stand in a New Case of Verbal Assault on Journalists

 

Eight media NGOs, including the IJC, Association of Independent Press and Association of Electronic Press condemned the verbal abuse of NordNews.md journalists by the Mayor of Drepcauti village, Briceni district, Ghenadie Ioxa. The latter refused to answer the questions of the reporter who was documenting the Mayor’s supposed attempts to deprive a foreign investor of several plots of agricultural land. The Mayor invoked the statements previously made by the leader of the Democratic Party, Vlad Plahotniuc, to another media outlet and said that: “Your television belongs to bandits.” When the reporter insisted on asking questions, the Mayor started to insult him. The signatories of the declaration condemning the assault called on civil servants and elected members of the municipalities to adopt a civilized and decent behaviour to journalists who are acting in their professional capacity and serving the public interest.

Criminal Case Closed on Stalking of a RISE Moldova Reporter

 
 

Prosecutor Ruslan Botnaru of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (APO) has ordered the closing of the criminal case regarding the stalking of RISE Moldova reporter Liuba Sevciuc by a “professional provoker.” In October 2018, RISE Moldova wrote that the tracking of Liuba Sevciuc started after the publication of the “Paradise of the oligarch” investigation on the overseas villas of the Head of the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM), Vlad Plahotniuc.
The information about the alleged stalking was provided by a person who called himself Veaceslav Galoi and claimed to be an undercover agent of the National Anti-Corruption Center (NAC). He said that the Deputy Director of the General Police Inspectorate had ordered the journalist to be followed. The police initiated an investigation to verify this information. At RISE Moldova’s request to the APO, on May 7 they were informed that the criminal proceedings were closed on November 30 due to the lack of evidence. Journalist Liuba Sevciuc qualifies this decision as an imitation of action on behalf of the authorities. “I think the authorities fake their actions, and that’s sad. As a consequence,  you cannot do your job safely in the Republic of Moldova as a journalist,” she commented for the IJC’s Media Azi portal.

Criminal Prosecution Initiated Regarding Rape Case Leaked Documents

The Chisinau Municipality Prosecutor’s Office has announced that it has started an investigation in the disclosure of criminal prosecution data, after materials of a criminal case file regarding double rape and attempted murder of a minor appeared on the websites of certain media outlets. The Prosecutor’s Office also condemned the way “certain publications address sensitive subjects” and urged the journalists to pay more attention when covering such cases. In her turn, the Press Council Chairperson Viorica Zaharia suggested that the Prosecutor’s Office should also investigate who provided the press with the materials from the file. Disclosure of confidential materials in the press occurred in Moldova before. Two years ago a number of media outlets broadcasted a video depicting the arrest of a young man, who later died under arrest. Some media experts have called these “controlled leaks,” intended to justify the behavior of state institutions.

Plahotniuc Brought Publika FM and Muz FM under the Umbrella of GMG Company

The General Media Group (GMG) company, owned by the leader of the Democratic Party Vlad Plahotniuc, announced that it had “absorbed” or reorganized via merger the Radio Media Group company, which owned broadcast licenses for the Publika FM and Muz FM radio stations. Radio Media Group is also the property of Plahotniuc. Thus, the two radio stations will be under the umbrella of a single GMG company, which already had broadcast licenses for Prime TV and Publika TV channels. International organizations, such as Reporters without Borders, have drawn attention to the dangers of media ownership concentration in the Republic of Moldova.

New Journalistic Code of Ethics Published

The Press Council has published the final version of the updated Moldovan Journalist’s Code of Ethics, which includes a number of new rules on ethical media behaviour in various situations. Viorica Zaharia, the Chairperson of the Press Council, urged media representatives to get acquainted with the document and comply with it. The document comes with a number of first-time recommendations, such as that journalists should always take the public interest into account. The online outlets are encouraged to indicate their physical address, contact details, ultimate owners/beneficiaries, editorial policies and sources of their funding in order to ensure transparency. To avoid conflict of interest, the new Code stipulates that journalists’ professional work is incompatible with work for state institutions and political organizations.
The proposals to supplement the Code of Ethics were developed by a group of national experts, an international expert from Freedom House, and in consultation with Moldovan media professionals, representatives of civic associations and other persons and interested organizations. It was supported as part of the broader programmatic Media-M effort, funded by USAID and UK Aid and implemented by Internews in partnership with Freedom House and local organizations.

Discussions at the Round Table on the New Code of Ethics: “Who is Who?”

The Press Council (PC) held a round table discussion during which the addenda to the new edition of the Journalist’s Code of Ethics was re-examined. Among other new concepts in the Code, the definition of the journalist was also discussed. According to the new Code, a journalist is an “individual, either employed or not employed by a media outlet, who regularly carries out one or more activities such as: collecting information of public interest from any relevant source, writing and editing the information in any format – i.e. text, photo, video and/or audio recording, drawing, graphics, with the purpose of its public dissemination through the media.” According to Freedom House representative, Lolita Berzina, who consulted the authors of the updated Code while it was developed, it does not matter whether a person is registered or not as a journalist, it is important that they observe ethical norms. Ion Bunduchi, one of the authors of the new Code, argued at the round table that journalism is a freelance activity and no one should hold a monopoly on this field.

The NCPDP Seeks to Develop a Code of Conduct for Media

The National Center for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP) plans to develop a Code of Conduct for the media on how journalists should exercise their right to process personal data. Codes of Conduct will be developed for different areas – health, finance, law enforcement, election process, media, video surveillance and electronic communication. Discussions about this NCPDP initiative took place on May 22 and were attended by representatives of civil society, NCPDP’s staff and national and international experts. Present at the meeting, the Press Council (PC) Secretary, Petru Macovei, said that journalists should not support such a code, since they are already have tools in place for self-regulation that do not require additional external regulation.  According to Macovei, the Journalistic Code of Ethics already contains recommendations on the processing of personal data, and the Press Council already serves as a self-regulatory body for Moldovan media.

Media Monitoring

OSCE/ODIHR: Citizens’ Access to Information “Insufficient” During the Parliamentary Elections

The final Report of the International Election Observation Mission for observing the Parliamentary Elections of February 2019, under the aegis of the OSCE, has been published. It highlights a number of gaps in the Moldovan media’s reporting on the election campaign of February 2019 and made concrete recommendations in order to tackle them. The observers found that voters’ access to public information was often insufficient because of the political control over the media. In addition, certain discrepancies between the Law on Access to Information and Law on Personal Data Protection limited voters’ access to information. The International Mission also found that the sanctions imposed by the Broadcasting Council did not have the expected impact, since the regulator monitored the broadcasters only during the election campaign.

BC Did Not Find Any Child Rights Violations in the ‘Vorbeste Moldova’ Talk Show, Aired on Prime TV

During its meeting on May 17, the Broadcasting Council (BC) presented the results of the monitoring of the “Vorbeste Moldova” talk show aired on Prime TV. The Press Council notified the BC about the alleged violations of the rights of the child in this talk show, and invited it to act upon them. The Press Council stated that the editors of the episodes of the talk shows aired on April 15 and 16, featuring the story of a girl sexually abused by her stepfather, “have committed serious deviations from ethical and legal norms.” The BC, however, did not identify any violations of children’s rights by Prime TV.
The Ombudsperson for Children’s Rights Maia Banarescu disagrees with the Broadcasting Council’s position. According to her, the questions journalists asked the minor violated the ethical norms and the rules of children’s media coverage. Such TV shows can have a negative impact on children.

Media-M Project Updates

BC Member: Mixed Electoral System as a Challenge to the Audiovisual Media

Olga Gututui, member of the Broadcasting Council (BC), made a number of recommendations in the analytical brief “The Mixed Electoral System: A New Challenge for Audiovisual Media in Moldova,” that was published in Freedom House’s Media Forward series. Among other things, Gututui proposes clarifying the standards of the Electoral Code regarding the financing of electoral advertising and the right of the broadcasters not to reflect election campaigns. According to Gututui, the period of media monitoring by the BC should also be altered, so that the necessary sanctions can be applied in a timely manner. The author came to these conclusions after analyzing the way audiovisual media service providers covered the Parliamentary Elections of February 2019, which was the first time the new electoral system was applied in Moldova. As for the media’s coverage of the election campaign, Gutututi concluded that the media has become a platform for election candidates to attack each other. The target of criticism differed from one TV channel to another, depending on their political affiliation. The policy brief series is part of the “Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M)” Project funded by USAID and UK Aid and implemented by Internews and Freedom House.

The Media Azi Show

Over the past six years, the Republic of Moldova has been downgraded 36 positions in the Reporters Without Borders ranking, and Freedom House has reported the status of press freedoms in the country as only “partially free” for nine years. Journalist Victoria Dodon explained the reasons of this state of affairs during the newest edition of Media Azi talk show.
More and more often, Moldovan reporters say they are not allowed to do their field work, being assaulted, intimidated or even stalked. How can journalists be protected? This topic was tackled during a new edition of Media Azi show, featuring Liuba Sevciuc from RISE Moldova and lawyer Tatiana Puiu, representative of Freedom House in Moldova.

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