„Media Azi”, 19th Edition: Presidential Elections, a Challenge for the BCC

The Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC) has a responsible mission in presidential elections – to ensure that broadcasters provide fair, neutral, and impartial coverage of the election campaign. How will the broadcasting regulator reach this goal and what conditions will TV and radio outlets have to comply with during the campaign, taking into account the rules developed by the BCC? Answers to these questions you can hear in the current week’s edition of the “Media Azi” show.

Journalist Nicolae Negru as moderator discusses these aspects with BCC Chairman Dinu Ciocan.

According to the rules developed by the BCC and approved by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), during this election campaign national broadcasters must provide 5 minutes on TV and 10 minutes on the radio to competitors in order to present their programs and inform voters, while public broadcasters must provide to each contestant for the same purpose 1 minute daily. At the same time, broadcasters filed to the BCC declarations, having committed to promoting a balanced editorial policy and providing every contestant with equal airtime and real possibilities to present their electoral platforms.  

What rules are there regarding the coverage of the election campaign by foreign broadcasters with legal access on the territory of Moldova? Who will be responsible if some shows aired by foreign broadcasters fail to comply with the principle of neutrality and impartiality? How will the BCC act in such situations? Answers to these questions you can also find in the show.

Some other topics that will catch your attention are: Online publications will follow the same criteria in their work as print press; how then will the work of online outlets that operate with video and audio materials be regulated? Some TV channels set exaggerated prices on advertising, which not all candidates can afford; can we then speak about equal access of candidates to the media? Is it fair that some candidates have already begun their campaigns and are using their own TV channels, while others are only about to get that one minute daily, provided by the rules?

In terms of electoral advertising, Dinu Ciocan mentioned that after a candidate is registered by the CEC as an electoral contestant, they should apply, within 48 hours, to broadcasters, asking for advertising time for the entire duration of the campaign. However, such advertising cannot be aired earlier than 30 days before elections.