Clarifications by the Independent Journalism Centre on a Press Release by the Parliament

The Division for Communication and Public Relations of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova published a press release today – A Motion Against Misinformation – expressing its discontent with the “Access to Information is Guaranteed by the Law! Do not Allow this Right to be Violated” television advert broadcasted by Moldova 1, Jurnal TV, TV8, Canal Regional and Elita TV channels. We note that access to information is a right enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova and in the European Convention on Human Rights, and that the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) has been promoting it since its foundation.

The advert, created by IJC in 2015, is part of the ‘Better Laws for Journalists, a More Informed Citizen!’ campaign, aimed at improving the legal framework on the access to information. The campaign that has been carried out during the past years included a number of public events – debates, press clubs, trainings for journalists, studies, as well as petitions and protest campaigns that demanded facilitation of access to information. Pressure from civil society and the media resulted in granting journalists access to the Legislative Chamber in 2016. Also, a draft amending the Law on Access to Information was developed during this campaign and was registered as a legislative initiative by a group of Members of Parliament. Unfortunately, the draft was only voted in the first reading in July 2016.

In order to raise the authorities’ awareness about the need to ensure and facilitate media’s access to information, an advert was created in 2015, which primarily referred to the right of all citizens to access information of public interest. The message of the video is the following: in order to inform citizens fairly, journalists must have access to any information of public interest. By resuming the broadcast of the advert in the context of Press Freedom Days (from May 3 to 30), the campaign organizers want to draw attention to the fact that the issue of access to information persists and that lawmakers should resolve it.  

IJC welcomed the creation of the parliamentary group for improving media laws, under the auspices of the Speaker Andrian Candu. At the same time, we can not overlook the fact that no tangible progress has been observed so far in the field of access to information. Due to imperfect legislation, journalists continue to struggle, sometimes through court, to obtain information of public interest from state institutions, while their requests are often neglected or receive formal, elusive responses. From this point of view, the situation in 2018 does not differ much from 2015, when we released this advert. Several reports and studies launched by IJC and international organizations confirm the situation.

The 2017 Moldovan Press Status Index released this year by the IJC reveals the aggravation of the state of Moldovan media, as compared to 2016. Issues related to access to information are also highlighted in the Memorandum on the State of Press Freedom in the Republic of Moldova 3 May 2017 – 3 May 2018, signed by nine media civil society organizations.

According to international organizations such as Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders, the state of Moldovan media is deplorable and marked with small scores, which is an issue that journalists as well as the authorities should think about.

We regret that no Parliament representative stepped forward to talk to the journalists that were taking part in the press solidarity march organized by a number of media NGOs, choosing to attack them through press releases instead. We express our hope that the Parliament will take into account the recommendations of the Memorandum on the State of Press Freedom in the Republic of Moldova for the period of 3 May 2017 – 3 May 2018 and will solve the listed issues.