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According to IJC Executive Director Nadine Gogu, some improvements are registered on certain TV channels in the field of broadcasting. ‘We see an increase in the number of neutral materials’, Nadine Gogu stressed. At the same time, she said, ‘when it comes to the broadcasters – the electoral stakeholders and political protagonists are shown positively by those TV channels that are either owned by politicians or affiliated with certain parties. In all other cases – without open affiliations or political ownership – the situation is different’, states Nadine Gogu.
According to API representative Ion Mazur, no major changes were noticed in online and printed press in comparison with the first report. ‘There are still portals that cover the election campaign neutrally and those that keep giving preference to certain political parties’, Mazur mentioned.
The most visible election candidates in the media
According to the report, the positive tone was used most frequently in regard to the following election candidates in the nationwide constituency: PDM, followed by PSRM and ‘Sor’ Political Party. The electoral stakeholders in the single-member constituencies affiliated with the said parties also were featured in the largest number of positive materials. Conversely, the ‘ACUM’ Bloc was featured in the major portion of negative materials, along with the candidates in the single-member constituencies affiliated with this Bloc. The state institutions were featured more neutrally and positively.
As for the frequency and duration of recorded and live appearances on the news, shows and debates, the most featured political stakeholders, election candidates in the nationwide constituency were Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM), Party of Socialists of Moldova (PSRM), ‘ACUM’ Electoral Bloc, ‘Sor’ Party and Liberal Party (PL). Among candidates who entered the electoral race in single-member constituencies, the most widely covered ones were Andrei Nastase (affiliated with the ‘ACUM’ Bloc), Vladimir Plahotniuc (affiliated with PDM), Maia Sandu (affiliated with the ‘ACUM’ Bloc), Vlad Batrincea (affiliated with PSRM) and Ilan Sor (affiliated with ‘Sor’ Political Party).
As for political pluralism, the most visible (by the frequency and duration of appearances (quotations/direct speech)) election candidates in the nationwide constituency on the monitored online portals and newspapers were: Democratic Party and Party of Socialists, followed by the ‘ACUM’ Electoral Bloc, ‘Sor’ Party and the Communist Party. Certain candidates (Democratic Party, Party of Socialists, ‘ACUM’ Electoral Bloc, Liberal Party) were also given relatively large space for live appearances. Thus, the Democratic Party has been the most visible one, in various contexts, at 8 out of 16 monitored media outlets, the Party of Socialists – at 4, ‘ACUM’ Electoral Bloc – at 3.
Behaviour of the media outlets in terms of the tone applied to the candidates
Public channels
The tone of coverage was largely neutral for most political actors and election candidates at the Moldova 1 public TV channel during the reporting period, except for the Cabinet of Ministers: four cases of positive tone, favourable to the government, were registered in its case. GRT regional public channel was inactive in covering the election campaign.
Private channels
Prime TV, Canal 2, Canal 3 and Publika TV channels had similar editorial policies, reflecting the election campaign both in newscasts and debates (regarding the National Consultative Referendum) and during the shows, where mainly subjects of indirect electoral nature were discussed, with the participation of Government or PDM representatives. NTV Moldova and Accent TV channels continued to give a lot of broadcast time both to the representatives of PSRM and to the election candidates in the single-member constituencies affiliated with this party, as well as to the President Igor Dodon, using rather positive and neutral tone. PDM, ‘ACUM’ Bloc and ‘Sor’ Party were covered both neutrally and negatively. At Pro TV, TV8 and Jurnal TV channels, the coverage of political protagonists was mostly neutral. The Central Television has allocated more airtime for the ‘Sor’ Political Party and to the candidates in the single-member constituencies affiliated with it, mostly acting positively and neutrally.
Online media
According to the report, Agora.md portal kept covering the election campaign in a balanced and mostly neutral way, without any evident editorial preferences. Aif.md largely covered the activity of the Party of Socialists and the President Igor Dodon, mostly praising them. Deschide.md portal used rather negative than neutral editorial tone when presenting the Party of Socialists and ‘Sor’ Party. Diez.md generally covered the election campaign neutrally; however, during the reporting period it published several positive materials about the ‘Sor’ Party and Orhei’s resigned mayor. Esp.md limited itself to covering of the campaign in Balti. All its materials had neutral and unbiased editorial tone. Gagauzinfo.md portal from Comrat reflected the campaign from the regional perspective as well, however, there was a visible negative tone in relation to Nicolai Dudoglo – an independent candidate, who is suspected of affiliation with the Democratic Party.
Kp.md largely favoured the Party of Socialists, was mainly positive towards the President Igor Dodon and was rather neutral and positive in covering the Democratic Party. Moldova.org continued to present the parties and candidates in the 2019 Parliamentary Elections in a balanced and generally neutral tone. Newsmaker.md showed a correct behaviour as well, having used generally neutral tone in its articles and not giving any electoral preferences. Similar to the previous period, Noi.md portal showed negative attitude towards Ilan Sor, manifested through the total number of negative articles featuring this candidate and its party. Realitatea.md presented the majority of election candidates mostly neutrally. However, the Democratic Party and Pavel Filip were featured most frequently in the newscasts and in the largest number of positive materials. Sputnik.md almost removed itself from covering the election campaign; instead, it concentrated on active and positive coverage of the President Igor Dodon’s visit to the Russian Federation, his declarations and comments on the social media. Timpul.md visibly favoured the Democratic Party and its leaders (Vladimir Plahotniuc and Pavel Filip) by a lot of laudatory articles; it favoured the ‘Sor’ Party and its leader as well, while presenting the leaders of the ‘ACUM’ Electoral Bloc Andrei Nastase and Maia Sandu mainly negatively. Unimedia.info featured the election candidates in various contexts, mainly neutrally. Zdg.md was balanced in covering the election campaign as well, using mostly neutral tone.
Print media
Jurnal de Chisinau newspaper was negative towards the Party of Socialists, ‘Sor’ Party, Democratic Party and its leader Vladimir Plahotniuc; at the same time, it presented the ‘ACUM’ Electoral Bloc and its representatives mainly positively or neutrally.
The monitoring was performed by the Centre for Independent Journalism (TV monitoring) and the Association of Independent Press (online and print media monitoring) under a project of the Coalition for Free and Correct Elections.
