IJC Report: More Severe Forms of Information Manipulation Have Been Found, and Journalists are Engaged in Propaganda Campaigns

“In the period of February to April 2017, new and more severe forms of information manipulation – truncation of statements, distortion of the message and quoting out of context – and propaganda have been found, which is usually characteristic of election periods. In addition, journalists are engaged in propaganda campaigns, showing a selective approach to facts and opinions, thus protecting the image of some politicians rather than objectively covering reality.” These are some of the findings of the fifth monitoring report “Elements of Propaganda, Information Manipulation and Violation of Journalistic Ethics in the Local Media Space” (February 1 – April 1, 2017), released by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) on Thursday, April 27, 2017.

The monitored issues included the launch of the uninominal voting system initiative; discussion in the Parliament on the draft law on transition to the new voting system; adoption in final reading of the draft law amending the Broadcasting Code; growing costs on medical services for the people who have no medical insurance policy; and voting in the first reading on the draft law on annulling the immunity of MPs.

According to Viorica Zaharia, the media expert who drafted the report and followed the 12 monitored media outlets between February and April 2017, journalists were increasingly engaged in propaganda campaigns. “Publika TV and Prime TV daily aired news about ‘the benefits of uninominal voting’ and presented facts unilaterally, favoring the Democratic Party. In the same manner, Accent TV had a selective approach and gave preference to topics related to the activity of the Party of Socialists and in newscasts focused on the actions of this party’s representatives, ignoring other relevant opinions and facts.”

The report shows that the most commonly used manipulation techniques and deviations from the Ethics Code are omission, generalization, distortion of source messages, truncation of quotes, quoting out of context, labeling, unilateral presentation of facts, and quoting of unknown experts. Also, other media outlets than those mentioned above covered the monitored topics without significant deviations from ethical norms or, depending on their specifics and coverage, did not include these topics in the news.

The IJC recommends media outlets and journalists to further refrain from participating in propaganda campaigns and to report on facts objectively, presenting different points of view in their news. At the same time, media managers are advised not to use media outlets as tools to promote the interests of politicians to the detriment of balanced information of the public. A recommendation for the Broadcasting Coordination Council is to monitor how broadcasters cover issues related to change of the voting system so as to ensure that people are not manipulated but are fully and impartially informed, while consumers are recommended to have a critical mindset and seek information from several media sources.
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This report has been produced by the Independent Journalism Center within the media campaign against false and tendentious information STOP FALS!, conducted by the Association of Independent Press (AIP), the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) and the VIP Association of Independent TV Journalists of Moldova (ATVJI).