You are here

IJC Report: Some of the Media Outlets Continued to be Involved in Political Partisanship in the Second Round of the Campaign for Local Election

05 June 2018
626 reads
The Report No 5 on Media Monitoring in the Campaign for New Local Elections, presented by the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) on 5 June, states that some of the media outlets monitored during 21 May – 2 June 2018 reflected the second round of the local election campaign in a neutral way, while others continued to be involved in political partisanship.
 
The overall findings of the monitoring show that during the two week campaign for the second round of elections, some broadcasters have favoured or disfavoured one or another candidate, while some TV channels have massively promoted a particular candidate.
 
Moldova 1 public broadcaster and RTR Moldova and Pro TV private channels revealed a quite balanced behaviour. They covered both election candidates in the news, and did not favour or disfavour any of them. TV 8 private station reflected both candidates in a neutral light. However, it was obviously a slight imbalance in favor of PPDA/PAS/PLDM candidate Andrei Nastase, who was reflected on several occasions in a positive context, and in disfavour of PSRM candidate Ion Ceban, who was reflected in a negative context.  
 
Prime TV, Canal 2 and Publika TV national broadcasters, which had announced they would not cover the election campaign, aired various electoral materials favoring the PSRM candidate Ion Ceban and disfavoring the PPDA/PAS/PLDM candidate Andrei Nastase.
 
Jurnal TV covered both candidates in the news, presenting them in different contexts.  PPDA/PAS/PLDM candidate, Andrei Nastase, was strongly favored, with exclusively positive content, while PSRM candidate, Ion Ceban, was presented in negative, neutral, and positive light.
 
NTV Moldova and Accent TV massively promoted Ion Ceban, PSRM candidate for Chisinau Mayoralty, and massively disfavored Andrei Nastase, PPDA/PAS/PLDM, presenting him exclusively in a negative light.
 
The report recommends that journalists use monitoring reports as self-regulation tools, renounce assessing/commenting on election events, grant the right to reply, and cover events truthfully without distorting reality by editing or commentary. By monitoring the media, IJC aimed to inform the public on media outlets behavior during the election campaign and election candidates’ access to mass media. It also aimed to notify the regulators on the trends that might affect media performance or compromise its ability to provide accurate, unbiased and pluralist information to the audience.
 ____________________________________
The Monitoring Report is developed by the Independent Journalism Center, as partner of ‘Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova’ (MEDIA-M) project, funded by USAID and implemented by Internews. The MEDIA-M project aims to promote the development of independent and professional press in Moldova, giving citizens access to a broad range of perspectives and contributing to the creation of a more resistant to political and financial pressures media sector.