Ion TERGUTA, Media Expert: “In 2016, The Internet Will Become A Battleground”

At the start of the new year, we asked some media experts to make a retrospective of 2015 so as to see what was good in the media and what was not. We also asked them to make some predictions for 2016. Below, we are publishing their replies to the two questions asked by Media Azi:
 

• What are, in your opinion, the successes and failures of 2015?
• How do you think the situation will develop in 2016?

•  Year 2015 was not successful. It was most probably because of the fact that the Moldovan press is full of complications. Classical press was attacked and devalued in front of the public by non-institutionalized pseudo-journalists with enough resources and connections in classical media, through which they attack the public by “trolling.”  Journalists became partners of the political class, and all possible tools were used for that. The “Teleradio-Moldova” public company got under political control through a ridiculous and unprofessional contest for selection of its administration. It was followed by legislative “attacks” camouflaged by good intentions (the two draft laws on modifying and supplementing the Broadcasting Code, developed by PDM/PLDM [Democratic Party/Liberal Democratic Party] and PL [Liberal Party], accordingly). Such institutions as the BCC [Broadcasting Coordinating Council], which is an autonomous regulator, made pacts with politicians and transformed into real dangers for Moldovan media. The media forum was also a reaction of the journalistic community opposing these increasingly virulent practices, but it has not yet reached its objectives. 
• In 2016, the situation will become even worse. The state’s institutions will still be politically controlled, and it will be accompanied by control over mass media. Thus, the media will become even more subdued to authorities and political control will become more evident. Classical media will withdraw, because of lack of resources, to cheaper platforms, and the Internet will turn into a battlefield. Limited resources, corroborated by the economic crisis and decrease of the advertising market, will lead to the disappearance of an important number of operators or to their concentration.

Foto souce: Constantin Grigorita