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The Broadcasting Council started monitoring 16 media service providers on June 12. The BC experts will examine the news on electoral topics from the main newscasts of 15 TV channels and one radio station; the day of the election will be the last day to monitor their actions during the campaign. The BC’s list includes Moldova 1, 10 TV, Publika TV, Prime TV, Primul in Moldova, TVR Moldova, TV6, Canal 2, Canal 3, TV8, NTV Moldova, Jurnal TV, RTR Moldova, BTV, PRO TV Chisinau, and Radio Moldova public radio station.
In their reply to Media Azi, the BC representatives mention that the first monitoring report will be examined on June 30, over 18 days from the first monitoring day and 11 days before the election. “Hence, considering the fact that 15 TV stations and one radio station are being monitored, and 5 persons in charge of monitoring, one of whom is a beginner, work within the TV/Radio Monitoring Department, as well as the fact that technical capacities of the institution intended for recording, storing, and monitoring program services are outdated and require necessary modernization, the Broadcasting Council will take all necessary steps to present the first monitoring report for public discussion on June 30, 2021, and subsequently file it to the Central Electoral Commission,” Lia Gutu Head of the General Department for Licensing, Authorization and Monitoring within the BC, specifies.
IMPORTANT REPORTS “PRESENTED ON TIME TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO INTERFERE”
According to the legislation, every two weeks, the BC shall submit monitoring reports on the coverage of the election campaign by national broadcasters to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). They have to contain information on compliance with legal provisions on reflecting elections by suppliers in all the broadcasts. Besides, two days before the elections, the BC shall present a summarizing report to the CEC.
Cristina Durnea, the lawyer at the Independent Journalism Center, remarks that, according to the Calendar Program approved by the CEC, the electoral period for the early parliamentary elections started on May 5, 2021. “Thus, starting with that day, the information on the subject must comply with the provisions of the Regulations on reflecting the campaign for the presidential elections dated November 1, 2020, in the mass media of the Republic of Moldova,” she states.
Ion Bunduchi, Executive Director of the Electronic Press Association, mentioned in an edition of the Media Azi broadcast that monitoring media service providers’ behavior during election campaigns is important because their results depend on who will be included in the parliamentary plenary. He also added for the Media Azi portal that the reports have to be published and analyzed before the elections. “A monitoring report will be less efficient if it is complied once for the entire campaign or presented three weeks after the election. It should be presented at least once a week, I suppose, because it would give a chance to intervene promptly and correct certain breaches. If tat ship has sailed, what else could we hope for? TV channels which do their job not as they are supposed to, but as their owner demands, obviously will tend to obtain an ideological, electoral effect instead of informing the voter adequately. This is why timely reports are important: they make it possible to interfere,” Ion Bunduchi says.
The media expert mentions that the role of society consists in drawing newsrooms’ attention to irregularities, whereas the BC is the authority empowered to sanction them. “The BC as an empowered authority can sanction media service providers which act beyond legal limits and can bring them into the legal field to inform voters as comprehensively as possible,” Ion Bunduchi explains.
SANCTIONS FOR INFRINGEMENTS AS THE BC’S RIGHT AND OBLIGATION
According to the media researcher Aneta Gonta, the number of reports prepared by the BC does not matter as long as they focus on the relevant period and events in the election campaign. “We can have one or ten of them. It is more important that these reports are submitted on time so that suppliers have enough time to react, correct any mistakes, be informed by the regulatory authority in time, and also sanctioned whenever appropriate,” she comments for Media Azi.
However, the researcher believes that the authority could cooperate with civil society, including the Independent Journalism Center (IJC), which started monitoring media service providers since June 1. “It is really good that the IJC started monitoring earlier, it can only help the BC. It is good that the BC, which is encouraged by the legislation to cooperate with civil society, to address for assistance during the monitoring process. Why should the same TV channels be monitored by both entities while the others remain uncovered? Why not complete the list of monitored suppliers and jointly do something the entire society requires? The goal is – or at least is supposed to be – the same, right?” Aneta Gonta says.
According to the media researcher, the regulatory institution should be more determined in relation to the broadcasters breaching the law. “The BC has limited capacities and sometimes demonstrates insufficient determination in relation to breaches committed by the broadcasters. Of course, we would like to see more intentions to apply the same measures to everyone, especially when there are enough arguments for more severe sanctions and a stricter attitude. The law allows and requires it from the BC, hence, the Council should make full use of this right, and it is also its obligation,” Aneta Gonta concludes.
