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A politically coloured media

10 December 2014
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În Moldova

Tatiana CORAI,
Editor coordinator at Media-Azi

 

The other day, I have read on a politically “red” web site a so-called news on a press conference. The article was top to bottom the author’s– idem the party’s – opinion only. No facts and an interpretive title.  The author provided ready-made conclusions for the reader just to swallow. This is what a politically affiliated journalism looks like.

 
 Then a scrolled other „coloured” news. On a politically „blue” site, the journalist wants to convince me that the „blue” party politicians are the first in the popularity top. While, on a „green” site, a journalist is certain that the „green” party will gain the elections.
 
Regardless of its colour, all the politically affiliated media are skilled manipulators.
 
Three media NGOs stated our journalism is politically engaged: the Independent Journalism Centre, the Association of Independent Press and Electronic Press Association. They monitored the behaviour of 35 media institutions during the elections campaign and underlined the noncompliance, abuses, deviations from ethical and professional norms, and provided recommendations for such journalists. Well, none of the monitored media took into account such recommendations of the civil society. These NGOs drafted and presented weekly six monitoring reports that provided evidence of the particular media infringing the CCA (Coordinating Council on Audiovisual) regulation on reflecting the elections campaign, lack of equidistance, the media interpreting facts and manipulating the public. Despite this, no relevant institution reacted. 
 
Some justify such behaviour of the media by the fact that at the latest elections Moldova chose between East and West, between dictatorship and freedom. Journalist could not but use their only weapon – the word – to promote some politicians that promised to draw our country out of poverty and to make it as civilized as the others. Citizens also expected journalists to get involved and bear a good hand to make our country move forward, towards civilization.
 
The Munich Chart of Journalism, also signed by the International Federation of Journalists, provides the journalists’ rights and obligations. For example, the Chapter Professional duties included a principle we should not ignore: discipline of verification is what separates journalism from other modes of communication, such as propaganda, fiction or entertainment.
 
A few years ago, I visited Lithuania. It was a week before the elections for the Lithuanian Seimas, but there was nothing to allude this – no Stas Mihailov (singer) performing on the central square, no election posters in the street. The Seimas adopted a law prohibiting election advertisement on the street. Then the host, editor in chief of the Lietuvos Rytas, showed us the latest edition of the newspaper. We, the Moldovan journalists we astonished: there was no election advertisement in the newspaper either. We asked whom the newspaper supported in the elections and we were told: “We don’t make political partnerships. We believe a newspaper should always oppose the government, regardless of its colour.” People say that during a right-wing government, this newspaper is left wing, and during a left-wing government, this newspaper is right wing.
By the way, the Freedom House top presents the Lithuanian press as being free.
 

 

Instead of conclusions
 

In the recent election campaign, we saw enough examples of political servility as to disgust not only readers, but also politicians. Now that the election campaign is over, there is no more reason to divide politicians into yours and ours. We should treat them all equally. If we treat them less subjectively, we are likely to discover some “pseudo angels” among those we depicted as holy leaders. In the end, being objective means doing our business of “watchdogs”.
 
It is high time we remembered we are the Fourth branch of government.

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The article was published within the Advocacy Campaigns Aimed at Improving Transparency of Media Ownership, Access to Information and promotion of EU values  and integration , implemented by the IJC, which is, in its turn, part of the Moldova Partnerships for Sustainable Civil Society project, implemented by FHI 360.
 
This article is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content are the responsibility of author and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.