Ro
En
Рy
Editor-in-chief, "Observatorul de Nord"
The ideal OWNER should be the one who brings the money, but who does not influence the creative process. In our press, however, the opposite often happens – the one registered in documents as "master" believes that journalists should generate money, and his ultimate goal is then to bless them and boast in front of his business colleagues about being a kind of Berlusconi of Soroca (Orhei, Floresti, Balti, Comrat...). I have known a "boss" from Soroca who did not know the alphabet and did not have basic knowledge, but who always set himself up in... columnist and opinion maker. The materials written by him and read, let’s say, by actors Anatol Durbala or Petru Oistric could become true masterpieces of humor. Of course, his worthless newspaper went off in a few months, but this time was enough to pollute the not so clean information space. Or, if to open a pharmacy the owner needs a bunch of certificates and permissions, to become the owner of a newspaper someone needs some money, some people who can write and as many people as possible to deceive and manipulate.
The JOURNALIST should,(although he often cannot or does not want) be the backbone of a newspaper. A good journalist can influence the employer, if the latter goes off the rails and does not mind his own business. Unfortunately, in Moldova is often the opposite; therefore we have every right to paraphrase the well-known folk wisdom - "tell me who your employer is and I'll tell you who you are." On the other hand, the quality of journalists who recently graduate the respective departments, is not quite brilliant, and that is being kind. I personally sought a reporter during eight years (!), from dozens and dozens of students come to practice, and only after so long I "found" just two reporters that whom I am not ashamed of in front of others - Tatiana Zabulica and Vadim Sterbate. What does this deficit tells us about? The fact that a good journalist is "nature creation" or God creation rather than good university graduate, who can do wonders if taught by brilliant teachers.
The AUTHORITIES may not, normally, have media outlets, but are obliged therewith to ensure transparency in their activity. For many people, complying with these rules is almost impossible. Official of all ranks are used to be boasted and worshiped, the and find it difficult to give up the toy named "newspaper". The recent remark about the privatization of press is not a coincidence, since the privatization is de jure - not de facto. Not for any other reason, but in the districts where the heads were more cunning, the newspapers have only changed the form, not the content. Otherwise, it would be best if local papers, not all together, but those with higher circulation and distribution area, edited a kind of Official Gazette of the district, where they would publish all the decisions made by the council, but many presidents feel less like spreading official material – they need image polishing and praise every day, 24/7.
The READER is perhaps the most important link in this chain, but the size and especially the quality of readers is continuously decreasing. It is enough to do a review of newspaper editions to see the decreasing trend and that readers prefer other sources of information than newspapers. An analysis done by our editorial staff shows that the share of young and middle-aged readers who subscribe to or buy a newspaper is insignificant: only 10-15 percent of the working population reads newspapers, the lion's share of subscriptions, for example, accruing to retirees. No subscription means no possibility for a newspaper to exist.
In conclusion: the owners of newspapers and the journalists must urgently solve two very important tasks: first - to focus on the quality of the materials published and on the veracity of the information provided to the reader and second - to keep up with life and to "westernize" as urgent as possible their media. This is a prerequisite to survive in a century of great technical and informational changes.
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 project, 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.
