There Can Be No Justification for Limiting the Access of the Media to Parliament Meetings

Mihai TURCANU
journalist, Evenimentul Zilei Newspaper        
       

 

Media access to Parliament meetings is a normal element of democracy, of the freedom of expression and information. There is no rational justification for the difficulties caused by the MPs to the journalists.

Technical reasons, such as lack of free space, are no justification whatsoever, as it should be the problem of the MPs, not of the journalists. Moreover, there have been no such problems in the past, when the meetings were held in the old Parliament building or, as a provisional solution, at the Palace of the Republic. MPs tend to forget sometimes that they are in the service of the people and the media is the key monitoring tool used by the electorate. "Deporting" the journalists to a tiny room is a sign of disrespect not for the media as such, but for the people. Irrespective of the real intentions of the MPs, this is what it looks like – as if they keep the media in contempt, on purpose and without any justification.

The freedom of expression and of information are principles included in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, which in turn derives from the Human Rights Declaration and numerous international covenants and agreements to which Moldova is a party. Besides, the public should be free to use any source it desires for information. If a certain media outlet does not want to cover some event, it bears the guilt in front of the public. However, if a media outlet wants to cover an event and is not allowed to do so, it it the State that is to be blamed for violation of the rights guaranteed to the people. Hence, the limitation of media access cannot be justified in any way. Any law limiting the access of the media may be appealed and risks being declared unconstitutional. The performance of a certain media outlet cannot be a reason for limiting its access to information. Moreover, it is not the MPs who get to decide which TV station may cover their work and which cannot. A media outlet can be sanctioned only as provided by law and by empowered state institutions. Any artificial selection on doubtful criteria, by decision makers that are not empowered to do it, is a violation of the norms and principles of modern democracy to which this country has committed over two decades ago.

NOTE: The Independent Journalism Center (IJC) holds awareness raising events under the slogan "We Want Access into Parliament!" on all days when Parliament holds plenary meetings. The Campaign aims to ensure free access of the media to Parliament meetings, so that the media can freely perform their duties.