T(V)E Privește! Platform: A New Tool for Reporting Non-Compliant Radio and TV Content

Starting from July 30, citizens of the Republic of Moldova can report cases where radio and TV stations broadcast the content inconsistent with journalistic deontology and ethics and the current legislation via T(V)E Privește!, a platform launched by the Independent Journalism Center within the project “Strategic Communication and Media Support in the Republic of Moldova” financially supported by the European Union. By applying this tool, the IJC aims to contribute to increasing the degree of media consumers’ involvement in media content monitoring processes, as well as to making the regulatory authorities in charge of the broadcasting sphere more responsible.

T(V)E Privește! is an interactive tool which offers users an opportunity to report cases they consider problematic with a single click. According to Nadine Gogu, IJC Executive Director, the platform will provide users with sufficient products to help them understand which content is biased, discriminatory, or contains an incitement to hatred, and encourage them to be proactive and report these cases whenever they notice any breaches. “We hope that the public’s direct involvement in this process will make both the Broadcasting Council which is supposed to guarantee radio and TV audience’s interests and media institutions more responsible, Nadine Gogu emphasizes.

T(V)E Privește! includes several basic sections containing the information for guiding users while reporting breaches. Thus, the Regulations section explains the legal provisions which help the audience understand when it is appropriate to report breaches. File a complaint is a section where any citizen can report breaches committed by a radio or TV station within the country. A complainant has to fill in a blank mentioning the name of the station, the title and the time of the program/broadcast, and the breach admitted.

The IJC will collect all the complaints media consumers file, verify which ones fall under legal and deontological provisions, and send petitions to the Broadcasting Council. The IJC will monitor the way the Council reacts to the petitions and inform the public of the decisions made.

T(V)E Privește! Platform is an integral part of the Mediacritica portal and is available in Romanian and Russian.