Wednesday commentaries among the most viewed materials on Media Azi

September 2015 saw the end of the first part of the “Advocacy campaigns to ensure media ownership transparency, access to information, promotion of values and European integration” project implemented by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC), which is, in its turn, part of the FHI 360’s “Moldova Partnerships for Sustainable Civil Society” project.

Due to this project, the IJC could provide opportunities for dozens of experts and opinion leaders to analyze the situation of local mass media in the commentary section. The 48 materials posted on Media Azi between October 2014 and this September covered a large variety of topics. The absolute majority of commentaries analyzed the phenomena occurring in the local media through the prism of relevant European standards.

Issues covered by commentaries under the general topic of media law included the need to adopt a law on media ownership transparency. Readers learned how such laws operate in European countries, where media outlets must provide information about their ownership to public authorities and where penalties for the violation of that obligation can take the form of fines, imprisonment, or withdrawal of broadcasting licenses. In Moldova, the law on media ownership transparency is to enter into force on November 1, 2015. However, experts already see that it might have no impact, because MPs did not accept the amendment concerning the prohibition for offshore companies to own media outlets.

Commentaries concerning the media law analyzed such issues as aspects of the law on protection of personal data, which is often interpreted to the detriment of public interest; protection of sources of information and situations in which the law can force a journalist to disclose an anonymous source; the law on access to information and the need to optimize the legal framework etc.

Commentators drew attention to the need to take urgent measures for securing the information space and referred to such issues as problems in local broadcasting; the difficulties of transition to digital television; journalists’ lack of access to plenary parliamentary meetings; the credibility of this profession at a time when media representatives are divided according to political, ideological, geopolitical, linguistic, and other criteria; lack of professional solidarity; etc. Other topics covered by commentaries were the management of local media; the problems of investigative journalism; online censorship; the crisis of print media; the problems of news agencies, journalistic education, or language of the media.

Commentaries gathered record numbers of views, some of them over one thousand, proving that readers waited for them and were interested in such materials. The second part of the project begins in October 2015. Commentaries will continue, stay with us!

The full list of materials posted in the Commentaries section on Media Azi between October 2014 and September 2015 can be found (here)