Tyrone Shaw on Moldova: What You Have Is a Pretty Politically Partisan Press

Tyrone Shaw worked as a reporter, news director for a radio station and managing editor in Vermont, USA. He is currently a professor at Johnson State College in Vermont, teaching community journalism. In early March, Shaw held a seminar on media ethics during a two-day training organised by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) in Chișinău. The training dealt with approaching topics on minorities and vulnerable social groups in a professional and non-discriminatory manner. On that occasion, Tyrone Shaw also spoke to Media Azi about journalism in Moldova.

You first came to Moldova in the late 1990s – how was your experience back then and how would you compare it to how things are nowadays? 

I first came to Moldova in 1998, and my last visit until this February was in 2006, eight years ago. In terms of national development, I see a maturing of the political process, a commitment to democratic rule, the peaceful transition of power, and a comparatively stable political dynamic, all of which I think are remarkable achievements in what is really a short time in building a nation – 18 years. America has been working on it for over 200 years, yet we remain a work in progress. Democracy is messy no matter how experienced you are.

What is your experience and level of involvement with the Moldovan media? Have you worked or collaborated with media outlets here?

Unfortunately, I have had very little involvement with Moldovan media beyond the media ethics workshops I have conducted with both the IJC and the State University a number of years back.  The workshops I attended recently marked my most recent involvement with media professionals in this country, and I was impressed on multiple fronts.

How do you view media freedom in Moldova? How does it stand compared to Western democracies? 

Without a doubt, the situation seems to me to better than at any other time during my visits here. I think passage of the 2010 Law of Freedom of Expression, has been very helpful.  I do know that in 2011, independent media monitoring groups issued some very positive findings regarding press freedoms in Moldova.  I also am aware of a new code of ethics adopted by over 80 Moldovan media outlets, which is also a very positive development. As for comparing it Western democracies, that is a very complicated question.  First, I would characterize the Moldovan press landscape as reflecting the Libertarian model – what you have is a pretty politically partisan press with ownership of most major outlets in the hands of political parties and movements.  There is nothing wrong at all with this model, I think, provided the biases are evident and ownership is transparent.  Journalists and editors all face pressures to varying degrees from media owners, whether they be political or corporate.  I have seen some excellent and fearless investigative journalism in Moldova, most recently Ziarul de Garda’s ongoing campaigns against local corruption, a courageous, important and difficult undertaking.

As far as reflecting minorities’ issues goes, how would you characterize the Moldovan media landscape and what should reporters/editors do to improve the situation? 

I don’t know enough to offer a comment beyond what I have observed during this recent two-day conference, and that is how impressed I was by the seriousness of the participants in finding ways to improve the ethical treatment in the media of minorities and vulnerable populations in all regions of Moldova, including Transnistria and Gagauzia. Of course, kudos go to the IJC and its partners, including the NGO Civil Rights Defenders for organizing this event. I felt honored to be included in this very serious conversation.  Ethical treatment of our minorities and social vulnerable populations  is a problem, I think, in all media regardless of country. Sometimes empathy and respect must be learned, no matter how evolved the society.  

What would you say are the challenges the media faces in an electoral year like 2014 and considering the growing neighboring conflicts in Ukraine? What would you advise journalists in this situation?

I think this upcoming election cycle has very high stakes for Moldova, and the media could  play a constructive role in fostering a clarifying national conversation about its future: to look westward and strive towards joining the EU or eastward towards a customs union with Russia and its partners. Ideally there should be an unbiased broker in this conversation and I fear it is unlikely to come from the political parties or their media outlets, no matter how sincere their beliefs might be.  The real challenge, I think, is for media to provide that platform and to present clearly what the positives and negatives would be in each case.