The IJC Launches the Third Monitoring Report on Ten TV Channels during the Electoral Campaign. Statements from October 4-10, 2024
On Tuesday, October 15, 2024, the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) launched the third monitoring report regarding the electoral campaign for the presidential elections and the republican constitutional referendum to be held on October 20, where citizens are invited to answer the question whether they support the integration of the Republic of Moldova in the European Union. The IJC monitored ten TV channels: Cinema 1, Exclusiv TV, Gagauziya Radio Televizionu (GRT), Jurnal TV, Moldova 1, N4, Pro TV Chisinau, TV 8, TVC 21, and TVR Moldova.
During the monitoring, the IJC focused on the main newscasts, electoral programs, and debates on several TV channels.
The third monitoring report covers October 4-10, 2024. During this period of time, the ten monitored TV channels broadcast a total of 316 directly or indirectly electoral materials. 270 of them were news items, 37 were programs, and nine were debates.
“In most cases, the election candidates were covered neutrally. Maia Sandu had the largest number of negative appearances (23), as well as positive ones (10); in the rest of the cases, the tone was neutral (33). At the same time, Sandu had an advantage due to the positive materials regarding the activity of the central public administration and the PAS (76 in total) and was equally disadvantaged by the negative materials about these institutions (73 in total). Victoria Furtuna had 10 negative appearances and four positive ones; in the other cases, a neutral approach was used (25). Alexandr Stoianoglo, Renato Usatii, and Irina Vlah were mostly presented neutrally, but they also had appearances in a negative context (6, 4, and 5 times each) and in the positive one (2, 3, and 2 times, respectively). The other election candidates appeared predominantly in a neutral context,” Nadine Gogu, Executive Director of the Independent Journalism Center, explained.
According to the conclusions regarding each channel, Cinema 1 covered the elections in news items and programs with the participation of all the election candidates and parties participating in the referendum. The tone of coverage was neutral in most cases. Maia Sandu, the PAS candidate, was presented mostly negatively, and was usually mentioned in a negative context in the programs, but also in a positive and neutral manner, most frequently in the news items. Renato Usatii, Natalia Morari, Vasile Tarlev, Ion Chicu, and Tudor Ulianovschi also appeared in a positive and neutral context, whereas the other candidates were presented only neutrally. The political parties were mostly covered neutrally, except the VICTORIE Party and the ex-Sor Party declared unconstitutional which were mostly presented negatively. The tone of presenting the state institutions was mostly neutral, as well as positive and negative. The Government had a number of positive appearances, and the Presidency and the Parliament were presented neutrally.
Exclusiv TV covered the electoral activities, presenting most of the candidates for the position of president of the Republic of Moldova, except Renato Usatii, the candidate from Our Party. Most of them were presented negatively and positively, depending on the context of the materials. Maia Sandu, the PAS candidate, was presented mostly in a neutral and negative manner; Tudor Ulianovschi, Vasile Tarlev, and Irina Vlah were presented both positively and negatively, Natalia Morari was presented only positively, and the others were presented neutrally. The parties referred to in the news items and programs were presented mostly neutrally, except the ex-Sor Party and the PAS which were disadvantaged by appearances in a negative context. The tone of covering the CPA representatives was mostly neutral.
The GRT regional public TV channel briefly covered the campaign in the newscasts, presenting electoral topics especially in the broadcasts through the critical filter of the show hosts and experts. The tone of presenting the election stakeholders mentioned in the monitored materials was mostly neutral, except Maia Sandu, the PAS candidate, who had the largest number of negative appearances, especially in the programs. The central public administration and the PAS as the governing party were mostly presented negatively, and the ex-Sor Political Party declared unconstitutional had neutral and positive appearances.
Jurnal TV provided direct access to the newscasts to all the registered election candidates for the position of president of the country, and to most of the parties taking part in the referendum which joined the debates. The channel treated the candidates equally in the newscasts, informing about their meetings/electoral promises; the tone it used for presenting them was neutral in most cases, and sometimes, it was positive or negative. The political parties participating in the referendum were presented neutrally. Among the other political stakeholders, the ex-Sor Party and the VICTORIE Party were mainly presented negatively. The tone of presenting the Government, the Presidency, and the Parliament was mostly neutral.
Moldova 1 public TV channel covered the election campaign both in the newscasts and in the debates organized both for the referendum and for the presidential elections. During the reporting period, six candidates had access to the public TV channel’s materials; in most cases, they were presented neutrally. Maia Sandu did not have any direct quotes as the PAS candidate, but she continued to benefit from the positive tone of the relatively large number of materials regarding the executive authority’s activity.
N4 covered the election campaign in both newscasts and programs/debates, providing access to the newscasts to all the registered election candidates. The channel kept using different tones while referring to the election candidates, the state institutions, and the governing party in the newscasts and programs/debates. Maia Sandu was favored in the newscasts, including due to the news items about the Government’s activity, and was disadvantaged in the programs and debates, implicitly due to mentioning the executive authority and the PAS. Her opponents present during the programs and debates benefited from positive appearances.
Pro TV Chisinau offered access to the newscasts to all the 11 election candidates by means of appearances/mentions. During the reporting period, no obvious cases of favoring or disfavoring any candidate for the position of head of state were registered. In addition, most of the political parties referred to in the newscasts and programs were presented neutrally, except the ex-Sor Party and the VICTORIE Party which were presented mostly negatively. The tone of presenting the state institutions was mostly neutral; in two situations, the context of presenting the Government and the Presidency was positive.
TV8 covered the election campaign mostly in the context of the CEC activities, resenting five of the 11 registered election candidates from the perspective of integrity profiles compiled by the newsroom. In most cases, they were presented negatively. The political parties and the CPAs mentioned in the newscasts and programs relevant to monitoring were presented mostly neutrally.
TVC21 kept providing brief information about the election campaign in the News Digest newscasts. Three election candidates out of 11 had direct access to the channel’s programs; all of them were presented positively. As to the candidates, Maia Sandu was disadvantaged by the largest number of negative mentions in the programs. She was also disfavored by negative mentions of the PAS, the party which had designated her as a candidate for the position of head of state, as well as by the negative appearances/mentions of the Government.
TVR Moldova offered access to the newscasts to all the election candidates. Maia Sandu was advantaged by the largest number of appearances/mentions in a positive context, while Victoria Furtuna was disadvantaged by the largest number of appearances in a negative context. The other candidates were presented neutrally. Due to image transfer, Maia Sandu was also favored by most of the materials regarding the executive authority’s activity, as well as by positive appearances/mentions of the governing party.
The previous monitoring report which covered September 27 – October 3, 2024, was published on October 8. The monitoring takes place within the framework of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, of which the IJC is also a member. The next report will be released on October 22.
This monitoring report was made possible by the generous support of the American and British people through the intermediary of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the British Embassy in Chisinau. The content is the responsibility of the Independent Journalism Center and does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Kingdom, USAID, or the Government of the United States.
