The IJC Launches the First Monitoring Report on Ten TV Channels during the Electoral Campaign. Conclusions Regarding Each Channel
On Tuesday, October 1, 2024, the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) launched the first 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, TV8, TVC 21, and TVR Moldova.
During the monitoring, the IJC focused on the main newscasts, electoral broadcasts, and after the debates start, it will also analyze this sort of media products.
The first monitoring report covers September 20-26, 2024. During this period, the ten monitored TV channels broadcast a total of 316 materials, 33 of which were programs, and the rest were news items.
“This monitoring is aimed at informing the audience about the editorial behavior of the broadcasters covering the elections. For selecting these ten channels, we had several criteria, such as the type of ownership (private and public channels), the language of broadcasting (we have channels which broadcast both in Russian and Romanian), and the third criterion was the possibility of covering the election campaign, because the number of the broadcasters who announced they would cover the polling procedure is quite limited,” Nadine Gogu, IJC Executive Director, explained during the press conference where the conclusions from the first monitoring report were presented.
According to the conclusions regarding each channel, Cinema 1 covered the elections both in the newscasts and in the programs with the participation of some candidates and referendum participants. The tone used for presenting most election candidates in the newscasts was predominantly neutral. Maia Sandu, the PAS candidate, and Alexandr Stoianoglo, the PSRM candidate, were presented/mentioned both in a positive and a negative manner, especially in the programs. Ion Chicu, the PDCM candidate, and Vladimir Voronin from the PCRM had the largest amount of time for direct quotes during the programs.
Exclusiv TV covered electoral issues in the newscasts and programs, presenting most of the election participants in a neutral and sometimes in a positive manner. Alexandr Stoianoglo, the PSRM candidate, and Maia Sandu, the PAS candidate, had the greatest number of appearances in a positive context. The channel also covered the activity of the central public authorities (CPAs); the tone of the coverage was positive, negative, and neutral. Most of the political parties were covered in a neutral manner, except the PAS, which was presented in both negative and positive ways.
The GRT regional public TV channel briefly covered the campaign in the newscasts, and electoral topics were mostly touched upon in the programs, through the critical filter of the show hosts and foreign and local experts. The tone of the presentation of most election participants in the newscasts was neutral. Maia Sandu, the PAS candidate, was equally mentioned in neutral and negative contexts, especially in the programs. The CPAs and the PAS as the ruling party were mentioned in both neutral and negative ways, and the PCRM was presented in a positive manner.
Jurnal TV covered the campaign in the newscasts and programs, providing direct access to the newscasts for most of the registered election candidates without obviously favoring or disfavoring any of them. The tone of coverage in the newscasts was mostly neutral. Maia Sandu, the PAS candidate, and Andrei Nastase, an independent candidate, also were presented in a positive manner. The Government and the Presidency were mostly mentioned neutrally, as well as positively and negatively.
Moldova 1 public TV channel provided access to the newscasts to most registered election candidates, and the tone of the coverage was neutral in the vast majority of cases. Maia Sandu, the PAS candidate, was presented neutrally; at the same time, there was an advantage in the positive tone of the relatively large amount of materials about the activity of the state institutions.
N4 covered the election campaign in the newscasts and programs, providing access to the newscasts to all the candidates registered for the elections. The tone of the coverage was predominantly neutral for most of the electoral candidates, except the candidate from the PAS, the ruling party. Maia Sandu had an advantage of the positive tone in two news items, but was presented in a negative way in most of the programs monitored. Due to image transfer, Sandu was favored in a relatively large number of news items regarding the Government’s activities, though, at the same time, she was disfavored by negative remarks regarding the CPAs in the programs. Also in the programs, the PAS candidate was disfavored due to the numerous negative remarks regarding the PAS.
Pro TV Chisinau provided relatively equal access to the newscasts for most election participants, predominantly presenting them in a neutral, but also in a negative manner. Victoria Furtuna, an independent candidate, and Ion Chicu from the PDCM had the greatest number of appearances in a negative context. The tone of coverage of the political parties was mostly neutral, and the PSRM had the largest number of appearances in a negative context. The state institutions were mentioned in a more neutral manner.
TV8 covered the elections in the newscasts and, tangentially, in the programs, providing direct access to the majority of candidates registered for the elections. Together with the political parties and state authorities, they were mostly mentioned in a neutral manner, without favoring or disfavoring any of them.
TVC21 summarized the campaign activities in brief, digest-type newscasts and programs. Among the electoral candidates, Irina Vlah, an independent candidate, Vasile Tarlev, the candidate from the “Partidul pentru Viitorul Moldovei” (Party for the Future of Moldova), and Andrei Nastase, an independent candidate, were most often presented positively. Maia Sandu, the PAS candidate, was mentioned mostly negatively, especially in the programs, together with the CPAs and the PAS, and was disadvantaged by the large number of negative materials regarding the authorities due to image transfer.
TVR Moldova covered the campaign in the newscasts and programs, providing access to the majority of the registered electoral candidates. The tone of presenting the candidates, political parties, and state institutions was mostly neutral, except in the cases of Victoria Furtuna, an independent candidate, and Alexandr Stoianoglo, the PSRM candidate. In addition to neutral coverage, they also had appearances in a negative context. Maia Sandu, the PAS candidate, was mainly mentioned neutrally, and had an advantage from the positive tone of the materials regarding the Government’s activity.
The monitoring takes place within the framework of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, of which the IJC is also a member. Three other reports will be presented in the context of the first round of the presidential elections. The fifth report will be launched if the second round of the elections takes place.
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.
