Journalists’ Crisis Cell // Authorities’ communication with the media has been discussed at an informal meeting of journalists with representatives of the Government

On Thursday, October 7, several journalists had a meeting with representatives of the press services of the Government, various ministries and other institutions subordinated to the Government. At the event, the journalists addressed issues of facilitating communication between authorities and the media. The meeting was organized at the initiative of the Journalists’ Crisis Cell, launched by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC).

The IJC representatives said they had contacted the Government’s communication officers after several representatives of media outlets requested that such a meeting be organized.

The representatives of the Government urged the journalists to come up with recommendations regarding communication between central authorities and the media.

The event was attended by about 25 people – communicators and journalists from about 15 media outlets.

The invitation to the event had been issued to all editorial offices in Moldova.

The Journalists’ Crisis Cell was launched by the IJC at the beginning of April 2020, in the context of the state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and of notifications about the lack of transparency and restricted access to information of public interest. Earlier, with the support of media outlets and media NGOs, the cell managed to convince the officials of the Ministry of Health to organize online conferences where the media could ask questions live and also filed a petition to the Parliament, signed by over 350 citizens, asking for access to information and reporting on abuses committed by some officials and dignitaries in relation to the media.

Also, due to the efforts of the Journalists’ Crisis Cell, front-line representatives of the media were introduced into the list of people who had the right to get vaccinated at the second stage of immunization against COVID-19.

The event was organized within the project “Improving the media environment for journalists (women and men) in Moldova by holding accountable the public authorities through comprehensive advocacy campaigns”, carried out by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) with the financial support of the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) between June 2021 and February 2022.

Această activitate a fost organizată în cadrul proiectului „Îmbunătățirea condițiilor de activitate pentru jurnaliști prin campanii de advocacy și responsabilizarea autorităților” desfășurat de CJI cu sprijinul financiar al Fondului canadian pentru inițiative locale (CFLI), în perioada iunie 2021-februarie 2022.