Monthly Bulletin, February 2024
Several media NGOs including the Independent Journalism Center have signed a statement saying they are “deeply concerned about signs of censorship at the regional public broadcaster in Comrat”.
Former GRT editor Oxana Kihayal complained to the Supervisory Board that executive director of the GRT, Vasile Dermenji, had asked her to delete a story from the website without explanation. The story contained several experts’ opinions, according to which the promise to supply the region’s residents with natural gas at the price of 10 lei is based on false information and manipulation. The NGOs also claimed that the press service of the Executive Committee of the Gagauz Autonomy regularly requests the publication of press releases on the GRT website and that a representative of the press service be present in the editorial office. Another video discusses GRT’s broadcasting of programs of Ilan Shor’s affiliated television station Primul in Moldova, whose license has been suspended.
The signatories of the statement condemned the attempts of illegal interference in the editorial activity of media institutions and called for the investigation of these incidents under the provisions of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova.
Media NGOs Condemn Ceban’s Repeated Attacks on the Press
Nine non-governmental media organizations, including the Independent Journalism Center, have repeatedly condemned the behavior of Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban, who has again attacked and intimidated the press, making unfounded accusations against journalists. At a press conference held on 21 February, the mayor avoided answering questions from TV8 reporter Stefan Bejan, accusing the outlet of being the “mouthpiece and pampers” of the ruling PAS party. Ion Ceban also calls TV8 “manipulative television” with “yellow goggles”. This is not the first time that the capital’s mayor has behaved inappropriately and intimidatingly towards the press. Media NGOs have condemned this hostile behavior and urged Mayor Ion Ceban to behave appropriately and avoid any form of intolerance towards the press.
Local authorities in Gagauzia want to set up a mechanism to condition online press activity in the region by issuing an approval (Izin), according to a draft law made public last week.
According to the authors, the objectives of the draft approved by the Executive Committee of Gagauzia ATU are “control over the activities of private electronic media; optimization of private electronic media activity; distinction between private and public media; carrying out activities under Izin”.
Specifically, local elected officials want to oblige online media sources in the region to buy a so-called activity permit from the authorities, called “Izin”, and intend to charge an annual fee for it.
The document also provides for the abolition of some of the powers of the Supervisory Board of the public company Gagauziya Radio Television (GRT) and a reduction in the number of members from nine to seven on the grounds that “it is complicated to gather so many people in one place”, as well as a reduction in the broadcasting time of the GRT channel in the Gagauz language.
The legislative initiative drew much criticism from civil society and non-governmental media organizations.
Media NGOs condemn the attempts of the Gagauzia authorities to undermine press freedom and demand the immediate withdrawal of the legislative initiative
Media NGOs have condemned attempts by the Executive Committee of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (UTAG) to hinder the professional activity of journalists by setting up arbitrary and abusive mechanisms to condition online media activity through an approval by the UTAG authorities. The signatory NGOs called for the immediate withdrawal of the legislative initiative, which blatantly contravenes the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova and international treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is a party. In a joint statement, nine of the main media NGOs, including the Independent Journalism Centre, remind the authors of the legislative initiative that constitutional rules (Article 111) expressly state that all rights and
freedoms provided for by the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Moldova are guaranteed in the territory of the UTAG, while the current legislation of the Republic of Moldova does not provide for the authorization of online media.
Several programs on public broadcaster Moldova 1 are no longer on air, and some of the institution’s former and current employees criticize the administration for its selective attitude. Journalist Tatiana Cojocaru, author and director of the show “In other shoes” on Moldova 1, which was closed a few months ago, suggests that people in the TV management are taking “less decent and professionally argued” actions. In a post on her Facebook page, which has attracted more than 100 comments, other fellow journalists have also criticized the administration. Contacted by IJC portal Media Azi, TRM’s chairman of the Supervisory and Development Council (SDC) Arcadie Gherasim says the closed shows were “weak” and the public broadcaster is preparing to launch other media products this spring. According to him, the Council has started to intensify the training of staff.
French authorities recently revealed the existence of a network of Russian propaganda information portals aimed at the public in the U.S. and Europe. The network called “Portal Kombat” includes 193 sites used to destabilize Western countries and includes a Transnistrian source.
The French authorities’ report reveals the existence of the Tiraspol-news.ru website, “which targets, among others, towns on the unrecognized border between Moldova and the Transnistrian region, such as Dubasari. The report also states that the sites in this network do not produce any original content, but mass reproduce publications mainly from three types of sources: social networking accounts of Russian or pro-Russian actors, Russian news agencies and official websites of local institutions or actors. The main purpose seems to be to cover up the Russian-Ukrainian conflict by positively portraying the ‘special military operation’ and discrediting Ukraine and its leaders,” the report says.
Between 2022 and 2023, 201 criminal cases related to cyber fraud were investigated. While 125 cases were opened in 2022, last year the number dropped to 76, and 47 cases were sent to trial in the last two years, the Attorney General’s Office says.
In an official response to IJC portal Mediacritica, the General Prosecutor’s Office pointed out that the investigation of cybercrimes has often been hampered by restrictive criminal legislation regarding special investigative measures. Thus, the investigation of cybercrimes could not be successfully carried out on narrow terms without the possibility of carrying out special investigative measures. However, the criminal procedural legislation has been amended and its provisions entered into force at the beginning of 2024, which will contribute to the achievement of national criminal legislation, including in view of the implementation of the provisions of the Convention on Cybercrime,” the document states.
The National Investigation Inspectorate’s (IGP) Centre for Combating Cybercrime is increasingly reporting online scams, whether they be messages sent by phone or email. For example, in 2023, 176 criminal cases were opened on cyber fraud, the IGP says.
The National Investigation Inspectorate’s Cybercrime Centre tells citizens that if they have received a suspicious text message, it is best to ignore it, delete it and under no circumstances click on the attached link. It is an online scam known as smishing.
Media Legislation
Earlier this year, a new law on access to information of public interest came into force. It brings a number of new features to the field, including the creation of a new form of legal liability for information providers.
Once the new law enters into force, when a requester challenges the actions or inactions of information providers, magistrates hearing the cases will be obliged to impose fines ex officio.
For not publishing information of public interest (proactive transparency), authorities risk a fine of between 250 and 3,000 lei (15 -150 euro). For incomplete disclosure of information, requesting unlawful payments for disclosure, or unjustified rejection or readmission of the request, the court may fine providers 500 to 5,000 lei (25 – 250 euro). Unjustified refusal to disclose information of public interest can be fined between 1,000 and 10,000 lei (50 -500 euro).
The Supreme Court of Justice has declared inadmissible Teleradio-Moldova’s appeal in a case brought by the public company against the Audiovisual Council (AC). The decision is irrevocable.
The sanction in dispute, in the amount of 5,000 lei, was imposed by the AC after monitoring the station from 13-17 November 2023, in the context of the local election campaign of 5 November, when the authority identified that several items broadcast by Moldova 1 were not accompanied by the source of the images, as required by the Audiovisual Media Services Code, the Council said.
The failure to indicate the source on the video images taken by Moldova 1 was also found by the Independent Journalism Centre to be the most frequent error between 1 and 7 December 2023.
TV stations’ appeal against the decision by which CES suspended their broadcasting licenses in December 2022, rejected by the first court
The lower court rejected the appeal of six TV stations whose licenses were suspended by the Commission for Exceptional Situations (CES) in December 2022. The decision to suspend the activity of the TV stations was taken by the CES “in order to protect the national information space and prevent the risk of disinformation”.
The channels Primul in Moldova, Accent TV, TV6, Orhei TV, NTV Moldova and RTR Moldova have separately challenged the SSC’s decision in court. The judges merged the six cases into one and sent it to the Chisinau Court of Appeals, Rascani seat. According to a decision of 9 January 2023, Grigorii Cazacu, a magistrate of the Chisinau Court of Appeals, ruled that the CSE provision was not an individual administrative act, but a normative act that must be challenged in the Court of Appeals. After ping-ponging between courts, the case went back to magistrate Grigorii Cazacu of the Chisinau Court.
On 28 December 2023, the judge rejected as unfounded the complaint filed by the representatives of the six stations.
The Media Azi Show
World Radio Day was marked on 13 February. In the context of this event, journalist Anastasia Nani and her interlocutor, Liliana Nicolae from Radio Europa FM, with more than 25 years of experience in radio, tried to find an answer in the Media Azi show to an increasingly topical question: what is happening to radio products as podcasts and the apps on which they are broadcast are becoming increasingly popular?
IJC Updates
In 2023, compared to previous years, there was a slight evolution in the state of the media in the Republic of Moldova. However, the situation of the media in the country remains affected by serious problems, shows the Index on the State of the Press in Moldova (ISPM) in 2023, released by the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) on 5 February.
The ISPM methodology includes seven indicators relevant to media realities in the Republic of Moldova: the legal regulatory framework; the political context; the economic environment; the professional environment; the quality of journalism; information security from a media perspective; and the security of journalists.
The state of the domestic press was assessed by 14 evaluators with a score that was half of the required (60 points) to certify that media legislation is sufficient and effective, that the press operates in favorable economic conditions or that journalists carry out their work in full security.
The author of the document, media expert Ion Bunduchi, proposes a set of recommendations that could improve the situation.
This report is part of the USAID and UK funded project “Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova” (MEDIA-M) and implemented by Internews in Moldova, which aims to promote the development of an independent, professional media, and to create a media sector that is more resilient to political and financial pressures.
ISPM in 2023: Information security from a media perspective, has become cleaner in the past year
The information space in our country has become cleaner in the past year, shows the Index on the State of the Media in Moldova (ISPM) in 2023. Thus, information security from a media perspective has evolved from the serious situation zone, in which it was all previous years, to the zone marked by serious problems.
The information security indicator scored 29 points, up three points from 2022, and signifies a situation marked by serious problems.
The ISPM also reveals that “there are local media institutions that practice quality journalism, thus contributing to strengthening information security, some of which have a media education component in their content. For example, Radio Moldova continued broadcasting the only media education podcast in the country – cuMINTE, and since September it has been broadcasting the “Pe inteles” (Understandable) column, in Romanian and Russian, accessible to any citizen interested in knowing how information manipulation works. “Both products belong to the Mediacritica platform, managed by IJC, and the initiative to broadcast them in audio format came from Teleradio Moldova, precisely to increase the public’s resilience to disinformation,” the research says.
In the last week of February, the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) updated the credibility ratings of 40 news portals on the Media Radar platform. The monitoring consisted of assessing news according to a set of criteria and the results were announced in four stages on 26, 27, 28 and 29 February.
Thus, the Newsmaker.md portal retains its leading position in the top ranking of online media institutions with the highest credibility ratings. The site is followed by Tv8.md, Nokta.md, Zdg.md, Esp.md, Agora.md, Ipn.md, Nordnews.md, Zugo.md, Infotag.md, Moldova1.md.
According to IJC Executive Director Nadine Gogu, the latest results show an increase in the quality of content published by some of the monitored portals. However, the monitoring also showed that some media outlets continue to copy press releases and social media posts.
The monitoring was made possible by the generous support of the American and British people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and UK. The monitoring results are the responsibility of the Independent Journalism Center and does not necessarily reflect the views of UK, USAID or the United States Government.
Forty-five elderly people with hearing impairment from Chisinau municipality participated for the first time in a media education workshop organized on 20 February by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) in partnership with the Association of the Deaf of the Republic of Moldova and the Republican House of Culture of the Deaf of Moldova.
The trainer of the media education workshop, journalist Diana Răilean, presented to the audience several examples of false content through which public opinion is manipulated. In turn, IJC program coordinator Victoria Tataru warned them to get information from different sources in order not to be misinformed.
During the activity, the hearing-impaired were able to assimilate the information presented thanks to a team of sign language interpreters employed by the Association of the Deaf of the Republic of Moldova, who facilitated communication.
The media literacy workshop was organized in the framework of the project “Promoting Social Cohesion in Moldova by Fostering Inclusion and Diminishing Discrimination” carried out by the Independent Journalism Center in the framework of the program “Joint Equal Opportunities Initiative – Phase II”, implemented with the support of the Government of Switzerland.
A new training and information workshop for teachers took place on 27 February at the “George Meniuc” High School in the capital. The event was attended by 60 employees from the education system of the Chisinau municipality, representing various pre-school and pre-university educational institutions. They were trained on how to deal critically with information, how to ensure the transparency of institutions and gained general knowledge about the characteristics of the information space of the Republic of Moldova.
Ina Grejdeanu, Director of Strategic Development of the IJC, informed the participants about the portfolio of media education resources that the IJC has developed over the 10 years it has been carrying out media education activities. Expert Viorica Zaharia, President of the Press Council, gave an overview of Moldova’s information space and regional context, presenting elements of information warfare and disinformation.
The training was organized within the project “Strengthening society’s resilience to disinformation through professional media content and innovative tools”, implemented by the Independent Journalism Centre with the support of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), from August 2023 to February 2024.
The advertising market in Moldova remains in a state of wait-and-see
In 2024, the advertising market in the Republic of Moldova will most likely experience a decline with a dramatic direct impact on the consumer segment of the economy, writes the author of a commentary published by the Independent Journalism Center’s Media Azi portal, Ludmila Andronic. And this despite the fact that, according to the journalist, advertising should be the engine of development of the media and ensure the most sustainable, fair and decent income. And, on the other hand, it makes the media more efficient, tending towards quality, in order to have audiences, because only if you have audiences will you have advertising.
The author examines two main causes of the decline in media advertising in recent years – the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Companies have been very cautious about spending in these situations, and the first budgets they cut were advertising budgets.
Last but not least, the author of the commentary also refers to the suspension of the 12 TV stations for security reasons and how this has affected the advertising market in Moldova.
The production of this material was made possible by the generous support of the American and British people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and UK. The content is the responsibility of the Independent Journalism Center and does not necessarily reflect the views of UK, USAID or the United States Government.
Resilience, a term not popular with our citizens, has started to be mentioned more and more lately in the context of the importance of making states and citizens more secure. Especially in Eastern Europe, where we live in difficult times, with conventional war, hybrid war and a host of threats. How resilient is our society in the face of all these challenges, we wonder.
In February’s edition of the cuMinte Podcast, journalist Ana Sarbu discusses the importance of resilience, especially information resilience, with Ovidiu Alexandru Raetchi, president of the Euro-Atlantic Resilience Center in Romania.
The cuMINTE podcast is produced by the Independent Journalism Center with support from the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).The views expressed in this material do not necessarily represent those of IWPR or its partners.
