The IJC organized a flash mob in front of the Embassy of the Russian Federation on May 3 to pay tribute to the journalists killed in Ukraine on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. Participants displayed photos of the dead and the message “Killing journalists will not hide the horrors of war.” “We consider it a war crime that journalists are arrested, detained, tortured, deliberately killed. (…) We have come to the Russian Embassy to say in the strongest terms that this is an abuse against freedom of the press, against freedom in Ukraine,” said Nadine Gogu, executive director of the IJC. Alina Radu, editor-in-chief of Ziarul de Garda, believes that security is one of the biggest challenges facing the media today. “As journalists, especially investigative journalists, we have never felt fully secure,” she said, stressing that “security is important for citizens and journalists.” According to Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least seven journalists have died in the course of their work since the start of the war in Ukraine: Yevgeny Sakun, Brent Renaud, Pierre Zakrzewski, Alexandra Kuvshinova, Oxana Baulina, Max Levin and Mantas Kvedaravicius. |
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On World Press Freedom Day, the IJC, together with other media organizations, publicly launched the Memoir on Freedom of the Press in the Republic of Moldova from May 3, 2021 to May 3, 2022. In the preamble of the document, the signatories express their solidarity with journalists covering the war unleashed by the Russia in Ukraine, as well as their deep regret at the large number of media professionals who have lost their lives as a result of war crimes committed by the aggressor state. The authors of the Memorandum stress, inter alia, that maintaining and strengthening the freedom and independence of the press must be a priority for Moldova and regret that the media is frequently used as a propaganda tool and that the principle of editorial independence from political parties and interest groups remains illusory. At the same time, they consider it necessary to improve the decision-making process of the Broadcasting Council in order to protect the public from war propaganda without affecting the freedom of the press. The paper also notes that the trend towards the concentration of media ownership in conglomerates is a threat to freedom and pluralism in audiovisual media, and that impunity affects not only press freedom but also the daily work of journalists, creating a climate of fear and self-censorship. In order to encourage and protect the free press and to ensure the impartiality of the media, the signatories of the Memorandum recommend the government and parliament to develop, legislate, and implement democratic mechanisms capable of strengthening institutional capacities and professional skills to counter propaganda, disinformation and media falsehoods, improving legislation on access to information, ensuring the correct and uniform application of the law, and reducing the politicization of media activity by expanding the independent media sector and other measures to support and develop the media in the country. The full text of the Memorandum can be read HERE. |
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According to a report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Moldova ranks 40th out of 180 countries in the press freedom index. This is an increase of 49 places from the previous year. For comparison, Romania ranks 56th, Ukraine 106th, Belarus 153rd and Russia 155th. The ten most repressive countries in the world in terms of press freedom are Myanmar (176), Turkmenistan (177), Iran (178), Eritrea (179) and North Korea (180). The Index shows that the media in Moldova is divided into pro-western and pro-western camps, with oligarchs and political leaders strongly influencing the editorial policies of newsrooms. The report notes that Moldova’s media is diverse, “but highly polarized, like the country itself, which is marked by political instability and excessive oligarch influence.” Examples are TV6, NTV Moldova and Prime TV, which are “in the hands of political leaders.” The report says, “The media empire created by former billionaire and chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova, Vladimir Plahotniuc, has lost its influence, but was quickly replaced by a new holding connected to the pro-Russian Socialist Party.” The research also notes that some media outlets risk tackling issues that are not to the liking of the authorities, but many of them simply follow the political line of the party to which they are affiliated. It also notes that the previous Broadcasting Council gave more broadcasting licenses to TV stations affiliated with the Socialist Party, which “retransmit more and more propaganda produced in Russia”. It also raises the issue of access to information, which is often restricted, and frequent cases of unfounded defamation lawsuits. The economic analysis again mentions the link between some media companies and politicians and oligarchs who dominate the advertising market, to the detriment of independent media, which lack resources and are facing financial difficulties. For this reason, many media outlets seek support from foreign donors. RSF also points to regular cases of intimidation and insult of journalists by political leaders and officials. |
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Several media organizations, including the IJC have condemned in a joint statement the abusive and illegal actions of a Riscani Court representative against NordNews reporter Nicoleta Pinzaru. According to NordNews, on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, the journalist was documenting a story about a protest by several people unhappy with the work of the court. While she was trying to get a comment from the court representatives, a court employee violently blocked her access to the building, squeezing her finger when she closed the door. The signatory organizations expressed their outrage at this incident and stressed that the actions of the court employee constitute a violation of the right to personal integrity and an interference with the special rights guaranteed to journalists. According to the signatories of the statement, “injury to bodily integrity” and “insulting harassment in public places of a natural person, other similar actions disturbing public order and peace of the natural person” are punishable acts under the criminal law. They asked the employees of the court to refrain in the future from showing any form of intolerance against journalists and media institutions, and asked the president of the Drochia Court, Riscani seat, Ion Rabii, to punish the inappropriate behavior of the employee. |
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| During the online broadcast of the May 21 edition of “Nokta Live,” journalist Mihail Sirkeli became the target of threats from Comrat City Hall employee Anatolie Cobolschi. In a comment posted on a social network, he threatened the journalist with bodily harm. The representative of Comrat City Hall wrote “Zavtra raschlenyu etogo klouna” (from Russian, “Tomorrow I will dismantle this clown”). In a joint statement, seven media NGOs, including the IJC, condemned Cobolschi’s statements and called them a violation of the right to bodily integrity of the person, individual freedom and safety, as well as an interference with the special rights guaranteed to journalists. “We call on the law enforcement authorities of the Republic of Moldova, in accordance with their legal powers, to take note of the acts committed and to initiate the procedures provided for by law in order to hold Anatolie Cobolschi accountable,” the statement reads. |
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On May 26, the People’s Assembly of the Autonomous Territorial Unit Gagauzia issued a decision banning the media from documenting and disseminating on the territory of the autonomous region (UTAG) materials aimed at propagating non-traditional relations. Six media organizations, including the IJC, expressed their concern about this in a joint statement, calling it an “abuse of press freedom.” They say the ban could undermine freedom of expression of the media and contravenes the Constitution and other state laws. The signatories of the declaration called on the Territorial Office of the State Chancellery to exercise legal control over this normative act and to directly refer the matter to the administrative court in order to annul the decision and asked the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia to renounce in the future legislative initiatives restricting the rights and freedoms of journalists. |
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| Several journalists have reported that they were restricted access to the Ciocana building of the Chisinau Court on May 26, where the case of former president Igor Dodon was being examined. According to Newsmaker.md, the reporters were held in the hall of the institution for more than four hours. The institution’s security representatives reportedly told one of the journalists, who asked to be let through, “I will put you on the blacklist and you will not be able to have access to a court hearing.” Ombudsman Ceslav Panico reacted to the restrictions in a press release, in which he stressed, “Journalists have an essential role in informing society and providing factual coverage of events and issues of public interest. The Ombudsman reaffirms that freedom of expression and freedom of the press are crucial to the functioning of a democratic society. And any restrictions on the exercise of journalists’ activities must be well argued and proportionate, and in line with national laws and international standards.” The Ombudsman also urged the responsible authorities “to be fair and respectful of the press in the exercise of their duties so as to prevent violations of the public’s right to information.” |
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| Radio Chisinau (Romania branch) was unable to obtain an extension of the right to use the toponym “Chisinau” in its name after the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) in an April 27 decision did not grant the request. The management and employees of the media institution expressed their “deep regret and disappointment” at the authorities’ decision. Radio Chisinau representatives applied to the Chisinau City Hall in December 2021 with a request to extend the right to use the toponym “Chisinau” in the name of the sound broadcasting media service, a right they obtained for ten years in 2012 by a decision of the CMC, according to documents published by Realitatea.md. The response of the CMC’s General Directorate, Trade and Tourism to the radio station’s administration states that on April 27, the CMC examined the draft decision and “rejected it by a majority vote of the councilors present at the meeting.” Referring to the regulation on the conditions of granting permission for the use of local symbolism and the official or historical name of Chisinau municipality in the name of enterprises and/or in the brand name of products and/or services, the local councillors decided that the company holding the broadcasting license for Radio Chisinau “does not have the right to use the toponym ‘Chisinau’ in the brand name.” The radio station’s administration expects a possible reconsideration of the position and vote of the Chisinau Municipal Council and declares that in the ten years of broadcasting “it has been a loyal and honest partner of all citizens of the Republic of Moldova, as well as of the central and local authorities.” |
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In a May 18 ruling, the Commission for Exceptional Situations (CES) has annulled the provisions of an earlier ruling adopted in early March on doubling the deadlines for responding to requests for information of public interest and for petitions. It should be recalled that the March 2 provision stipulated that “during the state of emergency, the legally established deadlines for dealing with requests made in the exercise of free access to information of public interest, as well as with petitions, shall be doubled.” During other states of emergency committees adopted similar decisions. In April 2021, the Commission doubled the deadline, and media NGOs expressed concern about the initiative, saying that extending the period for dealing with access to information requests “constitutes a disproportionate and unjustified measure.” |
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Digi24 journalists Alexandru Rotaru and Cristian Petrescu were detained on Tuesday, May 10, in the Transnistrian region, where they were reporting on the latest provocations in the separatist area. The two journalists were broadcasting from Tighina and Tiraspol on Tuesday and were detained without charge while in the so-called capital of Transnistria. The Digi24 team was released after about six hours following the intervention of the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE) and Chisinau authorities. In a live broadcast for Digi24 from Chisinau, Alexandru Rotaru said, “We were detained for about six hours, when we were questioned by some kind of officers who were trying to find out why we were there. We went to Tiraspol to talk to the director of the only Romanian-language high school. We were interrogated in a room where we had no access to mobile phones. After six hours we were allowed to leave the Transnistrian region.” The Romanian MFA said that both the ministry in Bucharest and the Romanian diplomatic mission in Chisinau had not been informed in advance about the intention of the two journalists to travel to the Transnistrian region and asked media representatives interested in going to the area to contact the authority in advance and avoid traveling in the coming period. |
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The Government approved at its May 18 meeting, the draft decision on the establishment of the governmental mobile electronic signature and identity service (MobiSign). With the implementation of this solution, the new type of electronic signature will also be able to be used by citizens on their mobile phone, tablet or computer to sign documents, including by journalists, who will be able to sign requests for information via the application. The signature may be free for citizens. Deputy Prime Minister for Digitization Iurie Turcanu said that the MobiSign service offers all the functionalities needed for a legally binding electronic signature, which can be used for signing documents and authenticating electronic systems, among other things. The document’s information note states that the implementation of the governmental mobile electronic identity and signature service will be carried out with the financial support of the United Nations Development Program Moldova, the estimated cost being about one million lei. At the same time, according to the project, the administration and development of MobiSign will be carried out based on the allocations for 2022 and those in the medium term for 2022-2024 (about 8.7 million lei). |
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The Press Council of the Republic of Moldova notes with concern that in recent months comments on the official pages of some media outlets on social media have shared messages inciting discrimination, hate speech, insults, and promoting war. According to the institution’s press release, editorial offices should organize the work of their employees in such a way that comments on content posted on the networks are moderated in a timely manner to prevent the spread and multiplication of messages that do not promote civilized debate and to avoid associating comments on the networks with the position of the media institution. “As a national self-regulatory structure in the media field, aimed at promoting qualitative and ethical journalism, the Press Council reminds journalists and media editors in the Republic of Moldova that the moderation of comments on news/articles on websites and social networks is, together with the journalistic content, the editorial responsibility of the editorial staff,” the release states. In this regard, the Press Council urges newsrooms to develop internal policies on moderation of user comments. These should include rules on not allowing hate speech, personal attacks, discriminatory messages, and insults, among other things. |
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On May 12, several journalists, media managers and experts participated in a roundtable discussion organized by the Press Council of Moldova on the responsibility of newsrooms to moderate comments without restricting freedom of expression. They came to the conclusion that hate and discriminatory comments accompanying journalistic material distributed on social media should be moderated and filtered so as not to promote and multiply hate speech. The event discussed the consequences of neglecting to moderate comments and the impact of negative comments on the public or even the media institution. Irina Corobcenco, a human rights expert at Promo-LEX, argues that internet freedom and freedom of expression make a good team, but eventually come into conflict. “The harassment and bullying that a person can be exposed to because of their opinion is very high and unmoderated comments can affect even readers or simply people who are active online,” she says. Ziarul de Garda director Alina Radu claims that even in the editorial office she heads there have been cases of incitement to hatred in comments on materials published on the portal Zdg.md. The team has taken the decision to block comments on an article if it has a sensitive subject. It recommended limiting comments in some cases, blocking fake accounts, as well as avoiding the view that all commentators are malicious. Press Council President Viorica Zaharia reminded journalists and media editors in Moldova that moderating comments on news and articles on websites and social media is the editorial responsibility of each newsroom. According to her, media outlets should warn commentators that their online space is checked and controlled, and failure to comply with the rules will mean the comment will not be accepted. Zaharia recalled that, in addition to ethical obligations, journalists should also take into account two court precedents, where courts have ordered media outlets to pay compensation for what appeared in comments. “These precedents have caused many newsrooms to close their commentary spaces,” said the press council president. |
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In 2021, the total volume of revenues from the provision of audiovisual retransmission services increased by 25% compared to 2020. The largest increase by average monthly revenue was recorded by the company Orange Moldova, according to the statistical yearbook of the National Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI). During 2021, the total volume of revenues from the provision of audiovisual retransmission services was 353.9 million lei. Of this, the revenues from pay-TV amounted to 236 million lei, and from over-the-air broadcasting – 117.8 million lei. For comparison, in 2020, the revenue from pay-TV was 184.7 million lei, and from over-the-air broadcasting – 98.5 million lei. The largest shares in the pay-TV services market by turnover were held by Moldtelecom – 30.4%, Orange Moldova – 21.4%, TV-Box – 28.8%. The remaining providers had a cumulative share of 19.4%. The biggest growth in this chapter was recorded by Orange Moldova, which advanced by 15.8% compared to 2020. At the same time, at the end of 2021, the number of pay-TV subscribers totaled 730,600, twice as many as in 2020. |
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| The IJC’s Media Azi portal asked for the explanations from Parliament and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the question: Does the press have the right to publish symbols used during Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine? The question arose after the entry into force of the legal norms providing for sanctions for “making, selling, spreading, possessing with a view to spreading and using in public generally known attributes and symbols which are used in the context of actions of military aggression, war crimes or crimes against humanity, as well as propaganda or glorification of such actions.” According to the reply signed by the Chair of Parliament’s Legal Affairs, Appointments and Immunities Committee, Olesea Stamate, no one can prohibit or prevent the press from disseminating information of public interest except under the law. “The normative provision invoked is not intended to prohibit the media from disseminating information of public interest that would possibly illustrate the symbols concerned, but to prevent and punish actions that violate citizens’ rights by disseminating generally known attributes and symbols that are used in the context of actions of military aggression, war crimes or crimes against humanity, as well as propaganda or glorification of such actions,” the reply reads. The official reply sent to the editor by the Inspectorate General of Police (IGP) states that in the case of media representatives, the legislation applies in conjunction with Article 4 of the Press Law, which deals with freedom of expression and advertising limitations. “As long as journalists and/or media outlets publish journalistic material about symbols and attributes prohibited by law, but do so in a manner compatible with the democratic principles of the state, we cannot speak of committing a criminal offence,” the Police response states. “On the other hand, if the journalistic materials published or broadcast by journalists and/or media institutions are intended to propagate values contrary to democratic principles, then Article 365/5 of the Contravention Code is applicable to them,” according to the same response. |
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| The draft law on combating disinformation could achieve its goals with the caveat that some proposals should be revised, according to the National Anti-Corruption Centre (NAC). According to an NAC expert report, the authorities’ initiative “can help counter the phenomenon of the spread of disinformation and/or information affecting the security of the public information space”. At the same time, the analysis of the proposed rules “reveals some shortcomings that may lead to dysfunctional administrative processes managed by public entities/public agents and corruption risks related to the exercise of their duties.” Thus, NAC expert Cristina Chistol concludes that the project can be promoted provided that the suggestions in the expert report are implemented. Among the shortcomings identified by the institution are the absence of provisions regulating the entity responsible for drafting and approving monitoring methodologies, the accessibility of the rules for the subjects concerned and some aspects related to the retransmission of media content from aggressor countries. On April 7, the draft law on combating disinformation was voted in first reading. Two rounds of hearings on the initiative followed. The parliamentary opposition described the draft as “the establishment of censorship.” |
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| The Broadcasting Council (BC) has fined RTR Moldova TV station 13,000 lei (650 euro) for violating the rules of correct information in the morning entertainment program “Novoye Utro!” (from Russian, “A new morning!”) on April 20. During the episode, the moderator claimed that the government was trying to ban the Victory Day celebrations. The monitoring was carried out at the request of BC member Larisa Turea, who suggested that several TV stations be checked for their coverage of topics “in the context of the enactment on April 19 of the law banning in Moldova the display of signs associated with the military aggression of the Russian Federation in the sovereign state of Ukraine”. The IJC and the WatchDog Community organization also referred the same broadcast to the BC. “We found a blatant violation of Article 13 on several points. There is misrepresentation and manipulation of public opinion, which in fact is a provocation to divide society,” said Turea, who called for the provider to be fined a maximum of 15,000 lei (750 euro). Representatives of RTR Moldova told BC that in all news bulletins during the monitoring period, the station complied with the bans established by the legislation and drew the attention of BC members that the show “Novoe Utro!”, broadcast on April 20 at 7:00 “is not an informative or analytical program, but an entertainment program”. In response, BC Vice-President Aneta Gonta noted that the legal provisions on correct information do not only refer to informative-analytical broadcasts. With the vote of four of the six BC members present at the meeting, the station was fined 13,000 lei (650 euro). |
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| The Broadcasting Council (BC) fined a total of 85,000 lei (4750 euro) to five media service providers – four TV stations and one radio station. Thus, the BC established that the television stations BTV, Gold TV and MBC stopped broadcasting and did not inform the authority about this fact (indicating the deadlines for resuming broadcasting). Thus, it was found that the legal provisions on unjustified interruption of the media service provider’s activity for a period of more than ten days or for more than 30 intermittent days during a calendar year were violated. Therefore, BTV was fined 15,000 lei (750 euro), and Gold TV and MBC – 20,000 lei each (1000 euro). Also, following the monitoring of Radio Prim and Prim TV channel, the BC found that from December 12, 2021, to May 6, 2022, the mentioned providers had been operating illegally. For the detected violations, Radio Prim and TV Prim were fined 15.000 lei each (750 euro). The sanctions were applied during the meeting of May 6 after the self-reporting of Vice-President Aneta Gonta. |
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The BC has sanctioned eight TV stations for breaching their obligation to provide the legally established volume of local audiovisual programs, including in Romanian. Seven of them received public warnings and one channel was fined 10,000 lei (500 euro). The decision to monitor media service providers in the area of local and Romanian-language audiovisual programs was taken following a self-report by BC Vice-President Aneta Gonta. In total, 13 TV channels were monitored on the subject between March 21-27. As a result of the monitoring it was found that the channels Canal 2, Canal 5, TV 6, Orhei TV, ProTV Chisinau, TV8, TVR Moldova and Prime had committed violations of the audiovisual legislation, for which they were sanctioned with public warnings. Canal 2 was fined 10,000 lei (500 euro) for repeated violations in this respect. |
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| The Broadcasting Council (BC) has issued a public warning to Jurnal TV for discriminatory statements made by Ukrainian journalist Dmitri Gordon in the context of the war in Ukraine. The matter was examined at the May 6 meeting following a complaint from a viewer that the interview broadcast by Jurnal TV on the evening of 11 March “expressed opinions which could inflame the conflict in the region.” After its own monitoring, the BC confirmed that the broadcast in question “used expressions and phrases with offensive and discriminatory undertones.” In its reply to the BC, Jurnal TV’s management stated that the material in question “is an interview, an author’s opinions and comments which are protected by freedom of expression.” In the wake of the decision, BC members were divided. Eugeniu Ribca was of the opinion that the broadcast should be seen in the light of the fact that the interview was conducted with the representative of a country where the expressions “racist, fascist” are used every day. “I am not surprised that the representative of a belligerent country uses them. When we talk about discrimination and non-discrimination, we have to look at the statements in the context of the situation we are in,” Ribca said. BC vice-president Aneta Gonta agreed that it was context-specific, but pointed out that the program was recorded in advance and one of Gordon’s expressions was redacted, which shows that the program creators could have intervened in problematic places. BC Chair Liliana Vitu also recalled that in another interview with Gordon for Dojdi TV, the moderator warned the journalist against using foul language. Following the debate, four members of the BC voted in favor of the proposal to sanction Jurnal TV with a public warning for failing to comply with the requirement to avoid any form of discrimination in audiovisual information programs. Three members voted against this move. |
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| At its April 27 meeting, the BC examined the monitoring report of the following eight TV stations from March 21 to March 27: 10 TV, Media TV, Popas TV, Gurinel TV, Publika TV, Canal 3, N4 and Mega TV. The monitoring results showed that Publika TV, Canal 3, N4 and Mega TV violated the legal provisions on the required volume of local and Romanian language products. Publika TV was sanctioned with a public warning for the lack of at least 80% of local audiovisual programs in Romanian. Canal 3 was fined a total of 22,000 lei (1100 euro) for repeated violations of the provisions on local and Romanian-language product. N4 was fined 6,000 lei (300 euro) for repeated violations and Mega TV 10,000 lei (500 euro). In this context, Vitu said that in taking decisions on these cases, the BC was guided by the current rules and in the future will hold consultations, including with suppliers, on a possible change in the methodology for calculating the volume of local product. In addition to the channels mentioned above, the BC will in the future examine the results of the monitoring of ITV and Familia television channels under the same heading, in order to verify the gathered data. Previously, the BC has monitored 13 TV channels with regard to the adequacy of the volume of local and Romanian-language product. |
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| The Broadcasting Council (BC) has fined the channel Primul in Moldova 7,000 lei (350 euro) for broadcasting a story with accusations by representatives of the Socialist Party of Moldova (PSRM) without the reaction of the concerned governments. At a May 16 meeting, the body made the decision after examining a petition submitted by the WatchDog organization. The petitioner reported that on April 13, the media service provider broadcast a news item entitled “Communists and Socialists go to protests in Cahul” during the 6 pm news program. This segment criticized the government without giving the right of reply to the persons concerned. The results of the monitoring found that this news item was of a confrontational nature and that the subject was one-sidedly covered in the media. The reporter confined himself to statements by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament (BCS), accompanied by accusations against the government, without presenting any other views. The Council stated that the broadcaster was fined “for not presenting other points of view on the case, which contributes to the formation of an erroneous opinion among program consumers and shows a failure to take an impartial and balanced approach to the subject”. |
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| In May 2022, when the media community marked Freedom of the Press Days, the IJC invited several colleagues from Ukraine to talk about their own experiences of war and the trials they have gone through since Russia’s invasion of February 24 in Ukraine. In a new edition of Media Azi show, seven journalists from the neighboring country report on the changes in their personal and professional lives during the war. |
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| The IJC, in partnership with the Office of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Chisinau, awarded the prizes in the second edition of the Tulip Press Awards on May 23. The competition was launched in March and aimed to encourage journalists and photojournalists to address various topics related to the respect of human rights in their press materials (written and photographic). The goal of the competition was to raise public awareness on this issue in Moldova and to hold the authorities accountable. In the 2022 Tulip Press Awards competition, five entries were accepted in the Photography section and 22 entries in the Online Press/Print section. In both categories, the jury chose six winners. In the Online Press/Print Section, the winners were Georgeta Carasiucenco, Moldova.org, Marina Gorbatovschi, Ziarul de Gardă, Tatiana Beghiu, Moldova.org, Nadejda Coptu, NewsMaker, Polina Cupcea, People and Kilometers. The winner of the Photography section was Natalia Munteanu, Gazeta de Chisinau. All the winners received a prize of €300. Floris van Eijk, Head of the Dutch Embassy in Chisinau, said in his speech at the award ceremony that the six winners of the competition have written stories that need to be heard and can initiate change. He thanked the IJC partners for organizing the competition. For her part, IJC Executive Director Nadine Gogu, noted the interest of the journalists in human rights issues. “Through the Tulip Press Awards competition, we want to encourage other colleagues to address human rights (non)respect in Moldova in their stories,” said Gogu. The competition was organized by the IJC with the financial support of the Office of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. |
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| In the first of its two May episodes, the cuMINTE Podcast tackles the subject of freedom of the press through the lens of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference by outsiders and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” Journalists and media experts give their views on the quality of the local press and the problems it faces in becoming truly free. According to media expert Ion Bunduchi, the media “has to show that it is useful to the citizen,” adding that in troubled times the professionalism of journalists matters most. IJC Executive Director Nadine Gogu says that over the years Moldova’s press has had to fight to win its freedom. “For the last ten years, we have been struggling to grow, to catch up with countries where the press is free. So far we are not succeeding. I would say that Moldova’s path is a zigzag, with ups and downs, depending on the parties that have been in power,” says the expert. Guest of the cuMINTE Podcast, Ziarul de Garda Director Alina Radu, believes that free access to information is still difficult in Moldova, as investigative journalists still pay fees to access state-controlled databases. “All these things shouldn’t be happening as of September 2021, but they are still happening.” Similarly, in the journalist’s view, one of the biggest challenges of 2022 remains combating disinformation and manipulation, as well as the fact that a lot of TV and media outlets are politically controlled. In conclusion, the ZdG director says that “in this market it is difficult to sustain yourself if you are an independent press institution.” |
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| In the second edition of the cuMINTE Podcast, the show’s author, journalist Ana Sirbu, spoke to several journalists and media experts from Ukraine. They talked about what disinformation and manipulation look like in wartime and what methods they use to fight these harmful phenomena. Executive director of the STOPFAKE.org project, Ruslan Deynychenko, says he has been fighting propaganda and disinformation since 2014, but since the beginning of the war, Russian propaganda has changed. “It masquerades behind patriotic, pro-Ukrainian propaganda. It tries to incite hatred, to create internal conflicts between parties, between government and opposition. They are trying to create a conflict between the army and the government, linguistic, religious conflicts, invented or revived so that Ukrainians are no longer united as a nation and fight among themselves. Such propaganda is much more dangerous than pro-Russian propaganda,” says the Ukrainian journalist. His colleague in Kiev, Serhiy Zakharchenko, says, “Moscow continues to report in its media channels that we started the war, not them; that it is not the Russian army that is shelling the city of Mariupol, but the Ukrainian one. We live in a continuous regime of fighting disinformation, fighting propaganda, which is in large numbers”. Journalist Nataliya Shymkiv believes that the fight against propaganda is up to every citizen. “I strive to tell people about my experience through social media networks. Many people have also started to create social media profiles to share their experiences.” In times of war, it is also very important to keep soldiers properly informed, warns expert Victor Timohin from Ukraine, who until February was part of the STOPFAKE team. For the past few months he has been on the frontline fighting alongside soldiers. The full podcast can be heard HERE. The cuMINTE podcast is produced by the IJC with support from the Black Sea Trust, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. The views expressed in this material do not necessarily represent those of the Black Sea Trust or its partners. |
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| Mediacritica.md portal published an analysis in which it examined the content of the main May 9 news bulletins and the way the events of May 9 were presented on the most watched TV channels nationwide. These, according to the IJC’s audience study, are Prime TV, Moldova 1, Jurnal TV, NTV Moldova and Primul in Moldova. The author of the material, journalist Diana Railean, notes that some media outlets – NTV, Primul in Moldova – did not offer balanced opinions on the events of 9 May. The reports presented opinions criticizing the authorities’ decision to ban the St George’s Day ribbon, without quoting citizens supporting this decision. Such approaches violate the Code of Ethics for Journalists in Moldova, which stipulates that “a journalist must obtain and present the opinion of all parties relevant to the subject. The journalist must demonstrate the plurality of opinions, even if he does not agree with them.” On the other hand, journalists from Jurnal TV were insistent enough to find out how and under what conditions people from the territory came to the events held in Chisinau, but did not ask for explanations from those whom the interlocutors said they had brought in . The Code of Ethics stipulates that “journalists shall respect the principle that any person subjected to negative criticism has the right to reply, to clarify inaccurate information or to refute the information.” The author further notes that the lack of balanced opinions in news bulletins also violates Article 13 of the Audiovisual Media Services Code – “Ensuring correct information,” which stipulates, among other things, that “in audiovisual news programs, for which accuracy and correctness are essential, reports must come from reliable sources, sufficiently documented from a factual point of view, with a credible and impartial approach to events, with a balanced reflection of different opinions.” According to her, this year’s event was quite ideological and the viewer was deprived of a correct and analytical approach to the subject. The material was produced as part of the project “Fighting propaganda and manipulation through media literacy tools”, implemented by the Independent Journalism Center from November 2021 to November 2022, with the support of the Black Sea Trust, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. The views expressed in this material do not necessarily represent those of the Black Sea Trust or its partners. |
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| Nineteen teachers from different parts of the country were familiarized with the content of the Media Literacy textbook and learnt the main techniques and working methods in order to teach this course to secondary school pupils. The training, which took place in an online format in Russian, was organized by the IJC on May 13-15. The training was supported by Natalia Griu, co-author of the curriculum and textbook Media Education for 7th and 8th grades, and journalist Dumitru Stoianov. During the three days of training, the teachers learned about the functions of the media, the key elements of fair and balanced news, and discussed the opportunities and risks students face in the virtual environment. So far, the IJC has trained 214 teachers, 191 secondary school teachers and 201 secondary school teachers. The optional subject Education for the Media has been taught in Moldovan schools since 2017 and is included in the Framework Program of the Ministry of Education and Research of Moldova at all three levels of education. The training was organized by the IJC in the framework of the project “Strengthening Media Literacy Skills in the Republic of Moldova”, supported by Deutsche Welle Akademie and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). |
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| In a summary published on cji.md, the website of the IJC, the main actions undertaken by the organization in the field of media education are reviewed. In the five years since the introduction of the course, the IJC has trained hundreds of teachers and professors, developed Media Education manuals and teaching materials, and promoted the course in educational institutions in the country at all levels, primary, secondary and high school. The 2021-2022 academic year was the first year in which the geographical area of the subject covered all districts and municipalities of the country – 128 educators taught this subject to a record number of 4,180 students in 103 schools. In order to help teachers and pupils, every year the IJC organizes various events and launches new media products to help educators make their lessons as interesting as possible. Among them was the show “A Click of the Fangs or the Manipulating Wolf,” produced in collaboration with the “Talinka” Association and the Municipal Puppet Theatre “Guguță” and the video version of the show adapted from the educational story of the same title by the Latvian media researcher Solvita Denisa Liepniece. Actions that increased the interest of students and teachers included the competition “Media Education – a priority in my school,” the First Media Education Forum, Media Education Week in Moldova, Podcast cuMINTE, media education trainings and other initiatives. The full material can be read HERE The IJC organizes media education activities in the framework of the project “Strengthening Media Education Skills in the Republic of Moldova”, supported by Deutsche Welle Akademie and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, under the project „Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova” (MEDIA-M), funded by USAID, UK and implemented by Internews in Moldova, in the framework of the project “Enhancing Support for Independent Russian Language Media Institutions and Media Education Efforts”, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and in the framework of the project “Innovative Media Education Tools for Well-Informed Citizens”, implemented with the support of the Embassy of Finland in Bucharest. |
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IJC and Internews Updates |
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| The IJC has announced the results of the grant competition, launched to ensure the sustainability of the projects developed during the seven editions of the “Fifth Power” Media Hackathon, which was organized between 2015 and 2021. Media teams/institutions and winners of previous editions of the Media Hackathon, which have developed sustainable projects and still need support to improve their initiatives and ensure their continuity, were eligible for the competition. After reviewing the entries, the jury decided to award three grants to the following teams: Moldova.org – for the aggregator News from Moldova; CU SENS – for the Virtual Parliament platform; Evrica – for the Odata.edu platform. They will have 6 months and $5,000 grants each to ensure the sustainability of the projects. The projects were judged by Oxana Iutes, deputy director of Internews in Moldova, Tatiana Puiu, Freedom House representative in Moldova, and Victor Gotisan, media researcher. The grant competition was organized by the IJC as part of the project “Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova” (MEDIA-M), funded by USAID, UK and implemented by Internews in Moldova |
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| The IJC organized a new Media Literacy training at the secondary school level, where 22 teachers developed new media skills and became more prepared to teach the optional subject in school. The training, led by Loretta Handrabura and Natalia Griu – authors of the Media Education curriculum and textbook for grades X and XI – took place in Chisinau from May 6-8. IJC program manager Mariana Tabuncic said that “in the last 5 years we have managed to train more than 560 teachers in 29 training program, and every year the number of students who decide to choose Media Literacy is increasing.” For her part, Oxana Iutes, Deputy Director of Internews in Moldova, stressed that “by opting together with your students for this subject you are in fact opting for a better future in which you make conscious choices.” During the training program, teachers developed their skills in teaching media literacy at the secondary school level, and gaining new knowledge about pluralism of opinions, the role of photography in the media, forms of manipulation, and disinformation. Participants also discussed ethical behavior online, the role of new media, forms of online aggression, online safety and the role of influencers in shaping the behavior of the new generation. The training presented the Media Education platform, where games, tutorials, animations and various articles on media education topics can be found, as well as the Media Education Portfolio, which encompasses all the core activities carried out by the IJC in recent years in the field of media education. The training was organized by the IJC as part of the project “Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova” (MEDIA-M), funded by USAID, UK and implemented by Internews in Moldova |
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| New tools to promote the Media Literacy optional course developed by the IJC have been created and launched by the Youth Platform for Interethnic Solidarity, a non-governmental organization promoting the rights of national, ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities. The organization produced five videos and five comics in five languages spoken by ethnic minorities in Moldova – Gagauz, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Romani and Russian. The first material in this series explains the dangers of trolling. The video was created in Bulgarian and launched on May 18 in the city of Taraclia at an event attended by eleven teachers and around 50 pupils. “Since 2017, the IJC has trained 606 teachers and nearly 12,000 students have already taken the course. We urge you too to become part of this critical thinking community. We want generations who will be able to make informed decisions,” Anastasia Nani, deputy director of the IJC, told participants at the event. The comics of the Youth Platform for Interethnic Solidarity were created by Elvira Baranetski, a young woman from Ukraine, who took refuge in Chisinau in March 2022 after the outbreak of the war. Mihai Peicov, program manager at the Platform, presented the first comics in Bulgarian at the same event. In the coming period, the Youth Platform for Interethnic Solidarity will publish more videos and comics in Gagauz, Ukrainian, Romani and Russian. The products will be launched in communities where these languages are spoken. The Youth Platform for Interethnic Solidarity’s project “Media Education for Minorities” (#ME4M) is part of the program “Support for Moldovan Media and Innovative Media Education Efforts,” funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and implemented by Internews in Moldova. |
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