With the change of the political regime in June 2019, there was a certain progress in media freedom, namely a higher degree of transparency of some public institutions and a lower number of cases of intimidation and harassment of journalists while performing their professional duties. Also, there have been noted some developments regarding the access of journalists to information of public interest. These are the findings of the participants in 2019 Media Forum of the Republic of Moldova who adopted a resolution in this regard at the end of the event held on Tuesday, November 5, IPN reports.
The journalistic community welcomes the declared openness of the new authorities to support the efforts of the journalistic community and media experts in continuing the improvement of the legislative framework on the media activity according to the European standards. Journalists note that the legislation on the protection of personal data has continued to be used abusively in order to restrict access to information of public interest.
Participants at the Forum condemned the way in which the Audiovisual Council redistributed the frequencies and licenses within the audiovisual, which, "leads to maintaining the influence of the political factor on the audiovisual media contents, stimulates the concentration of ownership and the dominant positions in the formation of public opinion". The journalistic community expressed concern about the continued involvement of media institutions in political partisanship actions by promoting certain political parties and discrediting their political opponents:
The journalists ask the authorities to resume and ensure the activity of the Working Group for enhancing the media legislation until the laws necessary for the long-term development of independent media institutions in the Republic of Moldova are developed and adopted. At the same time, to implement the National Concept of media development in the Republic of Moldova and to ensure the drawing up of a medium and long term strategy and action plan for putting into effect the Concept as well as broad public consultations in this regard.
Forum participants also called on the government to ensure a proper process of debating legislative proposals targeting the media, with the broad participation of journalists and media experts. As well as ensuring the opening of databases for journalists, discouraging and penalizing refusal practices when providing information of public interest and eliminating the vicious practice of recording information requests as petitions, contrary to the Law on access to information.
Journalists ask the Competition Council to ensure the functionality of the free advertising market, the free competition and to penalize cartel agreements on the market. The 2% law should be supplemented by a provision according to which the media institutions will be included in the list of potential beneficiaries of the percentage designation, so that the taxpayers could direct 2% of the amount of income tax to support the media institutions.
It is required that the Audiovisual Council (CA) effectively fulfil the role of guarantor of public interest in the field of audiovisual, ensure fair conditions when issuing broadcast licenses, not allow ownership concentration and not consolidate dominant positions in forming public opinion. Also, formulate and make public the vision and actions of the authorities regarding the transition from analogue terrestrial TV to digital terrestrial TV, supporting the initiative of local and regional television stations to operate in digital TV format.
Participants in the Media Forum urge journalists and media institutions to make common cause in cases of inappropriate behaviour on the part of authorities, parties and other social actors and to strictly comply with deontological norms and professional standards. Likewise, to reject the involvement in the campaigns of denigration and media lynching, irrespective of their purpose, to discuss the opportunity of creating a journalists' trade union to pursue the social protection of journalists and to constantly develop their professional abilities in order to offer the public a high-quality journalistic product, including conducting of upgrading courses.
