The crisis in the Moldovan independent media can be solved with financial support and with the creation of a functional system, thinks Dumitru Țîra, founder of Realitatea media group.

“We need to rethink the paradigm of everything that constitutes the audiovisual and media market in Moldova, to start discussing, analyze, reach some functional systems based on market economy, on transparent processes. In particular, we need to address the issue of equipment and personnel”, stated Țîra during an IPN debate.

Discussing the pressing issues in Moldovan independent media, Țîra underlined the shortage of qualified staff, including specialty journalists.

“Over the past year, I’ve had a few phases when we searched, placed ads to find new colleagues. Russian-language journalism also faced an extreme crisis. In addition, there is no specialty journalism, including economic journalists, journalists specializing in foreign policy. At present, there are two major specialties: social and political. We have practically only one faculty, the one at the State University of Moldova, and a journalism department at the Free International University of Moldova. We also have something in Bălți and Comrat, I believe, but there are very few students there. For example, in recent years at the State University, only 2% -3% of graduates actually get jobs in journalism, which is incredible and shameful. But even the curriculum does not correspond to the reality, the situation and the trends on the market”, said Dumitru Țîra.

The independent media is also facing the problem of equipment which is caused by lack of money. The media expert pointed out that “there are categories of technically endowed television channels due to the respective political and economic influences. In the last two years, almost no equipment imports have been made in the media. A serious problem is that the press and the media, in general, do not enjoy facilities in the sense of equipment purchases, in the fiscal sense”.

In this regard, Țîra thinks the government should intervene. “I think the state could contribute not by offering money directly, but by creating conditions and facilitating issues. I strongly believe that we must resume analyzing everything, level by level. In order to bring commercial customers on TV, in the online media, in the print press, and so on, the independent media must have the capacity to satisfy some commercial targets. This year, the TV market will shrink sharply”, he said.

Dumitru Țîra offered some solutions for managing the crisis in the independent press, warning “that if the measures are not taken, in the next two or three months, certain media institutions will start to disappear”.

The debate was the 239th installment of the “Political Culture” Series, run by IPN with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.