In the course of 2018, the freedom of the media in Moldova degraded, while the working conditions of journalists worsened following the reduced transparency in the work of public institutions and the limitation of access to particular categories of information of public interest, said participants in the Media Forum 2018 who adopted a resolution at the end of the event on November 30, IPN reports.
According to the resolution, the cases of intimidation and harassment of journalists due to their professional activity increased in number in 2018, but the public institutions didn’t react appropriately to these cases. “This way, the profession of journalist is not effectively protected and impunity can encourage new attacks against media professionals,” runs the resolution.
The participants in the forum condemned the lack of transparency and the selective attitude of MPs to the bills concerning the mass media, a part of which remained non-adopted. They expressed their concern about the further worsening of the quality of media products provided by multiple media outlets and their involvement in political bias expressed by the promotion of parties and discrediting of the political opponents of these.
The journalists called on the government to guarantee the observance of the law on access to information by punishing/discouraging the refusals to provide information of public interest and to ensure access to information by modern electronic means, to ensure the presentation of complex and exhaustive information on the websites of the public authorities. Another request is to reduce and eliminate the costs for accessing information from the Public Services Agency.
The participants in the forum asked to stop the abusive interpretation of the legislation and the European detective on the protection of personal data, to ensure the investigation and punishment of cases of intimidation and attack against journalists, to ensure equal conditions for the media outlets and exclude the clientele attitude when providing broadcast licenses, in the distribution of periodicals, etc. and to ensure the functionality of the free advertising market.
They also asked to amend the legislation so as to include the media outlets in the list of potential beneficiaries of the 2% law and to work out strategies for supporting the development of the media in regions. Moldova’s Post Office is requested to ensure correct contractual conditions for the duly distribution of periodicals to subscribers, while the Broadcasting Coordination Council is requested to efficiently monitor the audiovisual institutions so as to prevent the concentration of media ownership and to identify and penalize cases of manipulation of information and distribution of fakes.
The participants in the Media Forum called on the journalists and media outlets to create solidarity mechanisms when the authorities, parties and other players have an improper behavior, to respect the deontological norms and professional standards and not to become involved in denigration and lynching campaigns, no matter what goal these pursue, and to develop their professional capacities so as to offer the public a high-quality journalistic product.
