Media nongovernmental organizations called on the parties of the Political Alliance for European Moldova and the other parliamentary parties to make sure that the government program includes measures to accelerate the reforms in the mass media sector, which, according to them, are absolutely necessary for democratizing Moldova and meeting the European standards, IPN reports.
The media NGOs sent a set of proposals concerning the Cabinet’s activity in the mass media sector to the office of the candidate for premiership Iurie Leanca. In particular, they request the parties that assumed governance to undertake commitments to ensure ownership transparency and to implement anti-concentration mechanisms in the broadcasting sector, according to the model of developed European countries.
They also suggest adopting a new Broadcasting Code based on the bill drafted by civil society in 2011, reducing the number of licenses that a private individual or a legal entity can get to two, of which only one should be with national coverage, improving the draft program on switchover to terrestrial digital television and avoiding elements for monopolizing the digitization sector, and continuing the reforms at the National Public Broadcaster “Teleradio-Moldova” so as to exclude political interference in its activity.
The NGOs demand that the national legislation on publicity should be reviewed, tax concessions should be instituted to ensure the economic development of the media outlets and methods for indirectly subsidizing the costs for distributing the print media should be worked out.
The signatories call upon the politicians to undertake the commitment to implement real reforms in the mass media sector. The statement was signed by the Association of Independent Press, the Independent Journalism Center, the Electronic Press Association, “Acces-Info” Center, the Journalistic Investigations Center, the Committee for the Freedom of the Press, the Association of Independent Telejournalists, and the Young Journalist’s Center of Moldova.
