The mass media should correctly, impartially and equitably cover the election campaign, recommended the Independent Journalism Center that monitors 10 TV channels. It also recommended that the media outlets should ensure pluralism of opinions and diversity of opinion by presenting more perspectives on the subjects covered in news item.

“We urged the broadcasters to use our monitoring reports as self-regulation instruments and to remove the shortcomings highlighted in the first two report periods so that they comply with the legal norms and the Journalist’s Deontological Code,” the executive director of the Independent Journalism Center Nadine Gogu stated in a news conference hosted by IPN.

In the report, the media outlets are recommended to promote gender equality by quoting more female sources. Most of the monitored content didn’t ensure gender equality. The men were quoted most of the times as the candidates are mainly male.

According to Nadine Gogu, the Audiovisual Council is recommended to use the monitoring reports to see if the monitored TV channels respected the citizens’ right to comprehensive, objective and correct information and the election contenders’ right to have equal access to the mass media.

The report was compiled within the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections. According to the Coalition’s secretary Grigore Stegărescu, ADEPT projects coordinator, the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections is a permanent, voluntary entity founded in 2005. The mission of the Coalition that consists of 39 public organizations is to contribute to developing democracy in the Republic of Moldova by promoting and encouraging the conduct of free and fair elections in accordance with the international standards by which the Republic of Moldova abides.

There were monitored ten public and private TV channels with national coverage, which broadcast in Romanian and in Russian. These are: Moldova 1, TVR Moldova, Jurnal TV, Pro TV, TV 8, Cinema 1, ITV, Orizont TV, Vocea Basarabiei, and Exclusiv TV. The main conclusions show that a part of the ten TV channels offered relatively equal access to candidates running in elections. The latter were protagonists of separate news items or were mentioned in electoral news directly or indirectly. Another part had preferential attitudes to some of the candidates.

Note: IPN News Agency offers the right of reply to persons who consider they were touched by the news items produced based on statements made by the organizers of the given news conference, including by facilitating the organization of another news conference in similar conditions.