National television does not show how protesters devastate Presidential Palace
The public television was showing a movie, while the public radio was playing music at 2 p.m. Tuesday, as tens of thousands of students were storming the buildings of the Presidency and Parliament, Info-Prim Neo reports.
The president of the public company “Teleradio-Moldova”, Valentin Todercan, told a news conference on April 7 that Moldova 1 TV had not reported on the protest meeting on Monday evening in Chisinau's downtown, because it had not known about that. When asked how Moldova 1 would act today, Todercan has said “our people are there and the report will be broadcast.” On Monday, Moldova 1 announced president Vladimir Voronin was to make a public address after 19.30 on the occasion of the fourth anniversary since his investment as a president for the second term.
Teleradio-Moldova's president has convened media to present a report about the conduct of the company, paid by tax-payers, during the election period. “In general, serious objections related to the work of our company in mirroring the campaign were not registered either by the Central Election Commission, or by the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC),” reads a report Valentin Todercan read out from. The BCC warned Moldova 1 twice during the race, including for not insuring social-political pluralism. The company's president has said he will sue the BCC's punishment.
The Electronic Press Association (APEL) monitored the conduct of a number of Moldovan TV stations during the race, Teleradio-Moldova among them, and found that it favored the Presidency, the Government and the Communists Party (PCRM). “I took notice of some judicious findings and objections (of the observers – e.n.) and we expressed our stance as to certain drawbacks,” Valentin Todercan said.
Asked for details, he said: “First, the methodology was not publicized.” Info-Prim Neo specifies that the methodology is on page three of each report compiled by APEL. Todercan is unhappy that initially the APEL monitors would refer to Moldova 1 using the name M 1 and he doesn't agree that the observers referred to ministers as PCRM members.
In 2009, the public company Teleradio-Moldova will consume 92 million lei from the state budget. Its president wants a public fee to be established for the public television that would be paid directly to the company, as is the case of the BBC.