The Press Council identified violations of the deontological provisions that oblige the journalists to present information honestly and impartially, committed by Publika TV channel. It happened in the feature reports on the conflict situation witnessed at the Chisinau Theoretical Lyceum “Gheorghe Asachi” at the end of May, when a teacher was accused of aggressing a student, who is the son of a presenter of this channel. In the July 31 meeting, the Press Council examined a complaint submitted by teacher Viorica Dalta against the TV channel and journalist Marcela Dedin, IPN reports.
The Press Council reached the conclusion that the presenter, who was on childcare leave and was quoted as a source in the reports, didn’t violate the provisions of the Deontological Code. At the same time, the TV channel and the feature authors violated the deontological norms by tendentiously presenting the situation, using generalizing titles and violating the principle of presumption of innocence.
In the same meeting, the Press Council accepted to examine a complaint submitted by Victor Pridorojnyi, who was sentenced by the first court in the case of the armed robbery committed at the Metro store in 2014, which resulted in one death. The complainer said particular media outlets presented unverified information to the public and violated the principle of presumption of innocence. The Council members didn’t identity evident violations of the journalistic professional deontology in this case, but noted the incorrect use of the terms that define the status of suspected or accused persons. The Council recommends the journalists to more accurately and precisely use the legal terms in relation to such persons when there is no definitive court decision so as not to violate their right to a fair trial.
Examining a presupposed violation of the deontological code when covering the conflict and fight near the Chisinau complex “Atrium”, as a result of which a person died, the Press Council determined that the portal Deschide.md violated a number of deontological provisions, including the revealing of irrelevant data and information about the private life, labeling and mixture of facts and opinions in journalistic reports.
The members of the Press Council also examined an application submitted by M. Turcanu, who invoked alleged discrimination on grounds of ethnicity in titles of news articles on the websites Point.md and Aif.md about offenses committed abroad, when they used the world “Moldovan” in the meaning of “citizen of the Republic of Moldova”. The Press Council didn’t agree with the arguments of the plaintiff, noting such formulation is not discrimination.
The Council in the same meeting examined the complaint of Constanta Popa about a news article published on Bloknot-Moldova.md, whose title would have discriminated against persons with disabilities. After the Press Council notified the editorial office of the website, the new item was withdrawn. The Council members recommended the editorial staff to use exact titles that do not allow for interpretation and do not distort the information.
