Broadcasting regulator approves election campaign coverage strategy

The Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) Wednesday unanimously approved the strategy on the coverage of the campaign for the June 5 local elections by the broadcasters. It also decided to make an order and warn the cable TV operators about the necessity of correctly involving in the election campaign, Info-Prim Neo reports. In the election campaign, the public broadcasters will not be obliged to provide free airtime to the election runners. The broadcasters with no specific activity will have to organize public debates, while the specialized ones can hold debates, but are not obliged to. “I think this strategy allows the broadcasters to act freely. They are free to decide their own editorial policy so as not to allow other institutions to interfere,” said the Council's chairman Marian Pocaznoi. The proposal to warn the cable TV operators was put forward by Corneliu Mihalache. He said cases were witnessed during the previous campaigns for the local elections when some of the mayors and local councilors forced the cable TV operators to replace the retransmitted programs with programs where election contenders presented reports. The strategy on the coverage of the campaign for the June 5 local elections by the broadcasters will be submitted to the Central Election Commission. Within seven days, the central electoral authority is to approve the regulations concerning the coverage of the campaign for the 2011 local general elections by the mass media.