Culture Trade Union warn on possible monopolization of local mass media

The Culture Trade Union (USC) is concerned about the proposals of certain parliamentarians to affiliate the municipal and local mass media institutions to the Public Company „Teleradio Moldova” (TRM). In a declaration addressed to the Parliament, USC chairwoman Ioana Turcanu notes that such decision affects the labour and creation interests of the employees of these media structures, instituting in fact the monopoly on the local information means. According to USC, the privatization proposal of the municipal radio station „Antena C”, announced after the adoption of the document, as well as the recent proposal to transform it into a subsidiary under TRM, will lead sooner or later to its liquidation. „We consider that for the society’s sake the municipal and local mass media have to be further independent public institutions,” the declaration says. USC call on the Parliament to reconsider the proposal on transforming municipal and local mass media into subsidiaries subordinated to TRM. Due to the complexity of the discussed issue, the USC solicits the Parliament to postpone the adoption of a final decision on the Audiovisual Code and to discuss it at the next session, after organizing additional public debates.