Editors of the print media called on the authorities to take measures to ensure the development of the press in Moldova so as to observe the people’s constitutional rights to information and expression of one’s opinion, which are indisputable values in a civilized and democratic society. They wrote an open letter saying these rights can be guaranteed only by ensuring the people’s permanent access to different sources of information, either electronic (through distribution centers or the Internet) or printed (through postal subscription services and retailing networks), IPN reports.
The letter addressed to the MPs, ministers, municipal councilors and the administration of “Moldova’s Post Office” says most of the periodicals in Moldova are in a very difficult economic situation, many editorial offices being close to bankruptcy, while the lack of public policies to stimulate the development of the press can generate soon the closure of some of the editorial offices. This will affect both the employees of newspapers and magazines and the readers-consumers of information.
One of the aspects that worsens the situation of the print media in the country and that needs to be urgently addressed is the fact that the state-run company “Moldova’s Post Office” is the only economic entity that provides postal services in Moldova. “This year we witness the same situation when the subscription campaign starts, while the editors haven’t yet negotiated the distribution contract for 2016 because the model of this contract hadn’t been presented beforehand and the subscription and retailing costs couldn’t have been thus determined. Now “Moldova’s Post Office” demands that the contracts should be signed without delay. The previous attempts to modify some of the provisions of the contract so that this document took into account the legitimate interests of the editors also, not only of “Moldova’s Post Office”, failed because the company was unwilling to negotiate with the editors on conditions of parity,” reads the letter.
Retailing is another problem that became worse. The municipalities all over the word take steps to develop these networks. In the municipality of Chisinau, the stress and boulevards are being repaired and reconstructed and all the retail units, including kiosks, are removed from those areas without providing guarantees that these will be restored when the works are completed.
The editors ask the Government and Parliament to start working out a long-term strategy for encouraging the development of the periodical press, including its distribution at national and local levels, according to the good European practices. They also request “Moldova’s Post Office” to immediately open negotiations on the contracts for the distribution of periodicals in 2016 with editors and their representatives. The Government is asked to delegate representatives to take part in these negotiations so as to make sure that the legitimate interests of the editors are observed. The Chisinau Municipal Council is requested to examine the situation of the kiosks in the capital city and to help develop and modernize the distribution network.
The letter was signed by the Association of Independent Press, Moldpresa Grup SRL and the newspapers and magazines “Timpul de dimineata”, “Antena”, “Trud7”, “Observatorul de Nord”, ”Cuvantul”, “Unghiul”, “ACASA”, “Gazeta de Sud”, “Cuvântul Liber”, “Economicheskoie Obozrenie Logos-press”, “Argumenty i fakty v Moldove”, “Makler”, and “Ziarul de Garda”.
