Eight TV channels warned publicly by BCC

The Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) in its May 18 meeting warned publicly eight broadcasters, demanding that they observe the principles of objectivity and impartiality in covering the election campaign. The eight broadcasters are: Moldova 1, Publika TV, Jurnal TV, Prime, N4, Euro TV Chisinau, NIT, and TV7. The Council's monitoring report for May 2-11 shows that these TV channels favored election runners by allocating more airtime for them. Besides, NIT was warned for being biased in favor of the PCRM, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the report, the monitored TV channels showed an increased interest in the campaign preceding the June 5 local elections. The news bulletins focused generally on the candidates affiliated to the large political parties that are in power. The Liberal Democratic Party dominated the programs on electoral subjects at six of the eight channels. Independent candidate Mihai Godea, who left the PLDM, was allotted most of the airtime among the contenders. The BCC also proposed banning NIT from broadcasting advertisements for a period, but the proposal could not garner the necessary number of votes.