Experts say authorities became less open to press

Ziarul de Garda Friday held a debate conference themed “Authorities’ Reaction to the Corruption Cases identified by the Press”. The participants said that the cooperation between the public institutions and the press has worsened. The conference was held as part of the Strengthening Civil Society Monitoring Capacity in Moldova Program (SCSMCM) implemented by the Academy for Educational Development, Info-Prim Neo reports. “In the first half of 2008, we could speak about the public institutions’ openness to journalists. In the second half of the year, the situation became worse,” said Petru Macovei, executive director of the Independent Press Association. Petru Macovei and other speakers gave examples showing that the authorities are more reticent and do not want to provide information of public interest. The speakers said that the authorities call to public meetings only the reporters that put them in a favorable light. “Only Moldova 1 and NIT channels were invited to the Government’s meeting centering on the January natural gas crisis,” Petru Macovei said. Speaking about the implementation of the program, the editor-in-chief of Ziarul de Garda Aneta Grosu told about her meetings with readers held in 18 districts. “I told them they could trust us and tell us about corruption cases because the press can investigate such cases. We did not refer to the government, but to corruption as a phenomenon and wanted to convince our readers, who are ordinary people, that they can regard the mass media as a partner,” Aneta Grosu said. In her speech, Alina Radu, the director of Ziarul de Garda, said that the public institutions wasted the money offered by the U.S. Government to combat corruption and increase transparency. “The hotlines set up from this money are not efficient,” she said. The investigative journalists related cases when the authorities reacted only superficially to the revelations of the reporters or even sued the journalists that published investigation materials. The Strengthening Civil Society Monitoring Capacity in Moldova Program is implemented by the Academy for Educational Development with the technical assistance of the International Research and Exchanges Board. It is financed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation and managed by the United State Agency for International Development as part of the Threshold Country Program for Moldova.