Independent experts say public mass media continue to favor ruling party in election campaign

The national public stations Moldova 1 and Radio Moldova as well as the stations NIT and Antena C continued to cover the reality by favoring the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) during the election campaign for the June 3 local elections, while Euro TV Chisinau modified its attitude compared with the previous monitoring period, say the nongovernmental organizations that monitor the behavior of the mass media in the election campaign. According to Nicolae Negru, expert of the Independent Journalism Center, during the third monitoring stage (May 7-16, 2007), the channel Euro TV Chisinau broadcast more news that disfavors the CPRM, changing its previous position. Also, the channel organized debates to which the majority of electoral opponents had access. Negru added that the debates organized by Pro TV Chisinau are excessively regulated by the administration, fact that runs counter to the Electoral Code. The other stations monitored (TV 7, Vocea Basarabiei and Russkoie Radio) continued to criticize the authorities, offering access to the Opposition parties. Speaking about the print media, Petru Macovei, head of the Association of Independent Press, said that the majority of local papers and the former governmental papers Moldova Suverana and Nezavisimayaa Moldova maintained the policy of supporting PCRM, attacking the Opposition parties, while the private papers had a neutral attitude. The newspapers Moldavskie Vedomosti and Flux were an exception as they intensified the criticism leveled at PCRM. The monitoring of mass media during the election campaign is carried out in partnership with the Marketing and Polling Institute IMAS-INC Chisinau. The monitoring period is April 10 – June 17, 2007. During the first stage, the results were made public bimonthly. Towards the end of the project, the results will be presented weekly