Konrad Adenauer Foundation launches project to strengthen free media

The Representative Office in Chisinau of Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation is developing a project aimed at strengthening the free media in Moldova. It involves journalists from Transnistria and Gagauzia, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a meeting of the EU’s Press Club, the foundation’s representative Natalia Corobca-Ianusevich said the project “Return to Democracy! Strengthening journalism capacities, improving governmental cooperation and advocating free media in Moldova” includes such activities as multimedia and online training courses, four workshops on the international standards and political communication models, two two-month pilot projects at state institutions. “The project will cover 60 young journalists and journalism students, four of whom from Transnistria and four from the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. It will also benefit 190 politicians, civil servants and spokespersons, including from Transnistria and Gagauzia,” said Natalia Corobca-Ianusevich. The project is aimed at improving the capacities of the journalists and journalism students, politicians, civil servants, spokesperson and PR coordinators so that the rights and responsibilities in an environment of free and democratic media are understood, said the foundation’s representative. The Konrad Adenauer Foundation started work in Moldova in 2007, centering on political education and consultancy. At the beginning, the projects were coordinated through the Representative Office in Bucharest. In 2009, the foundation launched an individualized program for Moldova. The Representative Office in Chisinau was opened in November 2009.