The tendencies to manipulate in the press persist through the selective presentation of facts or distortion of the messages of sources, which is the most serious form of disrespect for the public, said expert Viorica Zaharia, who monitored 11 media outlets during April – May on the initiative of the Independent Journalism Center. In a news conference at IPN, Viorica Zaharia said the monitored media outlets were biased in their news articles as they showed favor to a party and inflated facts.
The main subjects monitored between April 1, 2017 and June 1, 2017 were: sentencing of Veaceslav Platon to 18 years in jail (April 20); defection of Liberal MP Lilian Carp from the parliamentary alliance (April 28); adoption in the first reading of the draft laws to change the electoral system (May 5) and the Solidarity March “Fara frica!” (May 21). The monitoring data show a series of contents were produced with deviations from the deontological norms and by using informational manipulation techniques. Publika TV, Prime TV, Accent TV and Sputnik.md selectively presented facts (in news items about the conviction of Veaceslav Platon; withdrawal of Lilian Carp from the parliamentary alliance; adoption of the draft laws to change the electoral system). Accent TV truncated the statements of the source and took these out of context (in news article about Lilian Carp’s withdrawal).
Also, Prime TV, Publika TV and Accent TV distorted the quoted message by interpretation or taking out of context (in news items about the conviction of Veaceslav Platon; withdrawal of Lilian Carp from the parliamentary alliance). False assertions/information were identified at Publika TV and Prime TV (in news articles about the conviction of Veaceslav Platon). Sputnik.md and Publika TV presented a mixture of truths and lies (in news item about the withdrawal of Lilian Carp from the parliamentary alliance).
Viorica Zaharia said the channels Publika TV and Prime TV in their political subjects favored the Democratic Party. Accent TV favored the Party of Socialists. Some of the editorial staffs violated both the Broadcasting Code, which bans the deformation of the reality by montage stratagems, comments, formulation methods or titles, and the Deontological Code’s provisions concerning impartiality and accuracy. Other media outlets covered the monitored subjects without serious deviations from the deontological norms or didn’t cover these because of their specific features or coverage area.
The Independent Journalism Center recommends the media outlets and journalists, in particular, to give up selecting facts in news articles depending on the interests of owners and to inform the public in an equidistant and neutral way and not to protect or promote the image of a political party or leader.
The Broadcasting Coordination Council is recommended to follow the TV news programs produced in Moldova and to penalize the misinformation and other manipulating actions of journalists that represent violations of the Audiovisual Code. The media consumers are urged to inform themselves from several media sources.
