The measures that the Moldovan authorities pledged to implement in the mass media sector under the Association Agreement with the EU were partially implemented in December 2017 – February 2018, as in the previous period. Media experts said the pace should be accelerated. The conclusions can be found in the fourth quarterly monitoring report presented by the Association of Independent Press on March 15, IPN reports.
Media expert Aneta Gonta said the fourth monitoring covered six measures, three of which are overdue from the previous periods. One of the measures planned for the first quarter of 2018 is to ensure the protection of the linguistic and cultural-national heritage by national broadcasters. This envisions the monitoring of the quality of the Romanian language in the program services of broadcasters. This wasn’t done in the reference period.
Another measure that was initially scheduled for the first quarter of 2017 and was then reprogrammed for the first quarter of 2018 is to review the Broadcasting Code. The experts said the work on the Code of Audiovisual Media Services was completed in the period. If this is approved, the Code will replace the current Code. The document and the concept of the national mass media development policy (2018-2025) were worked out and posted for public debates, but it is not known when they are agreed.
Media expert of the monitoring team Ion Bunduchi said the current report, as the previous one, ascertained that the measures defined in the national plan do not match the Association Agreement with the EU, while the proposals for reviewing the plan on the media segment again refer only to the broadcasting code. The print and online media remain outside the preoccupations of the state.
The experts recommend that the plan of action’s part that refers to the media should be supplemented with measures that would cover the whole media sector. There should be included only measures that derive from the Association Agreement with the EU. It is recommended reviewing the performance indicators aimed at the final, not intermediary results, which are irrelevant most of the times.
Executive director of the Association of Independent Press Petru Macovei said the Association a year ago started to monitor the way in which the authorities fulfill the commitments assumed in the media sector through the Association Agreement with the EU. In the immediate period, they will initiate a new monitoring activity whose results will be presented in June.
