Media nongovernmental organizations make common cause with the editorial staff of “Radio Orhei” and request the Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) to abrogate the April 5, 2018 decision by which a broadcast license was issued to a radio stations with a similar name, stimulating thus the transfer of image and, respectively, unfair competition, IPN reports.
In a press statement, the signatories note that “Radio Orhei” has worked for over 12 years and is known and appreciated by the public in the region. This earned its reputation in time by a pluralistic and balanced editorial policy in relation to the central and local political authorities. By the decision of April 5, 2018 concerning the result of the contest to distribute available radio frequencies, the BCC issued a broadcast license to a radio station with a similar name – “Radio Orhei FM”. This happened even if the public regulatory authority was warned about the imminent danger of creating confusion among program consumers. In fact, by this decision the BCC stimulated the transfer of image from a known radio station to a new radio station that was this way privileged. This decision also stimulates unfair completion on the audiovisual market and can cause pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage to “Radio Orhei”.
Under the Broadcasting Code of the Republic of Moldova, the BCC is the representative and guarantor of the public interest in the audiovisual sector, being responsible for the implementation of the Code one of whose goals is to institute democratic broadcasting principles. The media NGOs consider the BCC’s decision runs counter to this goal and demand that this should be abrogated. They also request the Council to stop formally examining the applications for broadcast licenses and to take into account the rights of the working broadcasters, promoting local competition and respecting the identity of each broadcaster.
The statement was signed by the Association of Independent Press, the Independent Journalism Center, the Electronic Press Association, the Journalistic Investigations Center, “Acces-Info” Center, the Association of Independent Tele-Journalists and the Committee for the Freedom of the Media.
