Media nongovernmental organizations call on the media to obey the legal and deontological norms and to adopt a correct conduct during the election campaign prior to the mayoral runoff vote that will be held in Chisinau municipality on June 3, IPN reports.
The election campaign monitoring reports show many of the media outlets failed to ensure the pluralism of opinion, being biased in favor of election runners. The NGOs say that under the legislation, the broadcasters and the print media are obliged to offer equal, non-discriminatory conditions when providing airtime or advertising space for electoral publicity.
Also, under the Broadcasting Code, the broadcasts are obliged to cover the election campaign in a truthful and balanced way and impartially. In particular, the legislation provides that the mass media should not favor particular electoral contenders in virtue of the social status or posts of the candidates.
The NGOs call upon the representatives of the media to have a decent conduct and not to play the games of politicians, and to impartially and objectively cover the evens.
The signatory organizations are: Independent Journalism Center, Association of Independent Press, Electronic Press Association, Committee for the Freedom of the Press, Journalistic Investigations Center, Association of Independent Tele-Journalists and “Acces-info” Center.
