National public broadcaster undergoes changes

The national public broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) will become a competitive and modern media institution, chairman Constantin Marin said when presenting the plan for reforming the company on September 23. Besides diversifying the company’s programs and improving the quality of its products, the administration also intends to build a new head office for TRM until 2014, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The assessment of the three restructuring options – slow, progressive and radical – showed that the radical reform is the most advantageous one both as regards the technological requirements and the efficiency of the investments. This reformation plan gives the public broadcaster the chance of becoming a truly public, competitive and modern institution,” said Constantin Marin. The plan also envisions the construction of a new head office. In this context, Prime Minister Vlad Filat said the public broadcaster needs modern equipment and adjusted infrastructure so as to provide programs of a high quality. “We all wait for this reformation process as we want a powerful institution that will objectively inform the people. The Government will contribute money as well. Financial resources will be allocated from the state budget and from the financing provided by international organizations,” said Vlad Filat. The debates on the reformation of TRM were organized by the OSCE Mission to Moldova. Senior Adviser to the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Roland Bless said the public broadcaster is one of the instruments for promoting democracy. “We hope that Teleradio-Moldova will make use of all the available technologies in order to produce programs of a high quality intended for different groups of people and that the Moldovan state will create conditions for this to happen,” said the official. Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Jan Plešinger said the Moldovan authorities should guarantee the editorial independence of the public broadcaster, offer appropriate public funds and ensure the company’s responsibility before the public. “We welcome the efforts made to transform Teleradio-Moldova into a modern, pluralistic, professional and independent public broadcaster,” said Jan Plešinger. UNDP Resident Representative in Moldova Kaarina Immonen said the public television became impartial and pluralistic, but it should better reflect the interests of all the social groups. “The first steps towards creating an independent public broadcaster have been made in Moldova and I’m confident that this reform will benefit all the people,” said Kaarina Immonen. The event brought together representatives of the Parliament, the Broadcasting Coordination Council, Deutsche Welle, the European Broadcasting Union, the diplomatic corps working in Chisinau, international organizations and NGOs.