NIT continues to openly campaign for PCRM, report

The private TV channel with national coverage NIT continues to openly campaign in favor of the Communists Party (PCRM) and its leader, says the third monitoring report on the covering of the election campaign by the mass media, produced by the Independent Journalism Center within the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a news conference on Tuesday, the Center’s head Nadin Gogu said that NIT failed to ensure plurality of opinions. The PCRM is presented in a favorable light, while the representatives of the Alliance for European Integration are criticized or presented in a bad light. Nadin Gogu said the subject about the alleged controlled explosion on the levee in Nisporeni treated by Alexandru Petcov, who is a candidate for MP on the Communist ticket, was offered on NIT one hour. It was covered in its news bulletins and a program that involved Alexandru Petcov and a political analyst. The Center’s head also said that the situation of the other six TV channels and three radio stations monitored has improved, except the channel with national coverage 2Plus, which covers passively the election campaign compared with the other channels as they increased the number of news items and opinion programs about the elections. The public channels Moldova 1 and Radio Moldova continued to equally present election contenders, including extra-parliamentary parties. The number of news stories about the work of the Acting President and the Prime Minister was reduced and they were unbiased. The channels Jurnal TV and Publika actively cover the electoral subjects. Their news items are varied and involve a large number of election contenders, Nadin Gogu said. The radio stations Vocea Basarabiei and Prime FM have been slightly unsympathetic towards the PCRM. The monitoring of the ten broadcasters for the third report covered the period between October 25 and 31, 2010.