No good news for media in 2007

The majority of politicians and analysts say the situation of media worsened in Moldova in 2006. [Media “turns yellow”] Asked to comment on the situation of media in the past year, Eugenia Ostapciuc, the leader of the Parliamentary communist faction told Info-Prim Neo that the press turns yellow in the proximity of local elections. “A significant part of the information in the news is biased. It supports certain political forces. The media should try to make the country stable for a change”. Ostapciuc recommended the journalists to avoid radicalism and propaganda articles. [There are lists of persons that should not appear at TRM] On the other hand, Oleg Serebrian, the leader of the Social Liberal Party (SLP) considers that 2006 was the most difficult year for the media since 1991. Despite Voronin’s pronouncements in front of the opposition parties that voted him in April 2005, but also in front of the western partners, the communist government has organised a crusade against the media in 2006. According to the Social Liberal leader, the cause of this communist counterrevolution is the closeness of the electoral campaign, but also the communists’ drop in ratings. Therefore the communists aim at destroying all the “seeds” of free media and eliminate all the standpoints that do not fit their official statements. There are unwritten lists of public persons at “Teleradio-Moldova” that should not appear at the public TV or radio station, Serebrian states, mentioning that he has found out recently from several journalists from “Euro TV Chisinau” that this practice is tried to be introduced at this station as well. Serebrian believes that the next targets will be the most influent newspapers that are not controlled by the government and radio stations such as “Vocea Basarabiei”. In order to prevent this abnormal situation in the field of media a joint effort of the political opposition and journalists’ associations is necessary, which should inform international bodies about this situation, particularly the Council of Europe. “We must admit that the PCRM and its political satellites are very active in light of the fact that they control the diplomatic missions and other official channels that allow them to influence Strasbourg’s opinion, which does not verify the real situation because it does not have real signals”, the leader of the SLP added. [Preelection syndrome] Eduard Musuc, the leader of the Social Democrat Party considers that the explanation for the situation of the media is the preelection syndrome. The government wants by any means to obtain the total control over the media. The case of “Antena C” and “Euro TV” is the most relevant in this respect. It is pitiable that the constitutional right to information was violated. The interests of the clan have prevailed over the public interest. “The clear goal of the government can be seen behind all the statements. They want to replace the unbiased information with an ordinary propaganda. The example of PRO TV and the independent newspapers are relevant”, Musuc says. [The media promoted riots and debauchery] According to Ion Mereuta, the chairman of the Humanist Party of Moldova, the constitutional right to information was violated in 2006 and the population was unilaterally informed. “The media did not have priorities in educating moral and spiritual values, promoting the patriotism through work, love for the country and people etc. The media has often promoted riots and debauchery, and inappropriate behaviour like smoking, alcoholism etc”, the leader of HPM considers. [Journalists should not give up] Nicolae Andronic, the leader of the People’s Republican Party also considers that the situation of the media, of the freedom of expression has worsened in 2006. The intimidation and harassment of the press and of the broadcasting stations through legal proceedings, involvement of the law-enforcement bodies, searches, and forced evacuations clearly prove this fact. It seems that the situation will remain unchanged in 2007 and particularly in 2008 – the year before the parliamentary elections. Neither the PCRM, nor its partners – PPCD and PDM - want the society to find the truth about their real actions. But this does not mean that journalists should give up. Honest representatives of the media and of the real opposition must ally, Nicolae Andronic considers. [PCRM and PPCD listen to no one but themselves] Vitalia Pavlicenco, the chairman of the National Liberal Party considers inappropriate the situation of the media in 2006. Some truly independent newspapers, radio and TV stations continue to fight for democratic changes. However, the true thoughts of the communists and their allies have been disclosed this year. They do not want impartial information, transparency and concurrence. They continue to prefer the behind-the-scene actions and a controlled media. “These communists do not understand an elementary fact – an efficient and strong media is the one that criticises, that wants to make things go right and fights corruption. Voronin gets mad at the media and the opinion polls show that his family is considered the most corrupt. And namely this is the way a fake document that throttled the independent media was born. The reason is that the PPCD and PCRM want “Antena C” and “Euro TV” broadcast only their standpoints”, Pavlicenco said. [“Controlled democracy” emerges in Moldova] Valentin Krilov, the Secretary of the Socialists’ Party of Moldova “Patria-Rodina” also considers that the situation of media in 2006 was entirely unfavourable. The approval of the Broadcasting Code, did not introduce nothing good, if speaking about the interests of the citizens and of the civil society. The free access to information, freedom of the media, political pluralism and other values stipulated in the Constitution are empty words. “We witness the emergence of a “controlled democracy” that works for the benefit of the present government. In light of this fact, we can not foresee a better year. The state of affairs can be changed only with the support of the international bodies that, regretfully, still have double standards”, Krilov considers. [The journalists are not used to protect their interests] The political analyst, Igor Botan says that 2006 was one of the most difficult years for the media. Surely, the main problems are linked to the Broadcasting Code and the implementation of its provisions. The community of the journalists knows better than anyone that there is no other delicate issue for a democracy than the freedom of speech. But it also knows that the broadcasting institutions are a very important instrument in influencing the electoral opinions of the citizens. Besides protecting the fundamental rights of the citizens, the broadcasting institutions are a “tie” of political and business interests. From this point of view, it is absolutely clear that the most “agile” representatives of the journalists’ community must now how to promote the advocacy for their colleagues. However, this skill of the journalistic community is its most vulnerable side, Botan considers. We must acknowledge the fact that the ad hoc parliamentary group was formed out of journalists that invited the representatives of the specialised institutions to participate in the creation of the Broadcasting Code, offer that was rejected with the following argument – “we choose another way”. According to the analyst, this is a great mistake. It is true that the postfact involvement of the media institutions, namely after the first draft of the Code was drawn up, was full of grit and competence. Many things were repaired and improved, but the previous political antagonisms influenced the action. This fact determined the destiny of “Antena C” and “Euro TV”. In due form the accusation that these station practice political partisanship is correct but it is wrong de facto. If we analyse the latest reports of the OSCE regarding the monitoring of the elections we will find out that the two stations were biased to some extent. But if we will analyse more closely the situation, we will see that the slight biased character aimed at correcting the obvious unfair mission of “Teleradio-Moldova”. “I believe that good lawyers will prove that the decisions of the Municipal Council are not fully legal. However, I am afraid that the situation of the staffs will not get better”, the cited sources stated. “We must understand that no government will offer rights just like that. The democracy is a permanent activity of correctly protecting ones’ rights. 2007 is an electoral year and regretfully I believe that the journalists will face the same problems in the electoral campaign they got used to before”, the analyst Igor Botan concluded, quoted by Info-Prim Neo.