The Press Council recommended the channel Accent TV to blur the faces of minors who appear as protagonists in a program about their street life. These are about 20 children who live in the ruins of the former National Hotel. According to members of the Council, by openly presenting the children the Journalist’s Deontological Code as regards the protection of the identity of children in events with negative connotation was violated, IPN reports.
The Council members recommended the TV channel to be more attentive when it interviews children and not to subject them to emotional abuse. “The Press Council considers the TV channel signaled a very serious problem, but the journalists must address any problem with responsibility and take into account the effects that can count,” said the Council’s chairman Petru Macovei.
The Press Council members in the last meeting examined an article written by the publication “Komsomoliskaia pravda v Moldove”, which says that a woman resident of Chisinau was beaten because she spoke Russian. They ascertained that the article was written without indicating the sources. The author didn’t verify the information and didn’t ask for the opinion of the involved sides. The journalist also didn’t make a clear distinction between facts and opinions.
Examining a complaint submitted by the leader of the Party “Action and Solidarity” Maia Sandu, concerning a news item about an open letter to the IMF published on publika.md, the Press Council established that the authors of the news article violated the deontological provisions concerning the presentation of information in an honest and balanced manner and the accurate presentation of quotations. Also, no distinct difference was made between facts and opinions.
The Press Council calls upon all the media outlets to present the information in a balanced and equidistant way.
