The 2013 Press Freedom Days in Moldova will take place between May 3 and 24. The Association of Independent Press, the Independent Journalism Center and the Young Journalist’s Center of Moldova (CTJM) prepared a number of events on this occasion. On May 3, representatives of civil society and mass media institutions are invited to a meeting with members of the parliamentary commission on culture, education, youth, sport and mass media, IPN reports.
Also on Friday, young journalists from all over the country will stage a flashmob meeting in the central park of Chisinau. There will be held a presentation of the special edition of the page “Active”, dedicated to the World Press Freedom Day. The supplement “European Objective” No. 10, dedicated to Europe Day, will be distributed through the agency of the newspapers “Jurnal de Chisinau”, “Cuvantul”, “Observatorul de Nord”, and “Gazeta de Sud”.
A public debate on the theme of manipulation through the mass media will be staged on May 8. There will be launched a campaign against informational manipulation. The same day, the Independent Journalism Center will launch the video “Do you know what media you consume?”. On May 10, there will be launched the newsletter of the Young Journalist’s Center that will include opportunities for young journalists and articles written by them. Radio CTJM will be re-launched on May 15, while the training “Open Data Journalism” will take place on May 23-24.
Petru Macovei, executive director of the Association of Independent Press, said the reforms in the mass media sector in Moldova are stagnant. He has told IPN that he maintains this opinion even if Moldova climbed three spots in the Freedom House rankings as regards the freedom of the media. “The reforms needed in this sector were initiated in 2010-2011, but they stopped in 2012. The politicians busy with settling of accounts used the mass media to manipulate the public opinion,” he stated.
According to him, there are yet serious problems as regards the access to information of public interest. The media outlets that correctly choose their role must be united and seek the implementation of the necessary reforms as they can count on the support of the European institutions.
