Situation in a number of mass media areas is worrisome, experts

The financial support offered by the state to former governmental papers, the control of the national radio and television stations by the government, the limited access to information and the inappropriate activity of the Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) are among the 100 most pressing problems faced by Moldova in 2007. The given problems were included in a study with the same name presented recently in Chisinau. In 2007, The Government continued to support financially, directly or indirectly the former governmental newspapers “Moldova Suverana” (“Sovereign Moldova”) and “Nezavisimaya Moldova” (“Independent Moldova”), while the given publications continued to report mainly on the activity of the state administration bodies in a way that favours the power. This thing happened even if the Government renounced the status of founder of the papers in May-June 2005, the study says. The authors do not exclude that the attacks on the new administration of the Chisinau City Hall and on the political leaders from the Opposition will become more intense in 2008, especially before the parliamentary elections. On the other hand, the Government will continue to indirectly subsidise the two papers, even if it will be tougher and tougher to do this as the civil society and international organisations constantly monitor the decision making process and the freedom of expression in Moldova. The experts also say that the election of the new composition of the Supervisory Board of the National Public Broadcaster “Teleradio-Moldova” Company (TRM) and of the new administration of the public broadcasters did not essentially contribute to the transformation of TRM into a truly public broadcaster. The institution complies too slowly with the new stipulations of the broadcasting legislation, while the new management of TRM pretends to implement the reform as they prefer stagnation. The newscasts of TRM do not fully meet the qualities of a public broadcaster as they favour, directly or indirectly, the current government. The new administration of TRM was not only once accused of “shortage of new ideas” and lack of cooperation with the civil society and international organisations in the reformation of the public broadcaster. The sometimes improper reaction of the TRM president to the criticism levelled by local and international experts shows that the present administration of the company cannot or does not want to change the situation at TRM. It is not excluded that TRM will continue to favour the central and local public administrations even if the present government risks being further penalised by the civil society and international organisations for not fulfilling the obligations assumed under the EU-Moldova Plan of Action, the experts say. The access to information of public interest is not fluidised despite the mass media’s requests and numerous appeals from domestic and international organisations working in the area of human rights and transparency, Info-Prim Neo quotes the study. The situation can improve in time as the pressure exerted by the press, the control of the civil society and the requests of the international community will persist and grow. Another factor that can change the situation to the better is the adoption of the bill on transparency in decision making, the experts consider. They say that instead of reorganising and adjusting the public services created by the local authorities to the new legislation, the Broadcasting Coordination Council remains idle. Moreover, the institution’s image was damaged after some of the BCC members were accused of extortion and corruption, while the former BCC president Corneliu Mihalache was dismissed for hiding information. The appointment of a new BCC president stopped, at least for a period, the scandals that impinged on the BCC and the broadcasting companies. If the Council preoccupies only with the reorganisation and adjustment of the public services created by the local authorities to the new legislation and does not give in to political pressure, the situation in the broadcasting sector could gradually improve. But with the parliamentary elections approaching, the present government will continue to be tented to indirectly intimidate the inconvenient mass media, using the BCC as tool, the study says. Another two problems witnessed by Moldova in the field of mass media in 2007 were, according to the study, the intimidation of journalists by the police and the lack of professionalism in the press.