Some televisions return to bad practices

“Unfortunately, a series of TV stations returned to the practice from the previous campaign and the violations are much more severe,” stated media expert Vasile State at a news conference on July 10, in the premises of Info-Prim Neo. “If you watch Moldova 1, NIT, N4, you'll notice certain trends of political partisanship in the PCRM's (Communists) favor,” said State, who is the coordinator of a project of observing televisions in electoral races. “The practice is continued, although during the previous campaign, for similar conducts, the TV operators were publicly warned by the Broadcasting Coordinating Council and were obliged to insure political balance and pluralism.” The conclusion is contained in a press release issued by the Electronic Press Association (APEL) following a monitoring session having last from June 17 to 30 – the first two weeks of the campaign. EuTV, Moldova 1, N4 and NIT heavily covered, in newscasts in a positive context, politicians representing the government and, most often – Vladimir Voronin and Iurie Rosca, State said. In a negative context most often were put the leaders of the Liberal, Liberal Democratic, Our Moldova Alliance Parties. Moldova 1, after not displaying favoring attitude towards any politician or political party, for the first time during the period June 1-16, returned to the partisanship practice used in the April 5 elections, the experts say. The imbalance of presenting political actors is also heavy in other programs than newscasts, reads APEL's communique. “N4, NIT, EuTV and Moldova 1 continue to favor the PCRM, and much more frequently than before – the PPCD. The representatives of these two parties appear on the afore-mentioned TV channels in a favorable light, while the representatives of the opposition parties are covered unilaterally, and in a negative context,” said university professor Victor Moraru, an expert with the project. ProTV and TV7 largely keep being equidistant with the political actors, he added. This monitoring project is financed by the Delegation of the European Commission to Moldova and unfolds within the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections – Coalition 2009, to which APEL is part.