Some TV stations reflect relatively neutrally the electoral campaign for general local elections and snap parliamentary elections, while others get involved in political partisanship, favouring certain electoral competitors. The conclusion could be drawn from the most recent media activity monitoring report during the election campaign, presented on October 3 at a press conference at IPN.
At the presentation of the report, which includes the monitoring period September 20-27, Nadine Gogu, director of Independent Journalism Center, has mentioned that, in general, most stations offered access to candidates. They were cited and / or mentioned in the news about the launch of the election campaign and other campaign activities. "Most of the electoral materials were fair and equidistant, presenting protagonists in a neutral manner. Also, a large part of the election news stories mainly cited candidates for elections, confining themselves to a single source of information, without dealing in-depth with the topics by providing contextual information and including other sources,” said Nadine Gogu.
According to the report, Moldova 1 had an equidistant approach, without clearly favouring or disadvantaging any candidate. Prime TV and Publika TV did not largely favour any candidate, while the candidate of ACUM bloc, Andrei Năstase, was disadvantaged by the selection of negative context in the news stories broadcast about him.
Jurnal TV offered space and neutral reflection to all the candidates. The candidate of ACUM bloc, Andrei Nastase, was presented in a positive context in the news regarding his activities as minister, the image being transferred to the candidate Andrei Nastase.
NTV Moldova and Accent TV have largely favoured the PSRM candidate Ion Ceban through the space granted and the positive context in which he was presented, whereas Andrei Năstase was presented in a more negative context.
RTR Moldova slightly favoured Ion Ceban, while PRO TV and TV 8 had a balanced attitude.
The Central Television favoured the representatives of the "Șor" Party, while Ion Ceban and Andrei Năstase were reflected in a negative context.
The report was drawn up by the Independent Journalism Centre with the support of the East Europe Foundation, with resources provided by Sweden and with the support of the US Agency for International Development and the United Kingdom Agency for International Development.
Polina Panainte, secretary of the Civic Coalition for free and fair elections, says that the following television stations have been monitored: Moldova 1, Prime TV, Publika TV, TV Journal, RTR Moldova, NTV Moldova, Accent TV, PRO TV, TV8 and Central Television/ Televiziunea Centrală, being selected based on audience, ownership form and broadcast language criteria.