Specialized project aims at consolidating cooperation relations between journalists from both banks of Nistru

A new project launched on Friday by the Independent Journalism Centre in partnership with BBC World Service Trust is designed to strengthen the cooperation relations between the journalists from the two banks of the Nistru, including in reflecting the Transnistrian conflict. According to project authors, after years of unsolved conflict and lack of mutual information, there appeared stereotypes, including among journalists. The press focuses on political players, to the detriment of the ordinary citizen. The project, which will be implemented by May 2009, aims to change the emphasis, to address the problem from a wider range of angles and information sources in the population’s interest. The project “Bridges over the Nistru: joint mass media actions to solve Transnistrian conflict” will have several sections: specialized training programmes, including on the Internet, and monthly meetings of the Press Club, with the participation of public personalities from Chisinau, Tiraspol and other Moldovan settlements. A website dedicated to the Transnistrian conflict will be set up as part of the project. [dialog.md] will promote a constructive dialogue between different identity groups. Similar projects aimed at putting to good use the experience of the journalists from both banks of the Nistru had been initiated in 2001. Over 80 reporters, including from the eastern districts of the country, took part in different activities organized by the Independent Journalism Centre.