Teleradio-Moldova continues to favor Communist leader and to denigrate opposition

The broadcaster paid by tax-payers – Teleradio Moldova – continues to favor president Vladimir Voronin and the ruling Communists Party (PCRM). In full swing of the election campaign, both the public radio and television obviously favor the ruling political actors and pay little attention to other politicians, especially presenting them in an unfavorable manner. These conclusions are made by the observers of the Electronic Press Association (APEL), who presented a report about the conduct of the public broadcasters, both national and regional, on Friday, March 13. Thus, according to a top 10 of the most covered political actors on Moldova 1, Vladimir Voronin appeared 134 times on this station, prime minister Zinaida Greceanai – 74 times, and Social-Democratic (PSD) leader Dumitru Braghis – 17 times, as did Democratic (PDM) leader Dumitru Diacov. On Radio Moldova president Voronin appeared 308 times, premier Greceanai – 155 times, while no leader from the political opposition is among the first politicians mostly covered. The monitoring report finds that the PCRM, both on the public television and on the public radio, had blatantly more visibility compared to the other parties. The PCRM appears 142 times in a positive context on Moldova 1, while the following on the list – the PDM – appears but 6 times. The PCRM representatives never appear in a negative context on those two stations, while Eduard Musuc (PSD), Dorin Chirtoaca (the Liberal Party) and Vasile Tarlev (the Centrist Union) are put in a negative context most often. Neither the TV and radio stations from within Teleradio-Gagauzia observe the principles of fairness, balance and impartiality in the campaign period, as provided by the national legal norms and the European recommendations, the monitors find. When asked by Info-Prim Neo about the way Teleradio-Moldova must act in, since the actors mostly covered are also the main news makers, APEL expert Vasile State said: “We're not talking about the case when president Voronin meets presidents of other countries. It's his main task. But when president Voronin is shown going to inaugurations of hospitals, to factories and plants, it seems to me it's clear electioneering.” APEL also presented a case study about the way in which the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC) adopted its Concept on the Moldovan broadcasters covering elections. “This concept is not valid, since it was never published in Monitorul Oficial (Official Gazette),” said another APEL expert, Eugeniu Ribca. He has also highlighted a series of cases when the Concept drafted by the BCC runs counter the Regulation on covering the April 5 elections, adopted by the Central Electoral Commission. The project “Monitoring the enforcement of the Broadcasting Code” is financed by the Soros Foundation-Moldova and unfolds during the election campaign within the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections – Coalition 2009, the secretary of which, Nicolae Panfil, conducted the press conference hosted by Info-Prim Neo.