A new service called the ‘ombudsperson’ – a mediator between the public and the company - will be instituted at Teleradio-Moldova. The ombudsperson will answer the questions put by viewers and radio listeners, will provide the information they need, will analyze complaints from people and direct them to managers, Info-Prim Neo reports. In the national conference “Ombudsperson of the Public Radio and Television Service” on July 11, Angela Sarbu, director of the public TV channel Moldova 1, said this service is absolutely necessary as it is very important to have a permanent connection with the public. “The wishes and objections of the public should be taken account of. Such a connection now exists through letters and the Internet. We allow the people to analyze the work we do on the radio and TV,” said Angela Sarbu. She also said that the new service may be included in the new Broadcasting Code that is to be submitted to Parliament for approval. Radio Moldova director Alexandru Dorogan considers that the journalists should realize the essence of this service, especially because effort has been made during the last two years to transform Teleradio-Moldova into a credible and transparent institution that ensures access to information of a high quality. However, Alexandru Dorogan expressed his skepticism about the guaranteeing of independence to this service by TRM. “If we speak about independence, we can think that we are independent, but there are many people who say that we serve the interests of political parties. The same can happen to the ombudsperson,” he stated. Ion Bunduchi, executive director of the Electronic Press Association (APEL), which organized the event, said the new service forms part of the self-regulating measures. The ombudsperson makes sure that all the journalists observe the deontological norms and cover the relations between the program authors and the public, when there appear informational disputes. “These disputes should be resolved by a wise and mature mediator rather than in court,” he said. The international practice shows the ombudspersons are elected from the journalistic environment. Usually, they are journalists with a long length of service and a spotless reputation. The ombudsperson should be an independent, unbiased person. Attending the conference, Radio France International mediator Dominique Burg said the lack of people’s trust in the mass media led to the appearance of this service in Europe and other countries. The reasons why the people lost confidence vary from country to country. One of them is the lack of plurality of opinion. The task of the ombudsperson is to restore confidence in the journalists and improve the quality of information. In France, the service was created in the print media in 1988. A representative of the Estonian company Media Publice Tarmu Tammerk said the ombudspersons should be very conscientious as they establish direct connection between the journalists and the people. They should also be independent and protect the journalists from possible political or other kinds of attacks. The first ‘ombudsperson’ service appeared in Sweden in 1809. It was instituted through the agency of the Government under the Parliament. Its duty was to protect the rights of the people by creating an independent agency for supervising the executive.