Prime Minister Vlad Filat tops the rankings of the most widely covered politicians online. The data were presented by the public association Start Moldova in a news conference on December 11, Info-Prim Neo reports. The association’s founder and director Lilian Boboc said the project “Rankings of the most widely covered politicians online” is a non-profit one that aims to make the political process in Moldova more transparent. The survey was commissioned by Start Moldova and compiled by the company Marketing&PR. Such rankings will be produced monthly. “Earlier, there was no public information about the performance of the political leaders in the online sphere. For the first time today, we provide comprehensive information about their performance. There are presented exact figures that leave no room for speculation. Respectively, the general public has access to information in real time. This makes the process more objective and transparent,” said Lilian Boboc. The monitoring period was September 1 - November 30, 2012. There were monitored seven political leaders and five political parties. “The monitoring was conducted based on key words present in the titles of news in over 120 online sources that were monitored round the clock. Thus, Prime Minister Vlad Filat, the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM), ranked first, being present in 2,115 news items in the period. He was followed by the leader of the Communist Party (PCRM) Vladimir Voronin with 1,921 appearances online. The third position is taken by the chairman of the Democratic Party (PDM) Marian Lupu with 790 appearances online. The leader of the Liberal Party (PL) Mihai Ghimpu ranked fourth with 767 appearances. Igor Dodon, the chairman of the Party of Socialists (PSRM), came next, being present in 616 news stories. Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca appeared in 550 news items online and was ranked sixth, while Moldova’s President Nicolae Timofti was placed seventh with 532 appearances online,” said Lilian Boboc. The members of the association also made a study of the media interest in the political parties of Moldova. The rankings are headed by the PLDM with 1,473 appearances, being followed by the PCRM with 1,344 appearances and the PDM with 553 appearances. The PL has 536 appearances. The rankings are closed by the PSRM with 431 appearances online. The rankings were produced through software developed by Marketing&PR, which ensures automated, real-time monitoring of the online sources by key words, without the involvement of the human factor.