The Independent Journalism Center (IJC) monitors the behavior of ten television channels in the campaign prior to for the presidential election of October 20. The first report covers the period between September 20 and 26 and was presented at a news conference hosted by IPN.
IJC executive director Nadine Gogu said that the monitored TV channels are: Cinema 1, Exclusiv TV, GRT, Jurnal TV, Moldova 1, N 4, TVC 21, TVR Moldova, Pro TV, and TV 8. The monitors follow the main newscast of the day, the electoral programs broadcast in the evening. The electoral debates, which have not been organized so far, will also be monitored.
During the first week of monitoring, the ten channels had a total of 316 electoral products: 33 programs and 283 news items.
The top five sources or protagonists quoted/mentioned are: the citizens (due to Vox-Populi type materials), Government representatives, the Central Election Commission, foreign and local experts, and the Parliament.
Among the candidates for the position of President, Maia Sandu appeared most often: 71 appearances and mentions. She is followed by Alexandr Stoianoglo: 51 appearances and mentions. Irina Vlah is in third place: 49 appearances and mentions. By the duration of their appearances, Ion Chicu, Vasile Tarlev and Tudor Ulyanovski are the top three.
According to Polina Panainte, of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, the monitoring of the coverage of election campaigns continues because television in the Republic of Moldova remains a popular source of information, especially in rural areas and among the elderly. Although the internet is increasingly popular and many people admit that the internet is the main source of information, television still remains popular. “For this reason, it is appropriate to be more careful and to observe to what extent television manages to provide the citizens, voters with objective information about the electoral process,” stated Polina Panainte.
Besides the ten monitored TV stations, another 51 TV channels and 48 radio stations announced that they do not want to cover the election campaign and will not hold debates or broadcast content related to the electoral process.
Note: IPN Agency offers the right of reply to persons who consider that they were targeted in the news articles produced based on the statements of the organizers of this press conference, including by facilitating the organization of another press conference under similar conditions.
