Covering of election campaigns by mass media should be thoroughly regulated, CEC

The covering of election campaigns by the mass media is an area that should be thoroughly regulated as the mass media become an instrument not only for information in such periods, chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Iurie Ciocan said when presenting the report “Regulation of the behavior of the mass media in the election campaign”, Info-Prim Neo reports. Iurie Ciocan stated that Moldova needs a law that would allow covering the election campaigns without certain regulations adopted by the CEC in these periods. “There is a Code of Conduct that we propose for signing to political parties and media outlets during every election campaign. But most often this Code is signed by politicians who want to build an image and come accompanied by many journalists. If you analyze this Code, you will see that the part intended for the signatures of the mass media is practically empty. Some directors say it’s not worth signing what is anyway not respected,” he said in a roundtable meeting, adding such a law would hinder those who want to manipulate public opinion through the mass media. Jurist Eugeniu Rybka, who is a mass media expert, said the last elections showed that certain regulations are misinterpreted. According to him, there was drafted a bill to amend the Election Code that obliges the CEC to work out permanent regulations on the covering of the election campaigns by the mass media. It also suggests excluding the free advertising minute granted to the election contenders. The roundtable meeting “Amendment of the Election Code from the prospect of mass media regulation in the election campaign” was organized by the Independent Journalism Center within the Reformation of the Legislation on the Covering of Elections by the Mass Media Project.