The Press Council nominated the finalists of Journalistic Ethics and Professional Deontology contest, 2019 edition. Five of the 20 nominated media institutions reached the final stage of the contest. The winner will be announced at 2019 Media Forum, which will take place on November 4 - 5 in Chisinau, IPN reports with reference to a press release of the Press Council.
According to the press release, the contest finalists were selected following a multi-stage voting procedure, in which the public, experts and members of the Press Council voted.
Thus, between September 6 - October 15, 2019, consumers of media products had the opportunity to vote on the website www.mediaforum.md for the 20 media institutions, which were proposed for 2019 Journalistic Ethics and Professional Deontology National Award. Subsequently, their professional conduct was assessed by a group of experts and by the Press Council members. By cumulative totalling up of the score offered to candidates by the public, on the one hand, and by the experts and members of the Press Council, on the other hand, five editorial boards have received the highest appreciation in both rankings: moldova.org portal; newsmaker.md portal; Chisinau Radio; RISE Moldova and TV8. According to the competition Regulation, as regards the candidates’ cumulative scoring, 75% account for the common vote of the experts and members of the Press Council, while 25% make up the public vote.
During a special closed session, the Press Council will decide which of these five finalists will receive the National Award for Journalistic Ethics and Professional Deontology in 2019. As the organizer of the contest, the Press Council reserves the right not to designate a winner, if it deems that this year there are no media outlets worthy of this award.
The National Prize for Journalistic Ethics and Professional Deontology was established by the Press Council of the Republic of Moldova in 2015 and is awarded annually in order to promote ethical and deontological principles and in recognition of the merits of media institutions in this field.
In 2015, the Prize was awarded to the Chisinau Office of Radio Free Europe, in 2016 – to the Anticoruptie.md portal, in 2017 - to the weekly Ziarul de Garda, and in 2018 - to the SP newspaper from Bălți. The award is offered with the support of Soros Foundation Moldova Media Program.
