The press in the Republic of Moldova does not work as a business as in most of the democratic states, but tries to survive in very difficult economic conditions. The monopolization of the advertising market is one of the biggest problems for the broadcasting sector, while the price of newspaper paper and the high distribution commission are the biggest problems for the print media that discourage the journalists, especially those from the independent press. Media managers and experts consider the Moldovan authorities should help the press by implementing the good European practices.
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The assistance and subsidies provided from public budgets help the editorial staffs in many European states not only to survive, but also to develop, ensuring media pluralism in these countries. The types of subsidies vary from state to state: preferential tariffs for distribution services and advantageous tariffs for telecommunications; tax concessions, subsidization of the price of newspaper paper or others.
Press in Sweden has been subsidized for five decades
The press assistance system in Sweden, for example, has existed for almost five decades. Swedish journalist Hans Manson, currently program director at the Center for Media Studies, confirms that this way the press is helped to develop, maintaining simultaneously its impartiality. “We have three types of assistance: operational, from which both the print media and the digital one can benefit; for common distribution and for development. When I speak about development, I refer to the assistance provided to the print media to develop the electronic distribution of high-quality editorial content. The major goal of the three types of assistance is to support and promote the diversity in the mass media. The Swedish assistance system started to be applied in the middle of the 1970s, when the smaller papers lost ground in the competition against larger papers. This was a method of keeping alive more media outlets,” stated the Swedish journalist. He noted the subsidization of the press is a topical subject on the agenda of the Swedish authorities. “Currently, in the public landscape in Sweden they discuss how the mass media should be supported in the future: if the support should be kept at the same level of €50 million a year (without including the public television and radio service) or these funds should be raised. Currently, for historical reasons, the print media is favored, but the future is digital. Most of the politicians agree that the supporting of the free and independent media is a vital element for protecting democracy,” stated Hans Manson.
Other European countries, such as Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Luxemburg, have applied during many years different press subsidization schemes that contribute to the development of the press and to media pluralism. A similar system is created in Latvia.
Moldova does not have a press subsidization system and some of the papers risk disappearing
The situation of the print media in our country has continuously worsened during the past few years. Aster the last about 30% rise in the price of newspaper paper, some of the editorial offices were put in the situation to reduce the number of employees or the number of printed pagers to avoid closure.
According to Nicolae Sanduleac, director of the local paper “Unghiul” of Ungheni, the subsidization of the regional and local press, according to clear and transparent criteria, would help it to develop. “Together with the rise in the price of newspaper paper, a few really independent papers could survive even if “Unghiul” during several years already has worked without grants. If we want in Europe and want a free press in the Republic of Moldova, and the government speaks about this permanently, this should lend a hand and the press should be supported from the public budget. Without assistance, it is hard to resist. That’s why some of the papers will disappear and their disappearance will be a problem for the citizens as not all the readers have access the Internet and cannot orient themselves in the avalanche of false information,” stated Nicolae Sanduleac.
Rodica Mahu, editor-in-chief of the national paper “Jurnal de Chisinau”, said she supports the idea of offering public subsidies for developing the press, but this method should not be used by the government as an instrument for controlling the press. “The state should not control the editorial content and should not ask for political ‘slavery’ instead of subsidies. The money is not of the government. This is public money. The press should be supported by particular subsidies provided from public money, while the journalists should pledge to be correct from deontological viewpoint,” stated Rodica Mahu.
Media researcher Aneta Gonta, author of the study “Investments in media pluralism. Practices for the support and public subsidizing of media development” that is produced by the Association of Independent Press (API) within a project financed by the U.S. Embassy in Moldova, said a subsidization system is vital for the existence of the print media. “Today we witness a powerful phenomenon of media ownership and content concentration that is also mainly due to the lack of public policies of support for the mass media as a pillar of democracy. Now that I hope they understood that the subsidies for the press do not mean control on the part of the state and that the media system faces a multitude of problems, some of the sectors being threatened with bankruptcy and/or disappearance from the market, the time is opportune for the state to initiate public policies in this regard,” stated the expert.
Within the Working Group for improving the legislation on the mass media constituted by Parliament, which works with the support of the joint European Union/Council of Europe project “Promoting Media Freedom and Pluralism in the Republic of Moldova”, the API experts drafted two laws aimed at supporting the development of periodicals, including at local and regional levels. One of these projects envisions the implementation of measures of support for periodicals of social importance, including the creation and development of a national press subsidization mechanism managed by an independent authority consisting of professionals who will act in the public interest, while the high quality of the journalistic product and the observance of the Journalist’s Deontological Code would be the main criteria for providing public subsidies.
Lilia Zaharia