The local press ascertains progress made in covering subjects regarding human rights. The press materials do not contain only information and are also analytical in character, shows a monitoring report produced by the Media Center AO. The project as part of which the assessment was carried out brought together journalists from different regions of the country, including the Transnistrian region, Gagauzia, central and northern Moldova. The goal of the project is to increase the media’s capacity to appropriately treat human rights issues.

In a news conference at IPN, the head of the Media Center Luiza Doroshenco said that this is the fourth project implemented together with HomoDiversus. It is aimed at developing high-quality journalism, improving journalistic skills and promoting human rights through the agency of the media. The previous projects showed that the journalists less often raise issues that refer to human rights or do it not always correctly. Therefore, the objectives of the two-stage project were set. The first stage consisted of training seminars for journalists with the participation of human rights experts. Twenty-four journalists were involved, including freelancers. They published a number of articles that were later analyzed.

Human rights expert Mihaela Ajder, report author, said that all the materials assessed within the monitoring referred to human rights. More exactly, they concerned the freedom of assembly, alternative energy resources, the right to health and ecology, people with disabilities, domestic violence, women in politics, etc. The diversity of the treated themes is gladdening. Compared with the previous assessments, the results are much better.

“Earlier, there were practically no journalists who professionally covered the human rights or wrote about them. Now the situation is different. The informative character became analytical. The volume of tests grew, which is important for features. We drew special attention to the human rights issue in general, gender equality, etc. Improvements were seen in this regard. We are yet at the incipient stage. The press can do better and this thing should be continued,” stated Mihaela Ajder. According to her, more work needs to be done in particular spheres.

Yevgeny Goloshchapov, human rights expert, said that representatives of the local press, who have limited access to experts from the field or to different seminars, were involved in the project. The project was advantageous from this angle. “We saw that the press can do much better and this improvement took place primarily due to the successful approach to journalistic work,” noted the expert.

HomoDiversus Center head Vitalie Popov said the treatment of human rights in the media is very important for ensuring social cohesion. “The press has great power. Instead of dividing society by raising human rights issues through journalistic materials, the press can unite society,” he stated.

Note: IPN News Agency offers the right of reply to persons who consider they were touched by the news items produced based on statements of the organizers of the given news conference, including by facilitating the organization of another news conference in similar conditions.