The politicians who most often appeared on TV in the first two weeks of the electoral period are: the chairman of the Democratic Party (PDM) Marian Lupu, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) Vlad Filat and first deputy chairman of the PDM Vlad Plahotniuc, says a media monitoring report compiled by the Independent Press Association , the Independent Journalism Center and the Electronic Press Association (APEL) within the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Electrons. The report was presented in a news conference at IPN on October 23.
The three politicians are followed by the leader of the Communist Party (PCRM) Vladimir Voronin, Moldova’s President Nicolae Timofti and former Communist Grigore Petrenco, who is a candidate for the seat of MP on behalf of the Party “Motherland”. These six politicians are mainly presented in a neutral light, except for Vlad Plahotniuc, who appears more often in a negative context. However, he is also presented in a positive light, but not to the same extent as Vlad Filat and Marian Lupu. Grigore Petrenco and former Premier Vlad Filat are presented also in a negative light sometimes.
In the TV news items focusing on conflicts, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca and Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca rank first by the number of appearances in them, outstripping together the next eight politicians coming after them taken together. In these news stories, Iurie Leanca, Andrian Candu and Valentina Buliga are mainly presented in a positive light, while Dorin Chirtoaca appears most often in a negative context.
As to parties, the PDM tops the list of parties with the largest number of appearances on TV with 500 appearances. It is followed by the PLDM and the PCRM with 283 appearances each. Together, the three parties outrun the other seven parties of the Top Ten two times by the number of appearances.
APEL expert Aneta Gonta said the politicians and public servants appear most often in TV news items and programs, to the detriment of experts and ordinary people. Also, the women are underrepresented both as a source and as protagonists in the TV news and programs.
The monitoring was performed within a project financed by the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy, the U.S. Embassy in Moldova and East-Europe Foundation with the funds allocated by the Government of Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (DANIDA).
