The Moldovan press remains partially free, according to the 6th edition of the Eastern Partnership Media Freedom Index. With 1322 points accumulated in July-September 2014, Moldova came in second, while Georgia continue to top the list.
Nadine Gogu, executive director of the Center for Independent Journalism, told a press conference at IPN, that Moldova's score has slightly improved, by 38 points, from the previous update of the rankings, but the country is still behind Georgia. According to Gogu, journalists don't work in a wholly free environment and both internal and external pressure on journalistic activity persist. Moldova's situation looks good when compared to Eastern countries, but less so when compared to the EU.
Petru Macovei, executive director of the Association of Independent Press, noted that things didn't change much in the “Politics” section. The bill on the transparency of media property was voted only in the first reading. Afterwards, the politicians only promised to adopt it in the final reading, but didn't do it. The expert also remarked a series of changes in the media landscape as the newspaper Adevarul Moldova shut down and kommersant.md became newsmaker.md.
Alina Radu, head of the investigation newspaper Ziarul de Garda, denounced several cases of abuse and threats. The journalists of RISE Project Moldova have been verbally abused for one of their investigations. The employees of Ziarul de Garda have been threatened with physical harm for publishing a story about His Holiness Vladimir. Meanwhile, journalists from Balti have been threatened by the mayor of the municipality himself. Alina Radu is disappointed by the authorities' lack reaction to any of these cases.
As regards the “Audiovisual” section, Ion Terguta, director of MIR Moldova, said that both public broadcasting companies Teleradio-Moldova and Teleradio Gagauzia were subjected to political interference. According to him, the Teleradio-Moldova's Observers' Councilis non-functional and the company worked through the electoral campaign without a chairman.
The Media Freedom Index is developed by ENP East Media Freedom Watch. The freedom of the press is assessed quarterly by having 10 experts from each country of the Eastern Partnership fill out a questionnaire. The project is carried out with the support of the EU.
