Some of the national media outlets continue to manipulate and to selectively present information or to disseminate propaganda. In a news conference at IPN, the Independent Journalism Center (CJI) presented the second monitoring report “Propaganda elements, information manipulation and violation of the journalist’s deontological norms in the national media space”.
CJI director Nadine Gogu said that during three months, since February 1 until April 30, there were monitored the electronic variants of the publications Ziarul National and Panorama, the TV channels Publika, Prime, Jurnal, Accent, RTR Moldova, Ren TV, and the information portals Gagauzinfo.md, Novostipmr.com, Sputnik.md and Deschide.md.
The monitoring focused on the coverage of the political, economic and social events of major public interest by these media outlets such as the hearings in the case of ex-Premier Vlad Filat, adoption of the Law on the Prosecution Service and the large-scale protest of April 24.
Media expert Viorica Zaharia, who carried out the monitoring, said that some of the journalistic materials were produced with deviations from the deontological norms and with the presence of elements typical of propaganda and manipulation practices. For example, Publika.md, Sputnik.md and Novostipmr.ru selectively presented the April 24 protest. News items based on one source were published by Publika.md and Deschide.md, especially as regards the trial of Vlad Filat. Deschide.md, Publika.md, Accent TV and RTR used anonymous sources and didn’t verify the information in the case of a news story about the defense witnesses in the case of Vlad Filat. All the case studies from the report can be found at mediacritica.md.
Viorica Zaharia formulated the conclusion that a part of the monitored media outlets favored particular political players. Elements of manipulation and propaganda were identified in the programs and articles of Publika, RTR, REN TV, Jurnal TV, Sputnik.md and Accent TV.
The expert recommends the journalists to give up unilaterally presenting facts and not to use anonymous sources. The editors are recommended to verify the information borrowed from other media outlets. The Broadcasting Coordination Council is recommended to monitor the way in which the broadcasters ensure the pluralism of opinion, while the media consumers are advised to inform themselves from a number of media sources so as to avoid the risk of obtaining erroneous and manipulating information.
