The problems faced by the mass media and possible solutions to them are discussed at the first Mass Media Forum held in Moldova on October 27 and 28. The event is organized by the Press Council, in partnership with the Association of Independent Press (API), the Independent Journalism Center, the Electronic Press Association (APEL) and the Young Journalist’s Center. At the end of the event, the participants will adopt a resolution and a roadmap for improving the situation in the field, IPN reports.
API executive director Petru Macovei, who is the secretary of the Press Council, voiced hope the first Mass Media Forum will be followed by other similar events and the problems faced in the field will be discussed annually. “We hope the two-day discussions and the documents that we are to adopt will help improve the situation in the area,” he stated. According to him, the multiple amendments made to the Broadcasting Code didn’t remedy the situation, while the concentration of media ownership affects a lot the media pluralism. The publicity market also serves group interests, while the adoption of the new publicity law is delayed.
Attending the opening of the event, Head of Parliament Andrian Candu said it is important for the results of the forum to materialize into a resolution and a roadmap as these are very necessary. “You, those from the mass media sector, know best of all what steps should be taken,” he stated. Andrian Candu enumerated several things that he asked the mass media to take into account: freedom of expression; credibility; responsibility and the legislation in the field. “The roadmap that will be adopted must suggest solutions for protecting our linguistic, cultural values, our national products,” noted the Speaker.
Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet said he realizes that it is a big challenge to be journalist within a young democracy, that their activity implies responsibility and that the possibility of being an authentic journalist is a luxury. “The attempts by the political class to control the media, as in the previous periods, are a reason for concern. The latest events are a test not only for the politicians, but also for the journalists. We daily convince ourselves that in this period marked by turbulence and unprecedented provocations, we need a partnership that passed the reciprocal responsibility test and that has a common goal – to stabilize the situation in the country. I would not make a big difference between a lying politician and a lying journalist as the lies of each of these is as destructive,” said the head of the Government.
The Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Pirkka Tapiola said the Mass Media Forum is a very important event. He added that the media creates opinions. It is a very big responsibility and that’s why the reforms in the area are very important. Media ownership transparency must be ensured and other necessary reforms should be done. In this respect, the forum is an opportunity of discussing the role of the mass media and of finding solutions to promote the reforms needed in this area.
Jose Luis Herrero, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Moldova, said the freedom of the media is very important for holding elections, for the activity of institutions, etc. While information technology develops, the mass media change and opportunities appear to have access to more opinions and information, but this does not exclude such risks as misinformation.
Independent Journalism Center executive director Nadine Gogu said the professionalism of the mass media was the key phrase in most of the speeches. “The researchers usually consider that there is a correlation between concentration and pluralism. Studies showed that when concentration grows, professionalism decreases. What happened in the elections and in the last few weeks shows that the media turned from a watchdog of society into a watchdog of owners,” she stated.
APEL executive director Ion Bunduchi pleaded for media pluralism, which is a value of democracy. “A survey of the pluralism degree of the media in Moldova, carried out last year, revealed a sad reality. This study ended with a roadmap for all the players to ensure real pluralism. But neither the guild, nor the authorities showed interest. We should not expect to have media pluralism when the legislation is defective, when we have monopoles on the media market and on the commercial publicity market, when we do not have scientific researches and do not have institutions that would train professionals. We do not have special courses to teach the future professionals how important pluralism is. Today we reap the harvest because we accepted the European values only formally,” he stated.
The Mass Media Forum is financed by the Media Program of Soros Foundation Moldova and is co-financed by the Council of Europe and East Europe Foundation.
