Mass media made slight progress last year

The mass media in Moldova made slight progress in 2011 and the people continue to trust them more than the politicians, shows the Media Sustainability Index (MSI) study, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to a communiqué from the Independent Journalism Center, the political world has powerful ties with the mass media. That’s why the people’s distrust in the politicians can somehow affect confidence in the mass media. Among the positive results achieved by the media were: the adoption of a new Journalists’ Ethical Code, the use of the provisions of the Law on the Freedom of Expression adopted in 2010, the development of the online mass media. Besides the positive changes, the experts pointed up a series of problems, including the non-observance of the ethical principles, the lack of legislation that would regulate the activity of bloggers, the lack of radio and TV investigations. According to the study, the non-observance of the professional deontological principles is the most serious problem of the mass media in Moldova. Among the most frequent irregularities are the plagiarizing, inappropriate behavior in the election period, violation of the persons’ right to the presumption of innocence. The experts say that this is because the journalists are insufficiently instructed during and after their studies. The experts consider that the online media need a legal framework that would regulate their activity. Currently, the bloggers cannot be punished when they break the deontological norms The MSI study is undertaken by IREX through USAID. It provides in-depth analyses of the conditions for independent media in 21 countries of Europe and Eurasia.