Moldova 1 channel warned publicly

The public TV channel Moldova 1 was warned publicly by the Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) for violating the rules of broadcasting advertisements, Info-Prim Neo reports. The channel had been monitored during September 27 – October 3. “Private TV channels appeal to us, saying they work hard to obtain advertisements as this is a major source of existence, while the public TV channel has sources from the budget and from the advertising market. The law must be obeyed as you may be deprived of the right to broadcast advertisements,” said BCC member Ludmila Vasilache. The public TV channels’ representative admitted that there were certain deviations as regards the sponsoring of programs, but they have been already removed. In another development, the BCC recommended Moldova 1 to use sign language for persons with hearing impairments. “At least one news program should be translated into sign language,” said the Council’s chairman Marian Pocaznoi. Earlier, the BCC allowed subtitling the news programs as it established that there is a shortage of sign language interpreters and it would be costly for the TV channels to pay them. Council member Corneliu Mihalache said the BCC’s decision is to lenient as there are technical glitches at Moldova 1 and the subtitles and the words of the presenters often do not coincide. “I think we must be tougher on the public TV channel so that we could demand that the private TV channels obey the law,” he stated. The head of the Moldova 1 News Program Liliana Vitu-Esanu said the technical problems appear because the software is too old. “We expected we will have new software soon, but did not manage to obtain it,” she said, adding they hope most of the problems will be removed in December.