Quality of TRM newscasts didn’t change, monitoring

The quality of newscasts at Radio Moldova and Moldova 1 are at the same level as half a year ago, despite a slight improvement for Radio Moldova and decline for Moldova 1. These are the conclusions of the project “Monitoring the newscasts of IPNA Teleradio-Moldova”, done by the Electronic Press Association (APEL) in July-August 2012. APEL expert Valentin Dorogan told the press on Tuesday, September 25, that the percentage of analytic reports in Radio Moldova newscasts doubled since the monitoring in January 2012, reaching 15%. “Half all the news topics were social and sports. There were too few about culture (4%) for the holiday season. Overall, the quality of information in the main bulletin during this period can be appreciated as good”, he said. At Moldova 1, only 10% of the news topics are analytical, which is 5% less than in January 2012, as most the news reports are now purely informative. Since the last monitoring, the visibility of public office holders in the main bulletin “Mesager” has increased from 17% to 25%. According to the expert, the quality of language is overall acceptable, but the quality of news and topics needs to improve in some regards. Prime Minister Vlad Filat has had the most appearances (75) in Radio Moldova newscasts, followed by President Nicolae Timofti and Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca with 21 each. Among politicians, Communist leader Vladimir Voronin leads with 8 appearances, followed by Socialists’ Party leader Igor Dodon with 5 and Liberal head Mihai Ghimpu with 4. The top is similar to that observed during the monitoring of “Mesager” bulletins. In the officials category, Prime Minister Filat leads ahead of the Mayor of Chisinau and the President, while in the politicians category, Mihai Ghimpu is top of the bunch, ahead of Vladimir Voronin and Diacov. Valentin Dorogan thinks that Radio Moldova newscasts can be improved through more rigorous thematic planning, more sensible coordination of the editorial staff’s activities and periodic analysis of their work. As regards Moldova 1, he recommends that the “Mesager” bulletin should give up the use of technical tricks that can alter the news message. Besides, the presence of diverse categories of protagonists in news should be more balanced to make the news more credible. The study was commission as part of the project “Monitoring the management of reforms initiated at IPNA Teleradio-Moldova Company”, supported by the Mass Media Program of the Soros Foundation Moldova.