Parties-Phantoms, Parties - State Institutions, Parties - State Enterprises

20 parties have registered in the current election campaign. Many people say it is a too big number for such a small country as Moldova. At the same time, much more parties could take part in the election campaign.

Activists launch Moldova’s first ‘Space Camp’ © Susan Coughtrie

Monitoring Report 2: Media Coverage of Topics of Public Interest

Headlines

• "Moldova Azi" information portal is changing its format and editorial content, Centrul pentru Jurnalism Independent, 8 August 2011, 15:19
• Moldovan students queue up to apply for scholarships in Romania, Info-Prim Neo, 4 August 2011, 13:44
• Ukrainian scholarships not very popular in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo, 2 August 2011, 14:58
• Kent Larson: USAID will always support process of Moldova democratization, INFOTAG, 1 August 2011, 13:42
• Parliament sets up new commission - for checking civil servants' property and incomes, INFOTAG, 29 July 2011, 9:00
• Scandal in Moldovan parliament over deputies' relatives, INFOTAG, 29 July 2011, 9:00

Larger text

The study, carried out during the period of December, 2010 - February, 2011 to assess the quality of reflection of public interest topics by 15 mass media institutions, shows that:

- Compared with the previous monitoring period, the level of involvement of radio and TV journalists increased considerably, but still some indicators need improvement.
- Editorial planning on TV and radio stations is done in a manner that ensures transparency, more or less, but not the uniformity in the reflection and presence of a theme during a specified time period. This shows that the editorial planning agenda is strongly influenced by the political agenda of authorities.
- Most of the monitored TV and radio stations followed the principle of impartiality, used proper language and avoided deviations from the journalist's code of ethics. There is still a TV station that has serious problems on this point.
- The number of sources - officials/politicians for the written press is on the decrease giving way to experts/specialists in different fields. At the same time, citizens are barely used as sources for information or as protagonists even when the themes under discussion concern them the most.
- The monitored newspapers do not offer sufficient space for the reflection of public interest subjects through information and analysis that would assist the readers in the creation of an informed opinion.
- The above mentioned press prefers news and information to serious analysis of the situation in different fields and thematic reports that could complete the „picture" of the problem.
- Most articles on the three monitored topics, published during the reference period, were written in a more or less proper language, acceptable under the literary language rules and the ethical standards. However, in five items published in Nezavisimaia Moldova, a deficient language or semi-libelous phrases were used, insulting the protagonists;
- The balance between the sources and opinions presented is not always ensured in the discussion of controversial issues.
- The number of materials from a single source is high - a fact that is not in compliance with the ethical norms.

The electronic version of the report can be found at the following address:

Romanian - http://www.ijc.md/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=566&Itemid=127
English - http://www.ijc.md/eng/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=155&Itemid=47
Russian - http://www.ijc.md/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=566&Itemid=127

The project „Strenghtening mass media's capacity to reflect issues of public interest" is financially supported by the European Union Delegation to Moldova through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights.