{"id":378916,"date":"2014-02-28T12:41:33","date_gmt":"2014-02-28T10:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/?p=378916"},"modified":"2014-02-28T12:41:33","modified_gmt":"2014-02-28T10:41:33","slug":"report-despite-progress-lack-transparency-media-ownership-affects-freedom-press-moldova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/report-despite-progress-lack-transparency-media-ownership-affects-freedom-press-moldova\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Despite progress, lack of transparency in media ownership affects freedom of press in Moldova"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

The Moldovan legislation has a well defined legislation with regard to freedom of speech and press. However, the law was not always respected in 2013, a report published by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2013 revealed that authorities in separatist region of Transnistria limited freedom of press and speech and determined media outlets to apply self-censorship to their news coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was difficult to register, maintain, and finance independent newspapers, radio stations, and television stations in Transnistria, although several continued to exist. Most newspapers from the rest of Moldova did not circulate widely in Transnistria, although they were available in Tiraspol,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

The same publication showed that print media in Moldova represented various political views because several newspapers were owned or sponsored by politicians. Moreover, local and city governments subsidized more than 20 newspapers, influencing their reporting.<\/p>\n

According to the report, political parties and professional organizations also published newspapers.<\/p>\n

One finding is that the presence of online media has increased considerably in 2013. It provided diverse perspectives on economic, political and social developments in the country. It is said that online media outlets had more readers than major newspapers with national coverage.<\/p>\n

Ownership transparency seems to be a worrisome issue for the U.S. State Department, since many businesses owning media outlets were registered to offshore companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite progress, [\u2026] a lack of transparency in the ownership of media outlets, and an increasing monopolization of media and the advertising market, affected media freedom,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, several prominent political analysts got threatening messages warning them to cease the criticism of Moldovan oligarchs. Law enforcement authorities initiated investigations over these acts of intimidation. Also, the revocation of broadcasting license of NIT channel was criticized by NGOs and international organizations. They stated that the closure of NIT was \u201cdisproportionate and eliminated a key opposition viewpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

The situation in Transnistria is quite different. According to the report, the separatists harassed some small, independent newspapers which published articles uncomfortable to the regime. Most of the media outlets practiced self-censorship to avoid conflicts with their sponsors and stay away from government reprisals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>The Moldovan legislation has a well defined legislation with regard to freedom of speech and press. However, the law was not always respected in 2013, a report published by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the U.S. State Department said on Thursday. The Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2013 revealed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":168291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-378916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society"],"content_social_share":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

The Moldovan legislation has a well defined legislation with regard to freedom of speech and press. However, the law was not always respected in 2013, a report published by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2013 revealed that authorities in separatist region of Transnistria limited freedom of press and speech and determined media outlets to apply self-censorship to their news coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was difficult to register, maintain, and finance independent newspapers, radio stations, and television stations in Transnistria, although several continued to exist. Most newspapers from the rest of Moldova did not circulate widely in Transnistria, although they were available in Tiraspol,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

The same publication showed that print media in Moldova represented various political views because several newspapers were owned or sponsored by politicians. Moreover, local and city governments subsidized more than 20 newspapers, influencing their reporting.<\/p>\n

According to the report, political parties and professional organizations also published newspapers.<\/p>\n

One finding is that the presence of online media has increased considerably in 2013. It provided diverse perspectives on economic, political and social developments in the country. It is said that online media outlets had more readers than major newspapers with national coverage.<\/p>\n

Ownership transparency seems to be a worrisome issue for the U.S. State Department, since many businesses owning media outlets were registered to offshore companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite progress, [\u2026] a lack of transparency in the ownership of media outlets, and an increasing monopolization of media and the advertising market, affected media freedom,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, several prominent political analysts got threatening messages warning them to cease the criticism of Moldovan oligarchs. Law enforcement authorities initiated investigations over these acts of intimidation. Also, the revocation of broadcasting license of NIT channel was criticized by NGOs and international organizations. They stated that the closure of NIT was \u201cdisproportionate and eliminated a key opposition viewpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

The situation in Transnistria is quite different. According to the report, the separatists harassed some small, independent newspapers which published articles uncomfortable to the regime. Most of the media outlets practiced self-censorship to avoid conflicts with their sponsors and stay away from government reprisals.<\/p>\n

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