Funding

50% European Commission
50% Council of Europe
 

Implementation

Media Section (Directorate of Co-operation, Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs)
 

Duration

1 January 2010 – 30 June 2011
 

Objective

General objective:
Strengthen the judiciary, the prosecution service, the police, the ombudsman institution, the media and the Parliament of Moldova, through the application of European standards in their work.

Media component:
Promote the freedom and pluralism of the media in Moldova, in particular through:
  strengthening the professionalism and introducing guarantees for the independence of the broadcasting regulatory authority, the Coordinating Council on the Audiovisual;
  establishing Teleradio-Moldova as a genuine public-service broadcaster with an independent editorial line;
  facilitating dialogue on ethical and responsible journalism
 

Activities and results in 2010

  The Council of Europe assisted the Coordinating Council of the Audiovisual (CCA) to develop a new media monitoring methodology and to train staff on its use. This dramatically improved CCA's capacity for independent and transparent media monitoring in accordance with European standards.

CCA successfully used the new methodology to monitor the media coverage of early parliamentary elections by national broadcasters according to the legal requirements. CCA issued three detailed media monitoring reports. Its work was commended by national and international media organisations.

 The Council of Europe assistance coupled with the efforts of the new management of Teleradio Moldova (TRM) and continuous support from other organisations, contributed to TRM’s enhanced impartiality and to its aspiration to cover political and social issues in a balanced, neutral and informative manner.

   Extensive training and coaching for Teleradio Moldova management and staff significantly improved the debates on the constitutional referendum aired by the public-service broadcaster and, more generally, the quality of its political programmes.

  Outside of the public-service broadcaster, some 30 Moldovan journalists were trained on issues related to the effective and balanced coverage of elections- and referendum-related stories.

  The Code of Ethics for Journalists was analysed and suggestions were made to bring it in line with European standards. On this basis, a working group of media professionals prepared a new draft Code. It was extensively discussed by journalists throughout Moldova with a view to its wide adoption.
 

Assessment and follow up

At the second meeting of the project’s Steering Committee in December 2010, the media component received a unanimous positive assessment by the beneficiaries, by the authorities, by the EU delegation and by other local and international actors in Moldova. Observers have noted a significant improvement in the independent and professional functioning of the public-service broadcaster and the broadcasting regulatory body. The work towards adopting a journalistic code of ethics has also made very good progress. 

The project continues into 2011. It will be complemented by activities under a newly started two-year joint programme “Promoting freedom, professionalism and pluralism of the media in the South Caucasus and Moldova” which will continue throughout 2011 and 2012.
 

Round-table on presentation and discussion of CCA’s final media monitoring report,elaborated with Council of Europe support
13 December 2010
From left  to right: Mrs Birute Abraitiene, the then Special Representative of the Secretary General, Mr Gheorghe Gorincioi, the chairman of CCA, and Mrs Corina Fusu, then chairwoman of the Parliamentary Commission on Media.