MEDIA ABUSES INCREASE AS ELECTIONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CHISINAU 000751

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/UMB, EUR/ACE, EUR/PPD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL IIP KPAO KDEM MD
SUBJECT: MEDIA ABUSES INCREASE AS ELECTIONS
APPROACH

(U) Sensitive But Unclassified - Please Protect
Accordingly.


1. (SBU) Summary: Government interference with
media abuse is increasing as the Spring 2009
parliamentary elections approach in Moldova.
Government harassment of independent and pro-
opposition journalists has been reported.
Direct sponsorship of some major outlets and
denial of information to others combine with a
poorly trained corps of journalists to distort
the information provided to the public. End
Summary.

The Moldovan media environment
--------------


2. (U) Over 420 media outlets serve the four
million residents of Moldova, including
Transnistria. Sixty percent are print media;
21 percent television; 13 percent radio; and
four percent news agencies. Although the
number of products is high, most are small and
few are of high quality. Limited circulation
and low purchasing power deter potential
advertisers. The resulting lack of funds leads
to low salaries and limited ability to upgrade
equipment and printing facilities. Therefore,
particularly outside Chisinau, much news comes
directly from Russian, Ukrainian or Romanian
outlets.


3. (SBU) Television is the second most trusted
institution in Moldova after the Moldovan
Orthodox Church. In an April poll by the
Moldovan Institute of Public Policy, over 88
percent of respondents claimed television as
their main source of information. Public TV
station Moldova 1 is the most watched and
trusted, although nearly 50 percent of
respondents believe that its coverage may favor
the government. The limited transmission
capacity of most independent broadcasters
prevents opposing views from being heard.

Primary issues facing Moldovan media
--------------


4. (U) Moldovan media NGOs identify numerous
challenges facing media: limited operational
freedom; insufficient access to information
from the government; pressure from authorities
to report in prescribed ways; and self-
censorship. Journalists often produce Qnews on
demandQ and refrain from covering controversial
issues that may affect their sponsors. There
are also financial and technical problems,
which include: low salaries and inadequate
equipment; violation of labor rights for
employees; low professional standards; and lack
of communication between Romanian- and Russian-
language media.


5. (U) The existing legal framework also limits
media development. The new 2008 Code of
Conduct of Public Servants restricts government
employees from providing any information to the
media. The Broadcasting Coordination Council,
MoldovaQs main media regulating body has been
criticized for non-transparent decision-making,
including in the distribution of broadcasting
licenses, and subservience to allies of the
government. These factors and recently
reported incidents of harassment of the media
led Freedom House to rank Moldovan media as
Qnot freeQ in its 2008 report.

Examples of recent restrictions and abuses
--------------


6. (U) Journalists and NGOs report that the GOM
harasses independent or pro-opposition
journalists and denies them access to
information. They also claim that the GOM
pressures advertisers to work only with media
outlets that are loyal to the ruling party.
Since December 2007, media have reported
several incidents in which the government

CHISINAU 00000751 002 OF 004


denied media representatives access to public
events. For example, in April, following a
historic meeting between President Voronin and
Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov, Voronin held
a news conference for a select few media
representatives. All others were refused entry.


7. (U) Radio Vocea Basarabiei, a popular pro-
Romanian radio station, experienced more direct
harassment. Earlier this year police questioned
reporters and even some listeners after the
station aired criticism of Communist governance
during a live program. In addition, on June
11, the Information and Security Service traced
the IP addresses of a group of Moldovan
adolescents who had posted anti-government
comments on web-based forums. After questioning
the youth, the General ProsecutorQs Office
seized the computers of 12 of them. Officials
claimed that the youth Qmade public calls to
overthrow constitutional rule, liquidating
Moldova's territorial integrity to reunify with
Romania.Q The teens could face up to seven
years in jail. On April 29, Moldova's
influential opposition newspaper Jurnal de
Chisinau reportedly had its bank accounts
frozen because it publicized information about
a lawsuit against a former prosecutor.


8. (U) Another tool is control of media
coverage patterns. In May, the Audio-visual
Council distributed 40 provincial TV
frequencies. Despite a range of qualified
applicants, it granted frequencies only to two
pro-government stations, NIT and Euro-TV. This
expanded coverage significantly for these
stations, while preventing expansion by
stations such as TV-7 and Pro-TV Chisinau,
which are seen as producing more balanced news.
In a separate incident, Vocea Basarabiei radio
station filed a lawsuit against the government.
It claims that the Audio-visual Council
withdrew its license for a frequency in
southern Moldova in 2007 without specifying any
reason, and subsequently gave the frequency to
a radio station that is loyal to the GOM.


9. (U) Widespread governmental influence over
the former state-owned broadcaster Teleradio
Moldova, whose radio and television news
consistently favored pro-governmental
candidates and ignored opposition candidates
during the local election campaign in 2007,
hinders the transformation of the station into
a public broadcaster. In February, two members
of the Board of Observers, which oversees the
stations, published a report criticizing the
lack of progress in reforming the Teleradio
Moldova stations. The Board subsequently
banned its members from expressing public
opinions without prior consent of all the board
members. Additionally, the chairman of
Teleradio Moldova sued the authors for libel.







Media as politics, media as business
--------------


10. (SBU) Limited finances increase media's
vulnerability to economic and political
influence. Few economically successful media
are independent. Most take the form of a local
insert in a foreign publication or re-
broadcasting of foreign TV channels
supplemented with several hours of local
programming. The most popular commercial TV
station, Pervyi Kanal (viewed by 34 percent of
Moldovans),is reportedly associated with
businesses run by the PresidentQs son, Oleg
Voronin. Until recently, the station produced
no local programs, but it now says that it
intends to launch its own newscast ahead of the
elections.

CHISINAU 00000751 003 OF 004




11. (SBU) Many media outlets rely on foreign
sponsors or political parties for funding.
According to the Moldovan MFA, twelve Romanian
language papers, including Flux, Moldova's
second largest, received funding from the
Romanian government. Moldovan officials
perceive such funding as political
interference, and they consider the recipients
disloyal to the government. However, the
Communist Party openly sponsors Kommunist and
Puls, and unofficially provides legal and
financial support to others, such as NIT TV.
Basa-Press, Moldova's first independent news
agency, was taken over by the media group
serving the Communist Party in 2007. The
newspaper distribution system outside Chisinau
is monopolized by Posta Moldova, which commands
high fees and delays delivery of papers,
further limiting access to information outside
of Chisinau.


12. (SBU) The financial situation for Moldovan
media became even more difficult in November
2007, when the largest advertisement sales
house changed ownership. Video International
Moldova (VI) was replaced by a local sales
house, Casa Media, a move supported by VI's
largest clients, Prime and NIT. Casa Media
immediately ceased offering prime advertising
packages to other VI clients, including Pro-TV
Chisinau and TV-7. Sources suggest that Casa
Media belongs to Oleg Voronin.

Moldovan officials promise increased openness
--------------


13. (SBU) On June 10, President Voronin
announced his intention to promote greater
media freedom. He has since proposed that
Parliament cancel legal provisions imposing
financial penalties for instances where media
is accused of libel and Qpersonal attack,
limiting recourse to a public apology or
correction. This appears to echo Prime
Minister Zinaida Greceanii's May promise to
change the government press strategy to
increase access to information of public
interest and respond to media requests in a
more timely manner. However, prominent media
and legal NGOs oppose the initiative, stating
that it will encourage misinformation in media.
One factor is that the change will also protect
government-leaning media from suit if they
attack opposition figures.

COMMENT
--------------


14. (SBU) Inter-related problems of a small
media market, limited advertising income, and
lack of a strong journalism ethic leave the
system open to both economic and political
pressures. Early signs suggest that the
government and its allies will continue trying
to exploit that situation to affect the outcome
of the 2009 elections. There has been
insufficient time to measure whether the
government's stated objective to improve access
to information reflects a true plan to decrease
efforts to manipulate media coverage; however
recent actions suggest that it is unlikely.


15. (SBU) Countering these trends requires on-
going support in various ways. Improved
management skills would allow media managers to
attract more advertisers and manage limited
finances more efficiently. Greater
investigative skills and appreciation of the
value of a truly independent and responsible
press would decrease journalistsQ willingness
to self-censor. Practical experience in
communicating with the public can allow
politicians, including those in government, to
recognize the value of a credible, free media,
despite the reality that they will sometimes be
critical. Potentially most valuable would be an
expansion of small, independent media outlets

CHISINAU 00000751 004 OF 004


and regional media networks, which would
increase access to quality local programming
and a diversity of viewpoints. Support in each
of these areas will be particularly important
as the Moldovan election season nears. END
COMMENT


PERINA

END