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RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHCH #0751/01 1971056
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151056Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6896
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

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