The report of the IP "Teleradio - Moldova" Company presented in the plenary session of the Parliament. Recommendations of MPs
The Parliamentary Committee on Culture, Education, Research, Youth, Sport and Mass Media will monitor the activity of the Public Institution "Teleradio-Moldova" Company (TRM), its Supervisory and Development Board (SDB) on the conduct of activity in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Audiovisual Media Services of the Republic of Moldova in the context of parliamentary control, reads the Parliament's resolution voted in plenary after hearing the activity and budget execution reports of the public institution.
The Parliament took note of the activity reports of the TRM and the CSD for 2022, as well as the report on the execution of the budget of the institution for last year, following the hearings held in the Parliamentary Committee and in the plenary of the Parliament.
According to the Legislative Decision, the CSD will continue to support the development and strengthening of the organisational capacities of the IP Company "Teleradio Moldova" in order to ensure its efficient activity, supervise and monitor the management of financial resources and the fulfilment of its mission.
"The Parliamentary Committee on Culture, Education, Research, Youth, Sport and Mass Media, in the context of parliamentary oversight, will monitor the activity of the Public Institution Company "Teleradio- Moldova", its Supervisory and Development Board on the conduct of activity in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Audiovisual Media Services of the Republic of Moldova," the Parliament's Decision reads.
Vladimir Turcanu, Director General of IP Teleradio-Moldova:
"We paid attention, first of all, to the editorial products we deliver to the public on our distribution networks: television, radio and digital. Given the exponential growth of the public's interest in information broadcast online, one of the first things we did was to create two websites dedicated to the two flagship stations we have -moldova1.md and radiomoldova.md.
As a result, after one year of activity, we have had an increase in views and accesses in the online space by 74% from 170 000 unique users to 300 000 unique users per month.
In order to have on these two digital radio and television platforms a competitive and well-developed content, made in accordance with the law, we had to focus on providing working conditions for the employees of "Teleradio-Moldova" and what we found there you know better, who visited us, went to the studios, walked the corridors.
We have renovated the working premises and increased the salaries of our employees so that we can ask them to do their job and operate according to all the professional standards we have.
We have set targets for our employees. In the middle and at the end of the year we will make an evaluation of the achievement of those goals that we have set and then we will make a new salary increase based on the results of our people, which will be recorded based on their professional performance.
We renovated two of the three studios we have.
The salaries are some of the lowest in the market and the problem we faced was attracting professionals because things have changed dramatically in terms of technology, we need fresh forces so that we can rise to the level of expectations and try to access those audiences that are currently easily accessible - young people. A study done at Radio Moldova shows that we have a large but slightly ageing audience."
Vlad Bătrîncea, Chairman of the Communist and Socialist Bloc:
"Public television must also reflect the work of the opposition, this is the obligation of the Republic of Moldova towards the Council of Europe and public television is part of certain agreements. We want nothing more than for citizens to be heard and we want public television not to be party television.
So much for digitisation and seven political news stories in seven months I think you have much better capabilities. And with your journalists at public broadcasters we can also talk a lot about that political segregation that is done collectively and of moral-psychological spirit.
I think it's not good when journalists are divided into camps, especially since some journalists who no longer find themselves on public television danced the hora when PAS won.
We want to have a functioning public television and, in addition to opposition MPs, to invite mayors from local public administration and district presidents."
Arcadie Gherasim, Chairman of the Development and Supervisory Board:
"In 2022, the CSD focused its efforts on cleaning up the state of affairs in the institution, to find out the problems facing the institution and find solutions to these problems.
We have identified several tasks that we have set ourselves: to institutionally strengthen the institution, to strengthen the collective and, obviously, to maintain and raise the role of National Radio and Television to the level of the tasks stipulated in the Audiovisual Media Services Code.
The most important thing we need to achieve is for Radio and Television to reflect the interests of all ethnic, social and professional groups and to have programmes for them. At the moment, we are in a heated debate because there are different views on how to produce programmes for different social and economic groups in the institution.
In the Council we feel that there is still a long way to go to remove that suspicion that sometimes still hangs around that we are serving someone or discriminating against someone. The Council has initiated a questionnaire on pluralism of opinion. In the Moldova1 news programme it was found that pluralism exists and is visible, the results of this research have been reconfirmed by a similar follow-up by the AC.
The face of television is cultural, economic and political diversity on the small screen and on the airwaves. Of course these suspicions are painful. A considerable effort is being made on the part of the CSD, and a decision has been taken to have a pluralist political talk show to cover this deficit of trust that persists in society with regard to our fairness.
I don't respond to the lines, the blame. I would like to say that our Mesager is no longer measured by the hoofbeats and seconds from somewhere above - who and how much to talk. Our Mesager speaks as much as the editors deem fit and ensures pluralism of opinion. I remember that in other times, where today's lines come from, Mesager used to start with the protest rally of the Sor Party and Maia Sandu before sports, if there was ever such a thing, let someone give me a reply.
The CSD focused its work last year on strengthening the collective, complying with legislation and eliminating certain shortcomings, supporting the consolidation of Moldova 2 channel.
The work of the CSD has been in close contact with the administration at all levels."
