Moldova’s media face a major challenge in that they are subject to political influence, concentrated in the hands of a few oligarchs, and lack transparency in their ownership. Many hoped that this would change after the presidential elections in 2016, the first of their kind to take place in nearly 20 years. Despite the existence of a broad array of mass media, including television, radio, online platforms, and newspapers, there is very little
diversity of opinion, and the overall quality of media remains low. In the last three years, independent journalists have experienced increasing political pressure exerted by state institutions, restricted access to public events, acts of verbal and physical intimidation. In the lead-up to the parliamentary elections, scheduled for February 24, 2019, many expect that politicians will promote biased messages and disinformation through their media platforms in order to gain power. This policy brief evaluates the state of the Moldovan media environment since the presidential elections in 2016. Its findings analyze the major issues that they struggle with and the possible effects of excessively controlled media on voters’ behavior during elections. It concludes with several recommendations to mitigate the impact of fake news, propaganda and biased media outlets.
Extracthttp://www.ape.md/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Nofit-EN-final_Freedom-House_2019.pdf
