Moldova Political Orientation
Government
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Leader: Prime Minister Dorin Recean
Political Party: Independent
Political Position: Center-Right
Press Freedom
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: 69.94 – Moderate Freedom
World Press Freedom Rank: Moldova 28/180
According to worldbank.org, Moldova is still among Europe’s poorest countries despite significant progress made in recent years. Reporters Without Borders points out the polarization of the country and its media, stating that “either oligarchs or political leaders own or control major media outlets drawing attention, particularly to pro-Russian media.”
Media Ownership and Government Analysis
In Moldova, most of the press and the broadcasting sector are either directly state-owned or privately owned by businessmen/politicians.
Moldova’s national public broadcaster is Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) and Radio Moldova, financed by the government. The state broadcasting regulatory body that issues broadcasting licenses is the Audiovisual Council (AC), with Parliament appointing its members for six years.
Private media is owned mainly by businessmen/former politicians, such as Vladimir Plahotniuc, former chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova. He owns Prime and Publika TV and two radio stations, Muz FM and Publika FM. Another former politician/businessman is Victor Topa, who owns Jurnal TV. Dan Voiculescu is yet another former politician/ businessman who was the founder of the center-right Conservative Party in Moldova. He owns Intact Media Group, which, through GRIVCO holding, owns Antenna TV stations.
Finally, defamation is criminalized in Moldova, with journalists who report on corrupt politicians often being sued by politicians, such as former President Igor Dodon, suing ZDG for defamation.
In summary, Moldova is often divided between pro-Russian parties and pro-European parties. However, at the time of this analysis, the country is led by a Pro European right-center Prime Minister and pro-European right-center President. Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, Moldova may be accepted into the EU which may accelerate media reforms. However, at this time there continues to be significant politicization of the media through either being directly or indirectly controlled by a small number of influential business people with strong political ties, which hinders freedom of the press in Moldova.
Last Updated on May 13, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check
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