Journal of Eurasian Studies

April-June 2012 JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES Volume IV., Issue 2.
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European Communist countries and former Soviet republics, behind Ukraine and Georgia, but ahead of
Russia. 17 The 2009 Reporters without Borders (RWB) Press Freedom Index ranked Moldova 8 th among
former Soviet states behind Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia Tajikistan, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. 18
Although the 2005 RWB Press Freedom Index ranked Moldova 74 th among countries of the world, by
2009, the year Voronin and the Communistd left office, Moldova had dropped to 114 out of 175 countries
surveyed. 19 Even though freedom of the media is guaranteed in Moldova by the constitution, domestic
legislation, and international treaties, Voronin and the Communists were able to restrict media freedom
by controlling Moldova’s two broadcasting regulatory bodies, the Broadcasting Coordination Council
(BCC) and the Supervisory Board (SB) of Teleradio Moldova. According to Freedom House the
Communists treated Teleradio Moldova “as a part of its press service.” 20 Consequently, biased coverage
favoring the Communists became the norm for the public broadcaster Teleradio Moldova, along with a
number of other broadcasters, especially during parliamentary election campaigns. At the same time,
media that did not speak highly of the Communists periodically endured harassment, “heavy political
and financial pressure,” verbal and occasionally physical abuse, restricted coverage of broadcasts, and
even “arbitrary license annulments and distribution of licenses according to political loyalty.” 21
The AEI, however, made a freer media another one of its top priorities. The AEI, with the advice and
coaching of the EU and NGO’s, has made substantial progress in bringing Moldova into conformity with
international journalistic standards. These included a shakeup of Teleradio Moldova and its Supervisory
Board and the passage of a Law on Freedom of Expression. 22 In the 2010 RWB Press Freedom Index,
Moldova rose to a world ranking of 75 from its bleak 2009 ranking of 114, and in the 2011-2012 RWB
index improved to a world ranking of 53. Moldova’s 2011 Freedom House independent media score also
improved to 5.50 from 5.75 in 2010. The Independent Journalism Center in Moldova reported that the
broadcast media in the fall 2010 parliamentary election was “more objective than in previous
campaigns.” 23
Unfortunately, the relevance of a freer media to Moldovans is far less clear. For example, trust in the
mass media increased from 51.3% in the July 2009 BPO poll to 61.5% in the November 2009 poll, the first
BPO poll conducted under the new AEI government. Yet, a year later in November 2010 trust in the
media had slipped back to 56.8%, which exactly equals the numerical average for public trust in the
media compiled by BPO polls for the entire Voronin era despite a less biased media. 24 A year later, in the
November 2011 BPO poll, media trust was still only 57.3%. 25 Equally revealing, BPO polls consistently
show that the most trusted and popular source of information for Moldovans is television, far in front of
the radio, newspapers, and the fast growing number of internet users. 26 During both Voronin’s second
term in office and the current AEI governance, Moldova 1 and Prime TV have remained by far Moldova’s
two most popular television channels for BPO respondents for whom television is a major source of
information. Both channels previously favored the Communists, especially Moldova 1, when Voronin
was at the helm, but since have adopted a less biased view due to the changing political times. 27 Based
partly on the above, there seems little to indicate a sustained public appreciation of increased media
freedom by Moldovan, so far. Of course, with the Communists out of office since the July 2009
parliamentary election, they have not been able to utilize the mass media to their advantage. No doubt,
this partly accounted for their slip in overall support from 45 to 40 percent of the total vote in the
November 2010 elections. Yet, as RWB summed up the situation, “Relations between the media and the
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