edition-dw-akademie-in-the-service-of-the-public-functions-and-transformation-of-media-in-developing-countries-pdf

Part II Moldova: Slow but Successful Reform, Need for Visible Journalistic Qualityelected, they have very little leeway within their respectivedepartments. Budget decisions are a prerogative of the president.Thus, the two directors have only very limited possibilitiesto act. This means that although they were elected by theCouncil of Observers for a certain program, they do not havethe power to implement it. Furthermore, TRM lacks a middlemanagement which could make independent decisions withinits range of responsibility. Developing an organizationalstructure with clear responsibilities for each department wasone goal of the reform process. This could have resulted in asystem of checks and balances between the different levels ofmanagement. However, the suggested structural reforms werenever fully implemented.Furthermore, reforms were carried out very differentlyin the radio and the television department due to constantchanges in leadership at TV Moldova 1. In 2010, Angela Sârbuwas appointed director of television. Having previouslyworked as director of the media NGO Independent JournalismCenter, she was dedicated to high speed reforms but facedstrong resistance from within TRM. She resigned in February2012, citing a lack of support as the reason for this step andleaving Moldova 1 in the hands of an interim director. “Theleadership, instead of encouraging reform with a nice word atleast, was mainly concerned about the comfort of those whoopposed the reform for the sake of their convenient jobs,” shesaid in an Interview with Jurnal de Chişinău. 31 At the same time,Sârbu was criticized for her leadership style and her expertise.Internally, her management style was controversial, leading tostrong divisions between the employees in particular at thenews department. In addition, her managerial decisions – forexample, to completely abolish the network of local correspondentsin the regions or to change the broadcasting timeof the evening news cast in Russian language – have provokeddissatisfaction with external and international observers. 32A permanent successor was not found until 2013 with MirceaSurdu. Surdu has worked at TRM since 1985. The MediaSustainability Index qualified his election as the “return of theold guard,” 33 as Surdu looks back at a long career at Moldova 1.Other experts criticized that Surdu had not been the best candidateby any means. 34 According to one interviewee, Surduonly presented an agenda for the first two years of his fiveyear-termto the Council of Observers. Surdu is a journalistspecialized in talk shows and documentaries. His long affiliahasvery strong party affiliations. Thus, the formation of themain governing body of TRM is prone to political influence ontwo levels, at the pre-selection by the CCA and at the selectionby Parliament.In 2013/14, six new members of the Council of Observershad to be appointed. The process illustrated very clearly towhat extent the decision is a political one. The CCA presented12 candidates to the parliamentary committee for media issues.Among them were acknowledged media experts suchas Ion Bunduchi, former head of APEL, the independent ElectronicPress Association that had assisted TRM in reformingthe company from the outset. Also among the candidates wasPetru Macovei, head of API, the Association of IndependentPress. In April 2014, the parliamentary committee postponedits decision. The three ruling parties were unable to agree onhow many members each of them was allowed to send intothe Council of Observers. According to interviews with mediaexperts, independent candidates were told that they did notstand a chance of being selected since they did not have anyparty affiliation. Only months before parliamentary electionsin Moldova, scheduled for 30th November 2014, the parties ofthe governing coalition seemed set on strengthening their influenceon TRM instead of rooting it firming in civil society.So the mechanism for selecting the supervisory body makesthe broadcaster’s independence subject to the good will of thecountry’s political elite. According to Victoria Miron, head ofthe mass media program at the Soros Foundation Moldova,the outgoing Council of Observers acted very unprofessionally.Thus, it was not capable of supporting the managementin the improvement of the quality of TRM. 26Constantin Marin has acted as president of TRM since February2010. In personal conversation, he seems to be dedicatedto transforming the company into a public broadcaster.However, many media experts in Moldova complain that reformprocesses are stretched out over too long a period. TheCentre of Independent Journalism (IJC) in Chişinău writes inits 2013 report on media freedom that “the reforms launchedin 2011 had stagnated.” 27 In 2012, the independent media expertEugenio Rîbca resigned as head of the Council of Observersbecause he was dissatisfied with the slow speed of reformat TRM. Ion Bunduchi, head of Radio Moldova Actualități andformer director of APEL, stated in August 2013: “Reforms areproceeding very slowly. Nevertheless, the content of the programschanges.” 28This is supported by studies monitoring TRM radio andtelevision news which suggest that although the programshies away from assuming a strongly critical position towardsthe government, it provides pluralism of opinion on a regularbasis. “While there are visible efforts by TRM to reflect all theviews on the political spectrum, journalists are still cautiouswhen covering controversial political topics.” 29Critics inside and outside of Teleradio-Moldova agree that thecompany has a serious problem in its governance structures. 30Although the directors of radio and television are publicly23Hanganu 2012.24Interview in 201325Codul Audiovizualuluial Republicii Moldova.26Victoria Miron, Head ofMass-Media Program SorosFoundation Moldova.27IJC 2013, 8.28Interview with Bunduchiin August 2013.29IREX 2013, 198 and 203.30Interviews with variousMoldovan media experts andTRM staff in August 2013.31Quoted from IJC 2012.32Filip Slavkovic, CountryManager, DW Akademie.33IREX 2013.34Interviews with media expertsin August 2013.Edition DW Akademie In the Service of the Public 125