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 Qualitying middle management would be for TRM, as all decisionsdepend on the directors of the departments.In fact, says the Soros Foundation, the bonuses are rathersmall compared to the basic salary, 46 and do not provide incentivesfor high-quality reporting. According to Victoria Miron,TRM’s flawed salary reform constitutes a missed opportunityto make its internal processes more effective. This, in turn,would have given more room for manoeuvre for the continuouslyunderfunded company. 47 Miron argues that TRM’s managementwas not willing to step into conflict with its staff inorder to push through a stringent salary reform. 48The new payment system is “difficult given errors by managementas well as the resistance of the employees,” APEL criticizesin its report. Nonetheless, it considers the framework forthe payment system “satisfactory for ensuring the continuationof reforms.” 49In early 2014, none of the TRM top managers was satisfiedwith the reform and the president showed readiness to abandonit, if a new system could be adopted. 50With regard to capacity development, the situation at TRMis rather dire. The broadcaster still relies heavily on externaltraining by foreign experts to enhance its employees’ professionalism.In addition, it organizes training courses and seminarswith heads of department or public figures as speakers.The installation of a training center is on the agenda of TRM’smanagement. 51 The Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) stateshowever that the plan for the training center could have beenrealized a long time ago. According to the NGO, the problemwas that the TRM alleged it was not able to pay an employee torun the training center. All in all, TRM is throwing away a vitalopportunity by failing to invest sufficiently in staff training.Financing, Management and Newsroom StructuresFinancing is crucial for a public broadcaster. It determines itseditorial independence as well as the quality of its servicesrendered to the public. For TRM, financing has always beena difficult question. The audio-visual codex stipulates thatthe “Parliament guarantees that financing is secure and correspondsto the needs of the activities of the company.” 52 Inreality, TRM has always lacked sufficient funding. In the taskschedule for 2014, it has been estimated that the company willneed 139 million MDL (7.5 million euros). However, the companywill receive only 82 million MDL (4.4 million euros) fromthe national budget. In addition, it expects to be able to earnanother 15 percent of its budget (20 million MDL or 1.08 millioneuros) through other sources of income (advertising andsponsoring). This leaves 26 percent of its budget unfunded,meaning that TRM cannot fulfill certain tasks that are partof its responsibilities as a public broadcaster. The potentialto generate revenue from advertising is limited. TRM namesthe small advertising market in Moldova and its monopolystructure as the main hurdles. 53 The fact that TRM’s fundingis assigned on an annual basis from the state budget makesthe broadcaster prone to political influence in various regards.This may imply cuts to TRM’s budget because the governmentdeems other spheres more important than the financing of anindependent public broadcaster. With various private TV stationsin Moldova being owned by very influential politicians,it could also mean that TRM is hindered in its development inorder to reduce its competitiveness. Finally, there is, of course,always the danger that the government asks for reporting tobe weighted in its favor in return for sufficient funding. For2014, the Ministry of Finance cut TRM’s budget by 12 millionMDL (0.64 million euros), the part of the budget that was intendedfor the (technological) development of the channel.At present, the media experts interviewed for this studydon’t believe that political influence has been exerted throughthe financing of the company so far. However, all experts havestressed that the mode of TRM financing may pose a potentialrisk for the future. 54TRM can hardly compete with the private channels, as ithas been notoriously underfinanced throughout its existence.A lot of its shows still exude the atmosphere of early post-Soviettelevision. Studios have not been modernized since the fallof the Soviet Union. In 2013, TRM started on a project to updateits main television studio out of which Moldova 1’s mainnews and current affairs programs are broadcast: the news,the morning show, and the most important talk-show format.By renovating the studio, the channel wanted to make theseprograms more attractive to the audience (after all, informationis the core mandate of a public broadcaster). The new lookof the shows was also meant to be a visible sign to the publicthat TRM is changing. However, the process was stalled for along time as the Council of Observers refused to approve the35Filip Slavkovic, Country Manager,DW Akademie.36Standardele profesionale şi principiileeticii jurnalistice inemisiunile IPNA Compania„Teleradio-Moldova.“ Regulamentdin 7.11.2007.37Statutul Instituţiei PubliceNaţionale a AudiovizualuluiCompania „Teleradio-Moldova”(în redacţie nouă).38Constantin Marin,President of TRM.39IREX 2013.40Interview in Chişinăuin August 2013.41Victoria Miron, Head ofMass-Media Program of theSoros Foundation Moldova.42Ibid.43APEL 2014.44Constantin Marin,President of TRM.45APEL 2014.46Victoria Miron, Head ofMass-Media Program of theSoros Foundation Moldova.47See 7.5.3.48Victoria Miron, Head ofMass-Media Program of theSoros Foundation Moldova.49ICJ 2012, 9.50Filip Slavkovic, Country Manager,DW Akademie.51Constantin Marin, Presidentof TRM.52Codul Audiovizualului,Articolul 64 (1) Bugetulcompaniei.53Constantin Marin,President of TRM.54Various interviews conductedby the author in 2013 and 2014.Edition DW Akademie In the Service of the Public 127