Perceptions of the Population of the Republic of Moldova - Soros ...

Perceptions of the Population of the Republic of Moldova on Discrimination: Sociological Study 69Chart 54. Average Dominant Personal Opinion Index of the respondents loyal to certain TV channel regardingthe attitude of mass-media towards discriminated groups of peoplePro TV5.7TV74.9NIT1.8‐0.6Moldova 1Prime0.4‐1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7The analysis of the frequency of respondents' contacts with mass-media and their perception abouthow mass-media reflects different groups of socially discriminated persons shows the following: mostrespondents mainly watch the television for purposes of information, with radio ranking the second andwritten press the third. The respondents watch the following TV channels more often for informationalpurposes: Prime TV (54%), Moldova 1 (45%), Pro TV (29%), NIT (20%), TV7 (8%), Jurnal TV (7%).The respondents who have contact with mass-media at least once a week believe that in general themass-media is quite equidistant and neutral towards different groups of vulnerable persons, except forpersons with risky behavior, where the attitude is more discriminatory.The respondents' perception about the attitude of mass-media towards vulnerable groups variessignificantly depending on the TV channel watched more often for informational purposes, which makes usconclude that the respondents' opinions is mainly based on the experience obtained while watching theirpreferred TV channels. Thus, the persons who have more frequent contacts with PRO TV and TV7 believethat mass-media reflects quite equidistantly the events related to different groups of people. Therespondents who watch NIT more frequently believe that mass-media has a positive attitude towardspersons with a risky behavior, gays and lesbians, detainees, persons with physical disabilities, men, and lesspositive attitude towards women, the poor, the Roma and not positive at all or rather negative attitudetowards the elderly and HIV-positive persons. The respondents who watch more often Prime TV forinformational purposes believe that mass-media has a positive attitude towards young people, men,elderly, less positive attitude towards the poor and detainees and not at all positive or rather discriminatoryattitude towards gays and lesbians, HIV-positive persons, persons with disabilities. The respondents whowatch more frequent Moldova 1 for informational purposes believe that mass-media has a positive andnon-discriminatory attitude towards Roma, less positive attitude towards persons with risky behavior, gaysand lesbians and former detainees, and not positive at all, even a little discriminatory attitude towards theother groups of people: young people, men, women, HIV-positive persons, the poor, the elderly, personswith physical or mental disabilities. To confirm or infirm these opinions additional researches are needed toanalyze the content of messages broadcasted by these TV channels.