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Opposition demands equal time in state-owned media in Pridnestrovie
Opposition leader Yevgeny Shevchuk complains of being ignored and virtually silenced by Pridnestrovie's state-owned media. He wants equal time for opposition views, and says that state media has a responsibility to the entire country. The demand comes as part of an increasingly public confrontation with backers of recently re-elected President Igor Smirnov.
Station ID: TV-PMR, the state-run "First Republic Channel", is criticized for not giving equal time to opposition politiciansTIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - Complaining of being ignored and silenced by official state-run media in the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, PMR, Yevgeny Shevchuk came out swinging at a press conference held in the unrecognized country's capital Thursday. The accusations were seen by observers as yet another spat in the increasingly public rivalry between Pridnestrovie's opposition-led Parliament and the administration of President Igor Smirnov.
As reported by independent news agency New Region Press, the Speaker of Pridnestrovie's Parliament, 38 year old opposition leader Yevgeny Shevchuk, complained that leading organs of state-run media were giving him the cold shoulder, never once asking his opinion on issues facing the republic.
" - In entire time of my chairmanship of the Supreme Council, never once did the First Republic TV channel or the Olvia Press News Agency ask for my opinion or interview me," said Shevchuk, who became Speaker after a surprise victory of his Renewal party in December 2005's parliamentary elections. With the upset win, Shevchuk's party beat Smirnov loyalists in the Respublika party (now the Republic Party of Pridnestrovie). The transition to an opposition controlled parliament was handled peacefully.
" - Nevertheless, it is easy to get the impression that the state-owned media does not serve the whole state, but merely the PMR Ministry of Information and Telecommunications," said Shevchuk, referring to one of the government ministries in Pridnestrovie (better known internationally under names such as Transnistria, Transdniester and Trans-Dnestr). In Shevchuk's opinion, state media has a responsibility to the entire country and not just to the president or any other singled-out parts within the executive branch of government.
- State-run media slanted with government bias
To prove how wrong Yevgeny Shevchuk's accusations were, Olvia Press devoted two-thirds of its news coverage for 8 February to the views of Yevgeny Shevchuk. No mention of Igor Smirnov made it into the news during the same day. Like Olvia Press, the First Republic Channel (TV PMR) also covered the Speaker's press conference prominently during the day's news.
" - But in a way, the opposition actually does have a point," says Karen Ryan, a journalist with the Tiraspol Times, pointing to a piece of investigative reporting where she documented a bias of pro-government campaigning in the media ahead of the September 2006 independence referendum.
Since then, the trend appears to have continued. While President Igor Smirnov was able to go on air to answer live questions from viewers, Yevgeny Shevchuk was forced to instead resort to an internet-only version: A townhall format hosted on the official website of the Renewal party; the Internet domain obnovlenie.info
TV PMR, which first went on the air in 1992, is Pridnestrovie's oldest TV station. It produces 28 original programs: news, children’s, sports, youth’s, entertainment and religious broadcasts. The station broadcasts in 3 languages; Moldovan, Russian and Ukrainian. It has 6 studios, two control rooms, a mobile studio, ten editing booths and an advertising department and broadcasts for a total of nearly 600 hours each month. It has a staff of 157 employees.
See also:
» Live and unfiltered, PMR's President Smirnov answers viewer questions on TV
» Opposition leader holds Internet "democracy townhall"
On the web:
» TV and Radio: freedom of speech?
» Olvia Press
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The government of Pridnestrovie has proposed a solution on Permanent Status Negotiations that will be based on consensus with Moldova. Its government sees little or no point in signing an unequal treaty which mostly favors just one of the sides, its Foreign Ministry said. The dispute over Pridnestrovie's territory has lasted almost 18 years. . . 
