British Embassy conference calls PMR press "independent" and "relatively free"

HMA John Beyer, one of the keynote speakers at the conference (file photo: John Smith Memorial Trust)

CHISINAU (Tiraspol Times) - A two day seminar was held in Chisinau, Moldova's capital, dealing with the Moldo-Pridnestrovian conflict and press freedom in both countries. The seminar was organized by Moldova's Foreign Policy Association, headed by Andrei Popov, in conjunction with the British Embassy in Chisinau. Fifty participants joined the conference from both sides of the Dniester river, among journalists, cabinet ministers, representatives of political parties, as well as NGO and civil society activists.

British Ambassador John Beyer participated in the conference, along with Moldovan cabinet minister Vasile Sova and Oazu Nantoi, a former presidential advisor now turned spin-doctor.

One of the main themes of the conference was the so-called "info war", or information warfare, between Chisinau and Tiraspol. This subject was covered extensively in a roundtable discussion with leading journalists and members of the Moldovan press side by side with their colleagues from Pridnestrovie. The findings revealed that journalists can easily fall victims to stereotypes which they themselves help shape. Moldovan journalists acknowledged that when it comes to their coverage of PMR, there are a number of things which are simply taken at face value, and where critical analysis is suspended. They accepted the need to check their premises and reconsider many of their basic assumptions.

Independent and relatively free media

An example which was cited extensively was the stereotype that in Pridnestrovie, the media unthinkingly spews forth propaganda and that any "voices of freedom" (as the Moldovans call them) are suppressed immediately. Nevertheless, in analyzing the facts, the conference report quoted "the presence of certain courage, professionalism and adherence to [journalistic] principles" and concluded that the press does not blindly transmit the government's viewpoint. It found that the media is independent and acts relatively free in relation to the government. The roundtable discussion recognized that dedication to professionalism and principle ensures that the media does not blindly repeat the message that the government wants to broadcast.

Another stereotype was that "Pridnestrovie's propaganda is better" and that "the population of Pridnestrovie are zombies." The assembled journalists from Tiraspol explained that a large part of the population had turned away from newspapers and TV as their primary information sources, and that following the new customs regime - which is seen in Pridnestrovie as an economic blockade by Moldova - there have been a tendency for the media from both sides of the Dniester to be less trusted.

Meanwhile, the media is fighting an information war with increasing decibels of hate on both sides. Many journalists, especially in Tiraspol, want to move to a new stage in press coverage. Victoria Gladkowski, editor in chief of the Tiraspol office of news agency New Region, explained that "the current general tendency, from both the left and the right bank, is that the other side is 'the enemy'. But this is a perception that we need to get rid of.

Opposition journalist Andrei Safonov, an advocate of unification with Moldova, admitted that there is currently very little interest in Pridnestrovie for any kind of unification with Moldova. "But the image of Moldova needs to be made more attractive in Pridnestrovie," he felt, and "if Moldova would grow economically, and if the prosperity of its citizens would grow, then integration could be possible."

Moldova's Foreign Policy Association, co-organizer of the event along with the British Embassy, has a high-powered board of directors which includes former Moldovan minister Ion Sturza, the Public Policy Institute's Arkady Barbarosie, Moldova's Ambassador to the United States Nicolae Chirtoaca, anti-Communist MPs Oleg Serebrian and Anatoly Tseranu, among other public figures. The Foreign Policy Association publishes weekly digests on the Moldova-Pridnestrovie territorial dispute as well as on the foreign policy of Moldova. (With information from vremea.net)

See also:
» Pridnestrovie's newspapers banned in Moldova