Audiovisual Council wins first instance case against NTV Moldova, sanctioned the way it covered the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine
The Audiovisual Council (AC) reports that it won a case on Monday, 12 June in a case concerning the TV channel NTV Moldova, sanctioned with two fines in the amount of 10 000 lei and four public warnings, for “one-sided presentation, without sufficient documentation, with mixing of facts and opinions”, of the security crisis in the region and the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, in the news bulletins of 24-27 February 2022.
CA monitoring showed that in all news bulletins NTV Moldova referred to the situation in Ukraine in a biased manner and did not favour the free formation of opinions.
“Thus, in the news bulletin of 24 February 2022, 13:00 (the first bulletin of the day in the first broadcast, from which the public learns that military battles are taking place in Ukraine), statements attributed to the Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski are presented, which have no factual support, being a one-sided and subjective opinion of the journalist. The Russian-language version of the news bulletin mentions a statement by the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. In this case, the source should have been verified and superimposed on official data from the Ukrainian side, as the information was presented unilaterally, without sufficient documentation,” the Council said in a statement.
In the news of 25 February 2022, CA monitoring attested to the mixing of facts and opinions. It also fixed “incomplete documentation and information presented in a biased manner and with a lack of good faith in the reports about Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski’s call to sit down at the negotiating table and about the fact that the West would no longer provide the support requested by the Kiev authorities”.
In none of the four days monitored did NTV Moldova report the West’s position, except for a brief intervention by France’s defence minister, who said that no one wanted a war with Russia.
Another report on 25 February 2022 about the refugee accommodation process contains the journalist’s opinion. She says that “Ukrainians regret that their country was pushed into this critical situation, and when the whole thing caught fire, those who claimed to be partners ran away”. No facts confirm this statement, and the second part of the sentence is an indictment of, presumably, Ukraine’s Western partners, without the opinions of those concerned being present.
“In addition, people appearing in the report answer a question that the viewer has not heard, but from the answers it can be understood that the reporter said that Ukraine is not helped by anyone, and those interviewed are asked to say what they think about it,” CA also notes.
NTV Moldova also resorted to omission in the audiovisual programmes broadcast during the monitored period. In the summary bulletin of the week of 27 February 2022, out of 12 news items, 3 referred to the war in Ukraine. None of these was the first news item, all of them being repetitions of information already broadcast on previous days, not updated and in violation of the principles of correct information. Nor was the establishment of a state of emergency in Moldova explained in the summary bulletin.
“Assuming that the public was informed only from the news of this provider, it was informed incompletely, distorted and one-sidedly, which did not contribute to the formation of a free opinion about what is happening in the neighboring country from 24 February 2022,” said the deputy chairwoman of the Audiovisual Council Aneta Gonța at the public meeting.
On June 12, 2023, the Chisinau Court of Appeals, Rascani seat, gave victory to the CA, on the decision of March 2, 2022, against PP “Exclusiv Media” SRL, founder of the TV station “NTV Moldova”, in the first instance.
NTV Moldova is one of the six TV stations whose broadcasting licences were suspended during the state of emergency by a decision of the Commission for Exceptional Situations (CSE).
