The People’s Advocate welcomes and supports the national campaign to promote the assumption of the Journalist’s Code of Ethics by media professionals and graduates of journalism faculties in the country, considering that it is necessary and timely.
Given the magnitude of recent alarming trends such as manipulation, misinformation, propaganda, fake news, selective use of information, unverified data or personal data, spreading hate speech messages, etc., the People’s Advocate addressed the issue the quality of journalism in the Republic of Moldova in the Report on respect for human rights in the Republic of Moldova in 20191.
The Ombudsman emphasizes that correct and equidistant information to people is crucial for them to enforce other fundamental rights.
In a democratic society, citizens participate in public decision-making, which means that they have relevant and credible information from various sources that allow them to form and express their opinions, to make informed decisions about their government and society. Namely, high quality journalism provides a range of credible, interesting and timely information, available to the public, and counteracts propaganda and misinformation. Ethical journalism serves the public interest, is based on good faith and professional ethics, provides accurate and verified information that complies with the principles of fairness, independence of transparency and public accountability.
The People’s Advocate emphasizes the importance of the representatives of the journalistic community respecting the norms of the Professional Code of Ethics, without it, there would not be any high quality journalism, and also encourages journalists, media institutions to sign the Code of Ethics of Journalism in Moldova and strictly follow its rules.
At the same time, the Ombudsman calls on the authorities to work to create a pluralistic media ecosystem in which high quality journalism is stimulated and supported, including through financial support measures. In this context, the People’s Advocate refers to the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the financial sustainability of high quality journalism in the digital age, of 13 February 20192. In the nominated statement, the CoE Committee of Ministers states that, an environment conducive to freedom of expression and freedom of the media implies favorable political, legal, social and economic conditions for high quality journalism in the public interest, recognizing that such journalism is a good public and has substantial benefits for democracy.
The campaign “Signing the Code of Ethics for Journalists in the Republic of Moldova” was launched on May 6, during the Press Freedom Days, by graduates of the International Training Program on Media Self-Regulation3 of the Swedish Agency for Development and International Cooperation (Sida) and the Press Council from the Republic of Moldova.
2020 05 06
Department for the Promotion of
Human Rights and Communication
Tel.: 060002656
1Report on the observance of fundamental human rights and freedoms in the Republic of Moldova in 2019, page 62 (http://ombudsman.md/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/RAPORTUL2019-FINAL.pdf)
2Declaration of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the financial sustainability of quality journalism in the digital age, of 13 February 2019 (https://search.coe.int/cm/pages/result_details.aspx?objectid=090000168092dd4d)
3The Training Program on Media Self-Regulation is carried out by the consulting company NIRAS Sweden in cooperation with International Media Support (Denmark), FOJO Media Institute (Sweden) and Global Reporting (Sweden).
