OSCE AND U.S. embassy concerned over exclusion of some Moldovan channels from cable packages

The Embassy of the United States of America is concerned over the abrupt exclusion of Accent TV, RTR Moldova and Jurnal TV from several cable packages.

The Embassy wrote in its press release on Tuesday that these exclusions limit the Moldovan people’s access to different viewpoints and damage the media environment.

“This seems to be the latest action in a disturbing trend where media outlets disappear from the airwaves for less than transparent reasons, as we saw in 2012 with the withdrawal of NIT’s broadcast license. This is not the media environment that Moldovans deserve”, said the document.

“We firmly believe that a healthy media environment reflects a diversity of views and perspectives, and allows for opposition voices to be heard. We call upon the Moldovan authorities to ensure a fair and transparent operating environment where all media outlets can compete honestly and without favoritism”, stated the U.S. Embassy to Moldova.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, stated January 14 that the hasty exclusion of three TV channels from several cable networks could hurt media pluralism in Moldova.

“The unilateral decision to stop retransmission of these three channels can curb media freedom and limit media pluralism in Moldova, not least since these channels were known for their critical reporting on the current government,” Mijatovic said.

“I call on the authorities and the regulatory body [Audiovisual Coordinating Council, ACC] to immediately look into these matters in order to preserve media pluralism in Moldova,” Mijatovic said.

Adapted from Infotag