Between August and September 2023, API monitored 13 national and regional media outlets (one more than in the previous period) on corruption coverage in four priority areas of interest: education, healthcare, social welfare and the agri-food sector. Based on a complex methodology, made up of quantitative and qualitative criteria and indicators, five TV channels (Moldova 1, Jurnal TV, GRT TV/Comrat, Elita TV/Rezina and Studio-L/ Causeni), five news portals (Protv.md, Publika.md, TV8.md, Nokta.md/Comrat, Esp.md/Bălți), one radio station (Radio Moldova) and two regional newspapers (Unghiul/Ungheni and Observatorul de Nord/Soroca). In print and online media, the entire editorial content was monitored, on TV (17.00-23.00 hours) and radio (17.00-20.00 hours) – the main news edition of the day and, where appropriate, planned or sporadic thematic programs.

The results of report no. 2 show that the following, in descending order, had the most thematic topics: TV8.md, Protv.md, Radio Moldova, Jurnal TV and Nokta.md, and the quality indicator showed at Jurnal TV and TV8.md a good coverage of corruption in the four priority areas, while  at Protv.md, Publika.md, Nokta.md, Radio Moldova, Unghiul and Moldova 1 – a relatively good coverage. The other newsrooms performed not so well. "Most media outlets improved their quantitative and qualitative indicators compared to the previous period, but the frequency of coverage of the four themes (education, health, social welfare, agri-food sector) remains uneven. It is not normal for 13 media outlets not to broadcast any story on the theme for nine days. It is also worrying that 2/3 of the 37 municipalities and districts in the country (25 large localities) remained without media attention in this respect. In this way, people in many localities are given the perception that there is no corruption in the country in areas that directly concern them," said Ion Bunduchi, the author of the report.

Although at the presentation of Report #1, the representatives of the newsrooms monitored accepted the recommendations made to them by the report's authors, some shortcomings remained. So, in the current report, in addition to new recommendations, some suggestions from the previous monitoring period have been reiterated. In particular, newsrooms are recommended to invest more in training and capacity building for journalists covering corruption stories.

At the opening of the Press Club, Corneliu Omelian, Anti-Corruption and CSO Engagement Advisor at the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), spoke about the objectives and projects implemented by GIZ to strengthen the rule of law and anti-corruption mechanisms, civil society and quality investigative journalism in the Republic of Moldova. In turn, Victor Moșneag, editor-in-chief of Ziarul de Gardă, spoke about the publication's experience in covering corruption, how to identify and produce topics of public interest, working with young journalists, etc.

Although after the results of the first two monitoring periods, the portal Nokta.md from Comrat and the newspaper Unghiul from Ungheni are not yet among the best performing media outlets, they have nevertheless made some progress. "After the first report we discussed with the team and decided to pay more attention to the issues mentioned. I was really pleasantly surprised to see that we moved up from 8th to 5th place. We will work more on planning the themes and making our own materials, and this will help us to increase the quality of the materials," said Mihail Sircheli, director of Nokta.md. "This increase, even if it is not too big, gives us the courage to work better, and monitoring gives us the opportunity to see where we have problems and where we need to work more," said Natalia Morari, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Unghiul.

Monitoring Report #2.

The video from the Press Club where the monitoring report was presented can be accessed HERE.

The project "Strengthening the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Mechanisms in the Republic of Moldova" is co-financed by the European Union, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Government of the United Kingdom, and implemented by the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ). The project partners in Chișinău are the Association of Independent Press (API) and the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJM) which are implementing the project "Consolidating A Network of Investigative Journalists in the Republic of Moldova and Increasing Their Capacity to Investigate Corruption Cases"