MEDIA MONITORING In the Campaign for 2019 Parliamentary Elections

Report no. 3 1–8 February 2019

(General conclusions)

This report is produced by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) and the Association of Independent Press (API), under a media monitoring project, implemented with the financial support of National Endowment for Democracy (USA), Swedish Government, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The opinions expressed therein belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the donors.

I. GENERAL DATA

1.1 Objective of the project: monitor and inform the public about media behavior in the pre- election period and during the campaign for the 2019 parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova.

1.2 Monitoring period: 9 January 2019 – 24 February 2019

1.3 Criteria for selecting the media outlets to be monitored: The media outlets were selected based on the following criteria: a) form of ownership; b) geography; c) broadcasting language; d) fame/audience. Thus, we are monitoring public and private media outlets, with national, quasi-national and regional coverage, in Romanian and in Russian.

1.4 Media outlets monitored: Broadcast media Moldova 1, GRT, Prime TV, Canal 2, Canal 3, Publika TV, Jurnal TV, NTV Moldova, Pro TV Chișinău, TV8, Accent TV, TV Centrală

Online portals and print media Agora.md, Aif.md, Deschide.md, Diez.md, Esp.md, Gagauzinfo.md, Jurnal de Chișinău (ziar), Kp.md, Moldova.org, Newsmaker.md, Noi.md, Realitatea.md, Sputnik.md, Timpul.md, Unimedia.info, Zdg.md

1.5 Subject-matter of monitoring TV (18:00-22:00 interval) A. One newscast in Russian and one in Romanian; B. Programs (talk shows) with electoral character; C. Election debates.

Online portals and print media The entire editorial content, without the publicity marked accordingly.

1.6. The team The project is implemented within the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections by the Independent Journalism Center (TV monitoring) and the Association of Independent Press (online and print media monitoring).

1.7 Methodological framework

The data were collected and analyzed based on a monitoring methodology developed by Oxford Media Research Center for the monitoring projects of the international organization Article 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression. The methodology was updated at the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019 with the assistance of the experts of the Italian organization Osservatorio di Pavia.

This methodology’s characteristics are as follows: use of indicators 1) quantitative, including type, duration, topic of coverage, news sources, frequency and duration of appearance of election candidates in news, and 2) qualitative, designed to evaluate the tone of coverage: neutral, positive or negative, considering the attitude of the media outlet and/or journalist to each protagonist. The monitoring focuses on two main components: assessment of social pluralism and of political pluralism in the media, which implies measuring the diversity of opinions and multitude of voices in the items with electoral content. We are monitoring all items with direct or indirect election content and all items in which representatives of parties or candidates appear, even though the items are not directly related to the elections. In addition, we are monitoring all items dealing with the work of the Government, Parliament and President’s Office, as these protagonists play an important role in the public space.

Each item is subject to a content and context evaluation to determine the tonality of coverage. Tonality is assigned by assessing the presence 1) of the explicit opinion, expressed by the media to the protagonists, and 2) of the framing1 of the events or subjects that may favor or disfavor the protagonists.

The item’s positive content and/or context does not necessarily indicate the bias or partisanship of the media outlet broadcasting the news. Only if there is a trend of favoring or disfavoring certain subjects for a certain period can we speak about lack of balance.

II. DATA ANALYSIS

2.1 Broadcast media

Frequency of coverage. In the period from 1 to 8 February 2019, the 12 TV stations monitored overall broadcast 1,149 items with direct and indirect electoral content, of which 1,080 news stories, 40 programs, and 29 debates. The total amount of the items was of about 90 hours, nearly 40 hours of which accounted for news, 29 hours – for programs, and circa 21 hours – for debates.

Type of item Appearances Duration (sec) News 1080 142383 Talk shows 40 106066 Debates 29 75928 Total 1149 324377

1 Framing – selecting and highlighting certain sides of an event or subject and connecting them in such a way as to show a certain interpretation or solution http://www.revistadesociologie.ro/pdf-uri/nr3-4-2011/07-N%20Corbu.pdf

Frequency of news stories, programs and debates, per TV station

Topical diversity. The subjects tackled by the majority of the media monitored most of the times concerned the political area – activities with the involvement of the election candidates, political parties, and launching of candidates in the campaign within the national and uninominal constituencies. In many cases, they dealt with various allegations, including of corruption, launched by some candidates against others. The second topic by frequency was the election process, including subjects about the work of the Central Election Commission (CEC), end of the procedure for the registration of candidates in the elections, the voting procedure inside and outside the country, reports on alleged law breaches by certain candidates etc. These were followed by subjects on social issues, foreign relations, the economic and health care areas, corruption, culture and entertainment. As a rule, they had indirect electoral content, dealing with activities of the President and President’s Office, of various ministries and governmental structures, last parliamentary session, etc. Subjects related to charity, education and human rights were also tackled, but much more rarely.

The biggest diversity in terms of topics was found on Pro TV (political, election process, social, health, foreign relations, corruption, etc.), Moldova 1 (political, election process, economic, diaspora, corruption etc.), Jurnal TV (political, election process, law and Constitution, economic, social, etc.), NTV Moldova and Accent TV (political, foreign relations, election process, culture/entertainment, social, charity).

Social pluralism. In addition to the political players and the candidates, the stations monitored used various social sources, with citizens ranking first, followed by representatives of CEC, local public administration (LPA), diplomats/foreign observers, civil society representatives, and local and foreign experts. The citizens most of the times were found in news with Vox Populi elements concerning social and political issues as well as in news about the campaign, expressing their opinions about certain candidates in uninominal constituencies. The most diverse social sources were used by Pro TV (citizens, CEC, experts, judges/lawyers, diplomats/foreign observers, media) and Accent TV (citizens, CEC, diplomats/foreign observers, experts, civil society, the Church).

Social sources and protagonists quoted or mentioned in news stories, programs and debates. 12 TV stations/Top 10

Sources and protagonists Frequency

Citizens 750 Central Election Commission 112 Local Public Administration 89 Diplomats, foreign officials and observers 80 Civil society – NGOs 77 Experts (foreign and local) 60 Government officials 60 Business 41 Judges, lawyers 38 Media 27

Political pluralism. The items monitored in the reference period mainly had party representatives running in the national constituency as well as the independent candidates in uninominal constituencies as main protagonists. In addition, President Igor Dodon, next to Prime Minister Pavel Filip and other Government representatives made the subject-matter of many news stories as well as of programs on some stations monitored.

The Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM), the Socialists Party of Moldova (PSRM), the Electoral Bloc ACUM, the Șor Political Party, and the Liberal Party (PL) had the biggest visibility in terms of frequency and duration of appearances in images and of direct interventions in news items, programs and debates.

Frequency and duration of appearance in news items, programs and debates of political party representatives, candidates in the national constituency /12 TV stations /TOP 10

Duration Duration of of direct Sources and protagonists Candidate Frequency appearance, speech, sec. sec. Democratic Party of Moldova Yes 478 9877 6520 Socialists Party of Moldova Yes 282 8703 4801 Electoral Bloc ACUM Yes 227 4243 2211 Șor Political Party Yes 192 3526 1799 Liberal Party Yes 103 2995 2299 Communists Party of Moldova Yes 72 1470 1104 Moldovan Regions Party Yes 59 1144 890 Democracy at Home Party Yes 56 3055 2838 Our Party Yes 59 1562 1180 Professionals’ Movement “Speranţa – Nadezhda” Yes 43 2166 1836

Of the candidates registered in the elections in uninominal constituencies, the most covered ones were Vladimir Plahotniuc (affiliated to PDM), Andrei Năstase (affiliated to the Bloc ACUM), Maia Sandu (affiliated to the Bloc ACUM), Călin Vieru (independent) and Constantin Țutu (affiliated to PDM). The candidates who were quoted or mentioned at least ten times are presented below.

Of the state institutions, President Dodon and the representatives of the President’s Office ranked first in terms of both frequency of appearances and duration of direct interventions.

Frequency and duration of appearance in news items and programs of candidates in uninominal constituencies /12 TV stations /TOP 10

Amount of Duration of Sources and protagonists Political affiliation Frequency appearance, direct sec. speech, sec. Democratic Party of Plahotniuc Vladimir Moldova 48 1973 809 Năstase Andrei Bloc ACUM 45 858 373 Sandu Maia Bloc ACUM 28 392 79 Democratic Party of Filip Pavel Moldova 26 215 34 Vieru Călin Independent 24 605 338 Șor Ilan Șor Political Party 22 267 64 Democratic Party of Țuțu Constantin Moldova 19 404 131 Socialists Party of Bolea Vasile Moldova 18 1187 928 Volosatîi Boris Independent 15 334 236 Socialists Party of Bătrîncea Vlad Moldova 15 1115 586 Socialists Party of Odințov Alexandru Moldova 14 731 499 Croitor Artur Independent 13 962 908 Socialists Party of Roșca Vladimir Moldova 12 270 110 Munteanu Valeriu Electoral Bloc ACUM 12 195 100 Burgudji Serghei Șor Political Party 12 581 540 Democratic Party of Babuc Monica Moldova 11 477 363 Socialists Party of Greceanîi Zinaida Moldova 11 199 72 Socialists Party of Vartanean Gaik Moldova 11 497 332 Nastas Andrei Independent 10 44 0 Colun Grigore Electoral Bloc ACUM 10 487 456 Democratic Party of Bannicov Alexandr Moldova 10 72 26

Frequency of appearance in debates of candidates in uninominal constituencies /12 TV stations/TOP 10/ Candidates with at least two appearances are includes in the table

Amount of Duration of Sources and protagonists Political affiliation Frequency appearance, direct sec. speech, sec. Reniță Iurie Electoral Bloc ACUM 3 1800 1800 Cerba Valeriu Independent 3 1800 1800 Communists Party of Volconovici Augustin Moldova 3 1800 1800 Chitoroaga Dumitru Șor Political Party 3 1440 1440 Socialists Party of Cojocaru Dinari Moldova 2 1320 1320 Ciubașenco Dumitru Our Party 2 1380 1380 Grigoriu Inga Electoral Bloc ACUM 2 900 900 Democratic Party of Rotaru Valentina Moldova 2 1004 1004 Cebotarescu Dumitru Independent 2 1380 1380 Socialists Party of Lipskii Oleg Moldova 2 923 923 Communists Party of Miron Anton Moldova 2 1320 1320 Grădinaru Vasile Electoral Bloc ACUM 2 990 990 Bilețchi Vlad Liberal Party 2 1311 1311 Bolea Vladimir Electoral Bloc ACUM 2 1320 1320 Democratic Party of Stratulat Mihail Moldova 2 1320 1320 Democratic Party of Nedelea Veaceslav Moldova 2 905 900

Frequency of coverage of political parties per TV station/National Constituency/TOP 5

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Partidul Democrat din Moldova Blocul Electoral ACUM Partidul Socialiștilor din Moldova Partidul Politic Șor Partidul Liberal

Gender balance. Most items reviewed strongly lacked balance in terms of gender ratio, with a large number of the sources and protagonists quoted or mentioned by the 12 TV stations being males (62%) and with female sources accounting for 20%. The only categories of sources/protagonists for which gender balance was secured were ‘citizens’, ‘CEC’, and ‘civil society’, with more women than men quoted in the items with their presence. A relatively high number of female protagonists/sources was found within the Electoral Bloc ACUM, followed by the Socialists Party of Moldova. To note that the rate of female sources from the ‘citizens’ category accounted for 47% of the total number of female sources. The best indicator for gender balance was found on Jurnal TV (32%), Canal 2 (32%), Canal 3 (32%), Prime TV (28%), and Publika TV (24%).

Rate of sources and protagonists from gender perspective

Most stations monitored used male sources when requesting opinions from social source categories. The share of women quoted/mentioned was low, except for the Electoral Bloc ACUM.

Tonality of coverage of candidates/General data, 12 TV stations. The PDM candidates in the national constituency were the ones to enjoy positive tonality most of the times, followed by PSRM and Șor Political Party. Similarly, the electoral players in uninominal constituencies affiliated to these parties were the protagonists of most items with positive tonality. At the same time, PDM and the Bloc ACUM appeared in most items on negative tonality. In uninominal constituencies, most cases of negative tonality were registered for the candidates affiliated to the Bloc ACUM. Representatives of state institutions, especially of the President’s Office, were mainly concerned in items on positive tonality, while those of the Parliament and Government – in items on rather neutral as well as positive tonality.

Tonality of coverage of candidates in news items, programs, debates/National Constituency, 12 TV stations

1400 1268 1200 1000 800 600

400 273 260221 194 136 200 92113 89 122 99 67 2761 2 2842 4 4 1 6512 155 342 142 37 128 226 26 20 18 14 8 26 4 0

Tonalitatea Negativ Tonalitatea Neutru Tonalitatea Pozitiv

Of the candidates in the uninominal constituencies, Vladimir Plahotniuc (affiliated to PDM) had most appearances in items on positive tonality, followed by Ilan Șor (affiliated to Șor Political Party), while Andrei Năstase and Maia Sandu (affiliated to the Electoral Bloc ACUM) had most appearances on negative tonality.

Tonality of coverage of candidates in news items, programs, debates/Uninominal Constituencies, 12 TV stations

Tonality of coverage of candidates per TV station

In the report period, the national public TV station Moldova 1 offered space to a large number of candidates in the national constituency and in uninominal constituencies as well as to the representatives of main state institutions. The tonality of coverage was mostly neutral for most of them. The tonality towards the candidates in uninominal constituencies who were quoted or mentioned in news on Moldova 1 was neutral (for more details, see Annex 1).

The regional public station GRT broadcast few items relevant to this monitoring in the Russian language newscast, without displaying any obvious tendencies of favoring or disfavoring certain political players. The tendency to favor the independent candidate Nicolae Dudoglo was noticed in the programs aired by this regional public broadcaster.

The private stations with national coverage Prime TV, Canal 2, Canal 3 and Publika TV similarly covered the election campaign in their news items, programs and debates (on the topic of the national consultative referendum). PDM representatives and the candidates affiliated to this party had access to these stations most of the times. The tonality of their coverage was mainly positive and neutral, PDM being also favored by the presence of Government members in news and in programs. The representatives of the Electoral Bloc ACUM and the candidates in uninominal constituencies affiliated to this bloc were mainly presented in images, the tonality being most of the times negative and the duration of personal interventions being insignificant.

NTV Moldova and Accent TV further granted air space mainly to the PSRM representatives and the candidates in uninominal constituencies affiliated to this party as well as to President Igor Dodon. The items about the head of the state and the representatives of the President’s Office took significant space in news items and the tonality of coverage was rather positive. Tonality was neutral and negative towards PDM, the Bloc ACUM, Regions Party and Șor Party.

The private stations Pro TV and TV8 covered the work of many political players – parties, candidates in the national constituency and in uninominal constituencies, representatives of the President’s Office, Parliament and Government. In the vast majority of cases, the tonality of coverage of political protagonists in the news items and debates on these stations was neutral. Jurnal TV mainly covered the candidates who organized electoral events, the tonality of coverage of political protagonists in news being mostly neutral. The tonality for the representatives of PDM and Șor Party was neutral and negative in the programs aired by Jurnal TV. Televiziunea Centrală granted more space to Șor Political Party and the candidates affiliated to this party in uninominal constituencies for whom the tonality of coverage was rather positive and neutral. The tonality towards the representatives of PSRM and of the Electoral Bloc ACUM was rather negative as well as neutral.

2.2 ONLINE PORTALS AND PRINT MEDIA

General conclusions

Frequency of coverage. In the period from 1 to 8 February 2019, the 16 online portals and newspapers monitored published in total 1029 items with direct and indirect electoral content, including 984 news items, 37 editorials and other opinions, and 8 interviews that directly or indirectly concerned the campaign for the 2019 parliamentary elections. Some news items were accompanied by video tracks. The total amount of items relevant to this monitoring nearly doubled compared to the previous week and constituted 2,356,445 characters and 707,091 seconds, or over 196 hours of video recordings, which is three times more than in the week before. Most journalistic items relevant to this monitoring were published by the portals Unimedia.info (129), Deschide.md (115) and Aif.md (111). The most modest coverage of the campaign in this period was on the regional portals Esp.md (18), Gagauzinfo.md (22), and Sputnik.md (22 items). The newspaper Jurnal de Chișinău published 23 stories concerning the election campaign in the report period.

Frequency of relevant items, per online portal/newspaper

Topical diversity. Most media outlets continued to follow carefully the unfolding of the election campaign, presented details about some events organized by the parties and their candidates, news on electoral promises, on the exchange of reactions among the candidates either in debates or in other public appearances, on their declarations, allegations and reactions to allegations, their profiles, data and information about their properties and interests etc. Several portals continued the electoral debates with the candidates. The unfolding of the election process as such and the work of CEC were constantly in the sight of the media monitored. They published news on CEC decisions, examination of appeals lodged by the candidates, information about the voting manner, including in the sections outside the country etc. In electoral context, they tackled subjects related to the county’s social and economic problems. The news on one of the independent candidates pleading for the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes was intensely covered in the report period. Some stories contained elements of analysis of the behavior of some of the candidates or took over messages of politicians in full without balancing them with the opinions/positions of other candidates on the same issues or without granting the right of reply to those directly concerned in negative contexts. Some portals intensely promoted certain candidates and disfavored their opponents, or screened the news depending on their political preferences.

Social pluralism. In the report period, the online portals and newspapers monitored, in addition to the political players and candidates in the elections, used 1,242 sources and protagonists from other categories when documenting their items. Most often, this involved other media outlets, CEC representatives, citizens, foreign officials and observers, local and foreign experts, civil society representatives and experts (see the table).

Social sources and protagonists quoted or mentioned in the items /16 media

Sources and protagonists Frequency, no. Media 367 Central Election Commission 178 Citizens 163 Diplomats, foreign officials and observers 107 Civil society – NGOs 83 Experts (foreign and local) 74 Government officials 63 Local Public Administration 57 Business 54 Judges, lawyers 53 Initiative groups 32 Police/Army 7 Church 4

Political pluralism. The online portals and newspapers monitored overall had 3,138 sources and protagonists from the political area, including parties running in the national election constituency, candidates in the uninominal constituencies or top representatives of the President’s Office, Parliament and Government. By frequency and duration of appearances (quotes/direct speech), the most visible candidates in the national constituency were PDM, followed by PSRM, the Electoral Bloc ACUM, the Șor Party, PL, and the Communists Party. Some candidates (PDM and PSRM) also enjoyed relatively large space for direct speech. The PDM was the most visible one, by the number of appearances, on 11 of the 16 media outlets monitored, PSRM – on 2, and the PDM and PSRM had an equal number of appearances in other 3 media sources.

Frequency and duration of appearance of political party representatives, candidates in the national constituency /16 media /TOP 10 Duration of Duration of Frequency, Sources and protagonists appearance, direct speech, no. characters characters Democratic Party of Moldova 559 310249 62880 Socialists Party of Moldova 375 258888 42589 Electoral Bloc ACUM 248 101587 11728 Șor Political Party 181 102420 15236 Liberal Party 115 43412 5605 Communists Party of Moldova 103 26111 6515 Our Party 49 23898 549 Moldovan Regions Party 34 52648 23742 Green Ecologic Party 19 8127 1364 Anti-Mafia People’s Movement 18 8603 4764

In total, 226 of the candidates registered for the elections in uninominal constituencies were concerned 840 times in the items published by the portals and newspapers monitored. Some were concerned more often while others were only mentioned. In terms of frequency of their appearances and of the total area and space offered for quotes/direct speech, the most covered ones were Ilan Șor, followed by Vladimir Plahotniuc, Andrei Năstase and Maia Sandu (see the table that includes the candidates mentioned at least five times).

Frequency and duration of appearance of candidates in uninominal constituencies /16 media Duration of Duration of Frequency, Sources and protagonists appearance, direct speech, no. characters characters Șor Ilan 57 70204 16701 Plahotniuc Vladimir 55 54625 5488 Năstase Andrei 47 43090 3091 Sandu Maia 40 33491 2309 Filip Pavel 22 16521 2243 Cebotarescu Dumitru 17 14293 2473 Munteanu Valeriu 16 12144 1589 Greceanîi Zinaida 16 11811 230 Volosatîi Boris 15 16348 2976 Chirtoacă Dorin 14 16537 4699 Ghilețchi Valeriu 11 12359 2257 Iordan Serghei 10 4045 747 Pleșca Nae-Simion 4 14980 6921 Vieru Călin 9 7093 3978 Verejanu Pavel 9 4444 1180 Terguță Ion 9 9482 841 Nesterovschi Alexandr 8 4822 2060 Bătrîncea Vlad 8 6714 976 Lebedinschi Adrian 7 9315 638 Graur Eleonora 7 5909 490 Ciorici Valeriu 7 8451 0 Plîngău Dinu 7 2387 20 Vartanean Gaik 6 6172 3509 Bolea Vasile 6 8207 2863 Bilețchi Vlad 6 6522 2384 Odințov Alexandru 6 5313 1745 Spătaru Arina 4 5420 2564 Croitor Artur 5 6126 1958 Țîcu Octavian 5 3580 0 Pușcari Piotr 5 1881 0 Grițco Elena 5 1076 0

Of the first rank sources and protagonists of public structures, the Moldovan President Igor Dodon whom public perception associated with the Socialists Party and who often conveyed messages that directly or indirectly favored this candidate, was the most quoted dignitary (281 times), also enjoying generous space of presentation and quoting/direct speech.

Gender balance. The lack of gender balance in sources and protagonists increased even more. In total, 54.2% of sources and protagonists were males and only 11.3% were females on the 16 online portals and newspapers monitored. Over one third of the items relevant to this monitoring did not specify the sex of the sources (see graph). The best ratio of men sources to women sources in this period was found on the portals Agora.md and Zdg.md (on average, 3.5 male sources accounted for one female source). The lowest men–women source ratio was found on the portals Sputnik.md Gagauzinfo.md and Deschide.md (one female source to over eight male sources).

Rate of sources and protagonists from a gender perspective /16 media

The PDM, PSRM, and the Electoral Bloc ACUM remained the most covered candidates in the national constituency, with neutral tonality in the vast majority of cases overall by the 16 online portals and newspapers monitored. They were followed by the Șor Party, Liberal Party and Communists Party that were also presented mainly neutrally. The PDM and PSRM were most often presented in negative contexts; however, the same candidates also had the most appearances on positive tonality. Among the candidates in uninominal constituencies, Ilan Șor/Șor Party, Vladimir Plahotniuc/PDM, Andrei Năstase/ACUM and Maia Sandu/ACUM were most covered, in different contexts and on different editorial tonality. They were followed, at a distance, by Pavel Filip/PDM, Dumitru Cebotarescu/Independent, Valeriu Munteanu/ACUM, Boris Volosatîi/Independent, Dorin Chirtoacă/PL. Overall, the candidates were more often presented on neutral tonality in all the 16 media outlets monitored; however, Andrei Năstase and Maia Sandu had more appearances on negative rather than neutral or positive appearances. Ilan Șor and Vladimir Plahotniuc, more often covered neutrally, in total collected more appearances on positive as well as on negative tonality in all portals/newspapers monitored.

Tonality of coverage of candidates/National Constituency, 16 media

Tonality of coverage of candidates /Uninominal Constituencies, 16 media

Tonality of coverage of candidates in the elections per media outlet

In the report period, the portal Agora.md further presented relevant information about the parties running in the national constituency and about the candidates in various uninominal constituencies. In the vast majority of cases, the tonality was neutral and the authors were unbiased. The portal continued broadcasting a weekly podcast about the elections and proposed another test to its users: “How well do you know those aspiring for a MP’s seat?” The portal Aif.md editorially favored PSRM, some of this party’s candidates in uninominal constituencies, and President Igor Dodon who were offered the biggest coverage space, the tonality usually being positive or neutral. They also enjoyed large space for direct speech/quotes. All the other candidates most often were presented on negative tonality, especially PDM towards which criticism increased compared to the previous monitoring periods. The portal Deschide.md presented PSRM and Igor Dodon more often in disfavoring contexts, towards whom tonality was more often negative. At the same time, it displayed a sort of editorial liking towards some candidates in uninominal constituencies, presenting them on mainly positive tonality and offering them bigger space for direct speech/quotes than to the others. First of all, these were Nae-Simion Pleșca/PDM and partly Călin Vieru/Independent and Viorel Savva/Independent. The portal Diez.md had a generally balanced editorial approach to the candidates it referred to. The PDM and its candidates were more often presented on neutral as well as on negative tonality. The portal Esp.md further covered the campaign only from a regional perspective, presenting the candidates from Bălți from different party lists and analyzing their programs and activities. All the items had neutral tonality. The Comrat-based portal Gagauzinfo.md covered the campaign selectively, highlighting the sensitive topics for the Gagauz autonomy. The PDM was more often disfavored through items on negative tonality. On the other hand, PSRM was nearly each time presented in positive contexts. The newspaper Jurnal de Chişinău was critical of the PSRM, PDM, Igor Dodon, Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Şor. The tonality of coverage was rather negative towards these political players. The portal Kp.md further disfavored the Electoral Bloc ACUM, especially Maia Sandu, through a large number of critical items, on negative tonality. Some stories disfavored the PDM as well. On the other hand, Igor Dodon and PDRM were favored through coverage mainly on positive as well as neutral tonality. The portal Moldova.org covered all its political and election news items on a neutral editorial tonality. The portal Newsmaker.md had a balanced editorial policy and neutral coverage tonality. The portal Noi.md intensely covered Igor Dodon’s activities, usually on neutral or positive tonality, as well as the PSRM. Șor Party was often criticized or presented on negative tonality. In the report period, the portal published a larger number of news items about PDM’s election caravan that looked like publicity. In the report period, the portal Realitatea.md covered the election campaign generally in a balanced manner. It published many campaign materials of the PDM, of this party’s candidates Pavel Filip and Vladimir Plahotniuc, as well as of Șor Party, mentioning they had been paid for from the election fund. Sputnik.md published few news items on the election campaign, having a selective approach. Even though many events and actions organized by the candidates (appeals, flash mobs etc. ) or by the civil society organizations (presentation of campaign monitoring reports) took place in this period, Sputnik.md avoided covering them. This portal did not cover any of the events that concerned Igor Dodon and/or the PSRM in negative contexts. Timpul.md further editorially favored PDM and Vladmir Plahotniuc, presenting them mainly positively or neutrally on big areas and with direct speech/quotes space. Similarly, it presented Șor Party and its leader more often in positive contexts. At the same time, the Electoral Bloc ACUM, Maia Sandu and Andrei Năstase nearly each time were presented on negative and disfavoring tonality, without being granted the right of reply. This portal also visibly disfavored Igor Dodon and the PSRM. In the report period, the portal Unimedia.info had a mainly neutral attitude/tonality towards all the party candidates. As to the candidates in uninominal constituencies, things were different. The tonality of presentation of Vladimir Plahotniuc/PDM was more often negative. Ilan Șor/Partidul Șor was presented both negatively and positively. Andrei Năstase/ACUM and Maia Sandu/ACUM more often were presented on positive tonality. The portal Zdg.md maintained a generally neutral approach towards the candidates, granting the right of reply to the ones concerned, as applicable. However, one noticed negative tonality towards the PSRM, PDM, Șor Party and their candidates/representatives in some of its editorials.

The full versions of the monitoring reports in Romanian are posted on the websites: www.alegeliber.md, www.api.md, www.media-azi.md