Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M) ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT Project launch – September 30, 2017 Cooperative Agreement No. AID-117-A-17-00001 Activity Start Date and End Date: April 3, 2017 to April 2, 2022 Implemented by: Internews Network Partners: Freedom House, Independent Journalism Center 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. 2 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................ 4 II. HIGHLIGHTS (PROJECT LAUNCH – SEPTEMBER 2017) ........................ 5 III. BACKGROUND/CONTEXT .......................................................................... 6 IV. PROJECT ACTIVITIES ................................................................................... 7 OBJECTIVE 1 7 ACTIVITY 1.1. TARGETED GRANT SUPPORT FOR CONTENT PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION ................................................................................................ 7 ACTIVITY 1.2. NEEDS-BASED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE .................................................... 11 ACTIVITY 1.3. INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM AND SUPPORT FOR PRACTICAL JOURNALISM EDUCATION ......................................................................... 12 OBJECTIVE 2: 13 ACTIVITY 2.1: CONDUCT PUBLIC SURVEYS TO MEASURE AUDIENCE MEDIA PREFERENCES, PERCEPTIONS, AND HABITS: ........................................... 13 ACTIVITY 2.2: DEVELOP AND STRENGTHEN PUBLIC MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE CITIZENS’ ABILITY TO SEEK, ANALYZE, EVALUATE, AND PRODUCE NEWS CONTENT. ........ 13 ACTIVITY 2.3: IMPROVE THE CAPACITY OF MEDIA WATCHDOGS TO EFFECTIVELY MONITOR MEDIA FOR MISINFORMATION, BIAS, CENSORSHIP, AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ....................................... 13 ACTIVITY 2.4: SUPPORT RIGOROUS AND CREATIVE ELECTION COVERAGE MONITORING 16 OBJECTIVE 3: 16 ACTIVITY 3.1. MONITORING, ANALYSIS, AND OVERSIGHT MECHANISMS ................... 17 ACTIVITY 3.2. ADVOCACY ACTIONS AND COALITION-BUILDING ............................... 20 ACTIVITY 3.3. EDUCATION AND AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS: .......................................... 22 OBJECTIVE 4: 23 ACTIVITY 4.1 ASSESS ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY ........................................................ 23 NO ACTION WAS TAKEN UNDER THIS ACTIVITY DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD. 23 ACTIVITY 4.2 PRIORITIZE, PLAN, AND BUILD ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY ............. 23 NO ACTION WAS TAKEN UNDER THIS ACTIVITY DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD. 23 V. PLANNED HIGHLIGHTS (FOR OCTOBER 2017 - MARCH 2018) ........ 24 VI. CHALLENGES ............................................................................................... 24 VII. LIST OF ATTACHMENTS ........................................................................... 25 ANNEX 1: MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING PLAN INDICATORS ............. 1 2 ANNEX 2. THE LIST OF RECEIVED APPLICATIONS FOR MEDIA-M KEY PARTNER SUPPORT 1 ANNEX 3. THE LIST OF RECEIVED APPLICATIONS FOR MEDIA-M EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES GRANTS ............................................................................ 2 ANNEX 4: INTERNATIONAL MOLDOVAN MAP AGENDA .................................................. 5 ANNEX 5: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE MOLDOVAN MAP ATTENDANCE LIST ..... 6 ANNEX 6: MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE MAP ................ 9 ANNEX 7: PRESS COUNCIL NEEDS ASSESSMENT DRAFT .................................................. 10 3 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M) is a five-year activity (MEDIA-M or Activity hereafter) that aims to promote the development of an independent, professional media that gives citizens access to a variety of perspectives, and to create a media sector that is more resilient to political and financial pressures. By focusing on the supply of and demand for objective information, this Activity will strengthen the ability of independent media to fulfill its role as a watchdog over the government and serve as a space for citizens to engage in public policy dialogue. Moreover, the Activity’s focus on the legal enabling environment will reinforce existing protections for freedom of speech, facilitate better implementation of laws, and advocate for media sector regulation in accordance with international norms. MEDIA-M will focus on three programmatic and one crosscutting objective to be achieved with the Implementing Partners Independent Journalism Center (IJC) and Freedom House (FH): O1. Support independent media and production and dissemination of alternative content through grants and needs-based technical assistance O2. Build consumer understanding of and demand for independent, reliable, and high quality news and information through targeted media literacy activities O3. Improve the enabling legal and regulatory environment for independent media by strengthening the capacity of media support organizations O4. Nurture organizational capacity of local media institutions for transition to direct local award (Cross-cutting objective) 4 II. HIGHLIGHTS (PROJECT LAUNCH – SEPTEMBER 2017) Objective 1 Six media outlets, from the total of 31 submitted applications, were selected to receive financial support and assistance under the Key Partners grants program; Five Emerging Opportunities grant program beneficiaries were selected from a total of 55 submitted applications; A team of international experts were contracted to conduct a baseline needs assessment for each KP in two main areas: - Business and management practices component, by Tatiana Repkova (Slovakia) - The editorial capacity and media content quality assessment will be conducted by Ioana Avădani (Romania) and Natalia Belogrudova (Russia, based in Estonia) The Media Business expert Tatiana Repkova and the Media-M Media Quality Adviser Oxana Iuteș launched the SP Bălți needs assessment process in the last week of September. Objective 2 On September 25, IJC published the call for applications for the Media Misinformation Campaign grants program; FH advocacy specialist Vytis Jurkonis began the Press Council Needs Assessment process with two site visits in June. Objective 3 A Press Council needs assessment was conducted by FH and a comprehensive report, identifying outreach and advocacy goals as well as areas for improvement, was drafted by the FH expert Vytis Jurkonis (See Annex 7); FH issued sub-awards to the Association of Independent Press (API) and Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and provided in-house financial and M&E trainings to ensure effective project management; The high-level conference “Moldovan Media, Audiences and Pluralism” organized by Freedom House in partnership with the Parliament of Moldova was held on September 14, 2017 and attracted wide press coverage from a range of media platforms (Newsmaker.md, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, TV Romania, Publika TV, Realitatea and Vedomosti) for involving a diverse and esteemed group of stakeholders to tackle the pressing issues of freedom of the press and information security; The Freedom of the Press Moldova report was published in September 2017; FH received 15 applications for the special Nations in Transit policy brief series titled “Moldova's Media at Crossroads 2017”; FH’s local project coordinator, Tatiana Puiu, became the co-head of the Parliamentary working group1 whose goal is to improve broadcast legislation in the Republic of Moldova. Objective 4 The activities under this objective will be launched in the next quarter. 1 The Working group was created by the Parliament at the initiative of the Speaker and with support from the Council of Europe. 5 III. BACKGROUND/CONTEXT On May 18, 2017 Internews launched the MEDIA-M project, Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova, at an official kick-off event. The event served as a networking opportunity within the media community of Moldova, international organizations and non-profits. Participants found out more about the components of the project, its partners and team members. Since the spring of 2017, the Moldovan government has taken actions that sparked criticism from both civil society and international partners. For example, the last-minute changes proposed by the government in June 2017 to the law regulating non-governmental organizations (NGOs) would have limited external funding for these groups. The Ministry of Justice presented the proposed changes as promoting transparency for Moldovan NGOs receiving foreign funding, even as rigorous reporting requirements for these organizations are already in place, including financial reporting to local authorities. NGOs are concerned that the newly proposed changes would discourage, silence, and potentially eliminate independent civil society organizations that have a critical opinion of the government or challenge the authorities. These changes are still under discussion. A very important issue for Moldovan broadcast outlets is the Government’s recent decision to postpone the transition to digital television in Moldova from December 31, 2017 to March 1, 2020. The Government proposed to postpone it because of the lack of financial resources of regional broadcasters and no budget funding to secure set-top-boxes (special digital signal conversion devices for old- generation TVs) for vulnerable families. Among undeclared reasons for the postponement, experts argue, could be the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2018, under the new mixed electoral system where candidates will need local