October 2019 Chisinau, Republic of Moldova MEDIA-M Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT October 2018 – September 2019 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 ACRONYMS AOR Agreement Officer Representative API Association of Independent Press COP Chief of Party CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy CBP Capacity Building Plan DCOP Deputy Chief of Party DO Development Objective DRL Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor EOG EOG Emerging Opportunities Grants FH Freedom House FY Fiscal Year IJC Independent Journalism Center KP Key Partner LHR Lawyers for Human Rights M&E Monitoring & Evaluation MELP Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan MIGG Media Information Gaps Grants MMCG Media Misinformation Campaign Grants PWG Parliamentary Working Group TBD To be determined ToT Training of Trainers MEDIA-M Annual Narrative Report 2019 / Page 2 of 94 ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT OCTOBER 1st 2018 – SEPTEMBER 30th 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 By the Numbers 6 Program Summary 7 Main Achievements BACKGROUND 8 Context 12 OBJECTIVE 1 - Support independent media and production and dissemination of alternative content through grants and needs-based technical assistance 38 OBJECTIVE 2 - Build consumer understanding of and demand for independent, reliable, and high-quality news and information 54 OBJECTIVE 3 - Improve the enabling legal and regulatory environment for independent media by strengthening the capacity of media support organizations 66 OBJECTIVE 4 - Nurture organizational capacity of local media institutions for transition to direct local award (Cross- cutting objective) 76 ANNEXES IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS This report is made possible by the generous support of the American and British people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID - UKAID). The contents are the responsibility of Internews and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKAID or USAID. MEDIA-M Annual Narrative Report 2019 / Page 3 of 94 By the Numbers NATIONAL SURVEY: PERCEPTIONS OF THE POPULATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA ON MASS MEDIA 2018 Believe that news in the Republic of Moldova is influenced "much" 85% or "very much" by politics Believe that the Moldovan population can “hardly 61% differentiate” false news from real stories Believe it would be “hard” or “very hard” to tell when the media is trying to manipulate 44% or change citizens’ opinions Stated they use only independent 16% sources of information Other statistics from the survey: 55% [of survey respondents] have mixed feelings about how well informed they are regarding the general events in the Republic of Moldova; 43% stated that they don’t feel informed at all or feel informed to a small extent regarding the events in the country; 40% stated that they are satisfied with the mass media in the Republic of Moldova. Among the survey participants; 68% watch TV daily for information purposes and every third respondent uses social networks for information purposes; 59% have indicated TV to be their main information source, and 43% stated that this represents the source they trust the most; 44% stated they don’t trust the media to different extents; 79% disagreed with the statement “any information available via TV, radio, newspapers or over the Internet is real”. Published November 2018 - The survey results are available in Romanian, Russian and English languages. MEDIA-M Annual Narrative Report 2019 / Page 4 of 94 2019 WORLD PRESS FREEDOM INDEX Year Ranking 2018 81 / 180 ↓ 2017 80 / 180 ↓ 2016 76 / 180 ↓ 2015 72 / 180 ↓ 2014 56 / 180 ↓ 2013 55 / 180 ↓ Quote from the 2019 World Press Freedom Index "Moldova’s media is diverse but extremely polarized, like the country itself, which is characterized by chronic instability and the excessive influence of its oligarchs. The editorial line of the leading media outlets correlates closely with the political and business interests of their owners – a problem that was particularly visible during the campaign for the 2019 parliamentary elections. Journalistic independence and quality, and the concentration of media ownership are major challenges. As media outlets battle with each other in a climate exacerbated by the society’s polarization, the broadcasting regulatory authority’s lack of independence continues to be a source of concern." MEDIA-M Annual Narrative Report 2019 / Page 5 of 94 Program Summary Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M) is a five-year activity 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, MEDIA-M will strengthen the ability of independent media to fulfill its role as a watchdog over the government and serve as space for citizens to engage in public policy dialogue. Moreover, MEDIA-M’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 focuses on three programmatic and one cross-cutting 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); MEDIA-M Annual Narrative Report 2019 / Page 6 of 94 ACHIEVEMENTS All MEDIA-M Key Partners (KP) media outlets increased their online audience reach. Increases per KP ranged from 15% to 560% (additional information can be found in Annex 1 to this report); Several KPs reached business milestones with MEDIA-M support. At the end of 2018, KP Agora had its first-ever net positive cash balance (according to financial data on December 31, 2018). Another KP, Ziarul de Garda, saw its number of paying subscribers increase by 15%, reaching the highest number in its history (see Annex 1); In February 2019, about two weeks before parliamentary elections, Facebook removed 168 Facebook accounts, 28 Facebook pages, and eight Instagram accounts, all of which were determined to be spreading misinformation, as a result of the work done by the Trolless platform, financed by MEDIA-M through a Media Misinformation Campaign Grant (MMCC); The high school media literacy curriculum developed by IJC as part of MEDIA-M was approved by the National Curriculum Council from the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Research on August 20, 2019. Following the approval, IJC held a training-of-trainers event for 21 high school teachers (10 women, 1 man) on how to teach the course. In addition, 1,400 copies of the high school media literacy textbook developed in Romanian by IJC were printed for teachers who plan to use the curriculum during the 2019-2020 academic year; By the end of the reporting period, three pieces of legislation drafted by the PWG were adopted by the Parliament: The Law on Attracting Investment for Film and Other Audiovisual Works Production, the Audiovisual Media Services Code and the Information Security Concept. The adopted legislation incorporates suggestions from FH, IJC and other PWG participants; In June 2019, KP PRO TV filmed a series of reports in Otaci, a district in northern Moldova, after part of a residential apartment block collapsed. PRO TV’s coverage of the collapse was spurred by MEDIA-M’s recommendation that the outlet should increase coverage of regional news. In part thanks to PRO TV’s extended coverage, citizens mobilized to help the victims hours after the original report went on air; In March 2019, Internews launched a media literacy campaign designed particularly for under- informed rural communities. The campaign provided on-the-go media literacy information to commuters and other people in transit by placing media literacy infographic posters on minibuses throughout the country. The initiative is estimated to have reached an estimated 200,000 passengers by September of 2019. MEDIA-M Annual Narrative Report 2019 / Page 7 of 94 CHALLENGES The minibus campaign activity was slowed down because of logistical issues related to the transportation companies and difficulties with minibus owners. In the following year, Internews will more carefully target this initiative based on data and lessons learned from the first year. Two of the local authors selected in the call for proposals for publication of the Media Forward policy briefs who are well-known experts in their fields ultimately demonstrated a lower capacity than anticipated to produce policy briefs that meet quality standards. There is a need to strike a careful balance between identifying high-quality authors and empowering less experienced ones; Several MEDIA-M activities