MEANS OF JOURNALISTIC INVESTIGATION THE PHENOMENON OF MEDIA CONVERGENCE IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA: CONDITIONS OF AFFIRMATION AND FORMS OF MANIFESTATION Maria GUGULAN1 1Lecturer, State University of Moldova, Republic of Moldova Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract convergent journalism from a historical prospect, The media convergence is a phenomenon that has which is the purpose of this paper, has doubtless recently occurred in the local media. The first step toward topicality and importance, as it scientifically convergence – the development of online environment – highlights the processes that take place in this field was made in ‘2000, when the information technologies entered the circuit and the Internet extended on the media and its trends of development. market. The first forms of convergence have occurred only in 2010, when the press holdings Jurnal Trust Media and 2. EVOLUTION OF CONVERGENT General Media Grup SRL were launched. Although we may already speak about a certain level of media convergence JOURNALISM IN THE REPUBLIC OF in the local massmedia, the various collaborations between MOLDOVA press institutions aim mainly at the personal interests of their owners of financiers, who, usually, come from the political or business field and have the purpose to manipulate or to get Unlike the Western countries, where the certain benefits. From this prospect, the phenomenon of phenomenon of media convergence occurred in convergence identifies itself with another nationally and the ‘90s, in the Republic of Moldova this internationally well-known phenomenon – the concentration of media property, limiting the pluralism of opinions and weakening phenomenon happened later, in ‘2000, when the the quality of the journalistic content. information technologies entered the circuit and Keywords: mass media, digital technology, Internet, media the Internet extended on the national media convergence, convergent journalism. market. The development of this phenomenon has been divided into two main stages: 1. INTRODUCTION The implementation period of the new technologies by the Moldavian media institutions and the The technological development which occurred appearance of the first media trusts, which started in previous years entailed and allowed at the same at the end of the ‘90s and lasted until 2009, when time the revolution of all fields of activity, including the first new media partnerships appeared; the media communication one. The local mass The period of centering the different types of media media had to face essential transformations in in new press holdings, a period which started in order to survive and to generate profit. Under 2010 and exists even nowadays. these conditions, the media convergence occurred The first stage is the pre-convergence period, the and affirmed itself as a dominating current in the online journalism regards it as “an activity field, being defined as an innovative process specialized in the multimedia production of supposing a new approach of selection, production newspaper message for the Word Wide Web and broadcast of news by the use of all accessible platform (www or web) in order to receive the media types. The convergent journalism has information immediately, non-linearly and significantly influenced the traditional journalism interactively” (MARIN, 2016). “The interest for this and the functioning methods of the other elements type of journalism increased as the technological of the mass media system, generating concept premises for accessing the information e-space modifications of the processes and the modern formed and the number of Internet users multiplied” journalist products. In this respect, the study of (MARIN, 2016). 354 Volume 9 • Issue 4, October / December 2019 • THE PHENOMENON OF MEDIA CONVERGENCE IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA: CONDITIONS OF AFFIRMATION AND FORMS OF MANIFESTATION According to the National Agency for the The second stage starts with the launch on the Regulation of Electronic Communications and local media market of Journal Trust Media and Information Technologies, in 2002, the estimated General Media Group press holdings. The number of Internet users was 179 000 (ANRTI, cooperation forms between the press institutions 2003), and in 2002 it increased to 406 000 (ANRTI, belonging to the same organization are being 2004) (it was more than doubled). In 2015, the emphasized during this period, in order to number of subscribers of the access services to streamline the journalist resources and activity. broadband fixed Internet was of 534,3 thousand, The media products developed in the new and in 2017 – 584,3 thousand, with 4,8% more activity environment do not differ much, in than in 2016 (557,4 thousand) (ANRTI, 2017). In terms of form and content, from the traditional 2017, the number of broadband mobile Internet mass media. The new elements are related to the access services users (based on 3G, 4G and information production and broadcast method modems/cards/USB – dedicated access) was based, mainly, on the new digital technologies. over 2 million 430 thousand, more than double In a convergent environment, the journalists in comparison with 2013 (1 million 023 thousand). learn to quickly transmit the information, in Therefore, the connection rate to broadband different formats and on various platforms, fixed Internet, calculated per 100 inhabitants, urging them to possess advanced technical increased from 2% in 2004 and 6,6% in 2005 to knowledge. 14,3% in 2014 and 15,5 in 2017. The surfing rate of broadband mobile Internet increased from 3. THE AFFIRMATION AND 28,7% in 2013 to 53,3% in 2016 and 68,4% in 2017 IMPLEMENTATION CONDITION OF (ANRTI, 2017). Including in rural environment, THE MEDIA CONVERGENCE IN THE where the progresses registered in the REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA digitalization process are very low, the rate of accessing the internet services continues to increase (for example, it increased from 2% in As throughout the world, the occurrence of 2005 to 7% in 2010) (GOTIŞAN et al., 2012). convergence phenomenon in the Republic of During this period, the majority of traditional Moldova is due to various political, economic, media institutions adopted the new technologies social, cultural factors. The implementation of and created online versions. A series of news the digital technology presented the biggest portals appeared, portals which do not have influence, which led to significant transformations traditional media equivalent, online platforms in the structure of news writing and the methods specialized in live broadcasts from public events by which the journalists collect, process and or sites dedicated to certain categories of population broadcast the information. The first changes in (for example, sites for women, sites with this sense appeared at the end of ‘90s, once the information related to the medial field, sites related media institutions implemented the new to agriculture etc.), and thanks to the competition technologies. increasing over the years, the quality of provided Initially, the traditional publications created products improves significantly. The first media electronic pages where they published the trusts appeared during this period and, implicitly, content of the printed version, without the first forms of cooperation between the press emphasizing the interactivity or the diversification institutions. But, the preoccupations of the owner- of the journalist content. With little exceptions, politicians of that period was not the development as the weekly investigation newspaper Ziarul de of convergent partnerships or different models for Garda and several other publications, the written a better functioning of the mass media, rather the press continued to focus, mainly, on the printed realization of political benefits resulting from the version. massive implication in the editorial policies of Gradually, things changed and online journalism press institutions. Consequently, a great majority has extended more and more. The web pages of of the mass media broadcasted biased, incomplete the publications, radio frequencies and local and manipulating information. televisions were completed by a series of International Journal of Communication Research 355 Maria GUGULAN multimedia elements, links to archive materials, AGORA is also a generalist news portal, interactive tools as comments and readers’ founded in February 2014. It offers daily suggestions, who, often, help journalists to information to the public about the current subsequently develop the analysed subjects. Hence, events and subjects from the country and from the journalist materials read by the public in the abroad. It’s a multimedia site providing news in printed versions of the newspapers are completed text, video, audio, photo and infographic format. by videos or audios on their electronic page, and Daily, 30-35 new materials are being published, the TV or radio materials are decrypted in text especially news, which are structured into ten format on the site. Concurrently, the field of categories: Actuality, Political, Social, Economic, telecommunications has developed vertiginously. Health, Banks and Insurances, External, Technologies, Electronic devices for storage, broadcast and Media and Lifestyle. Additionally, Agora published receipt of information such as the smartphones or analyses, interviews and currency exchange. tablets appeared, being accessible to everyone. “The portal initiates and implements other own Namely under these conditions, the first forms