Platform of discussions with managers, editors-in-chief of periodical publications held at Moldovan government's headquarters

Chisinau, 13 December /MOLDPRES/ - The government will fully compensate the adjusting of the tariff for newspapers’ distribution in 2024 through a transparent mechanism and the state enterprise, Moldova’s Post, if needed, will impose a payment vacation of three month to the periodical publications for the payment of the distribution. These immediate measures, as well as other subjects of interest were analyzed at the communication platform organized by the cabinet with the managers and editors-in-chief of the periodical publications, the government’s communication department has reported.      

Prime Minister Dorin Recean said that, when identifying solutions, decision-makers had taken into account three vulnerabilities, among which the impact on the readers and editorial offices, which record operational and logistics-related constraints dictated by the costs for paper, services for printing and human resources. In the context, according to the PM, it is important to support the work of the editorial offices, with the maintaining of accessible prices for citizens.     

„We work in the conditions when the spread of propaganda and misinformation continues; therefore, it is crucial for us to put emphasis on transparency, as the editorial offices are the important actors in the delivery of truthful information to citizens in Moldova’s villages and cities. I inform you about the allocation of resources necessary, in order to compensate the increase in the distribution tariff. I instructed that the Finance Ministry identifies a sum of 11 million lei by the end of December,’’ Prime Minister Dorin Recean said.      

The participants in the platform announces that the procedure of distribution of the state support would be made based on criteria of ethics and deontology worked out by the Independent Press Association (API), in cooperation with other civil society’s organizations and the observance of the concerned criteria will be periodically monitored by media experts, without the cabinet’s participation.  

The managers and editors-in-chief of the periodical publications signaled also other immediate problems, such as the need of the extension of the active campaign of subscription for next January, the inclusion of the written press in the list of the eligibility criteria to the draft law on subsidization in the mass media sector, as well as the systematic carrying out of consultations of the editorial offices with government decision-makers.