MONITORING REPORT NO. 1 ON THE ONLINE MEDIA DURING THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

On October 6, 2020, the Independent Press Association (API) presented the first monitoring report on the online media during the 2020 presidential campaign. The monitoring, carried out as part of the work of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, focused on the editorial content of 12 news portals published and broadcast from 15 through 30 of September 2020.

The monitoring methodology involves the measurement and analysis of quantitative and qualitative indicators and the identification of the context in which journalistic materials present candidates. Every news report or opinion undergoes an evaluation of content and context to determine whether they are advantaging or disadvantaging any election candidate. “For the monitoring, we picked several national and one regional portal publishing in Romanian and Russian whom various groups of readers indicated as sources of information. Some portals rank among top most visited according to online audience surveys,” API’s CEO Petru Macovei said.

Following the monitoring of the editorial policy of the 12 portals from 15 through 30 of September 2020, the report authors identified the following trends:

• The portals Actualitati.md, Aif.md, and Kp.md had similar editorial policies and focused approaches and interpreted the actions, statements, and remarks of same political actors in a biased way and almost identically. The portals openly favored and promoted intensively independent candidate Igor Dodon supported by PSRM. Almost all materials that presented Dodon’s political opponents, mainly PAS candidate Maia Sandu, disadvantaged and discredited them, frequently using labels and attacks on person, and never offering them an opportunity to reply.
• The portals Noi.md, Sputnik.md, and Vedomosti.md also favored Igor Dodon through the tone of reports and the frequency of apparitions in positive contexts. PAS candidate Maia Sandu was clearly disadvantaged, and the accusations made by some registered and potential candidates were not accompanied with the opinion/position of the targeted person.
• The few news reports published by the regional portal Gagauzinfo.md openly favored Igor Dodon.
• The portal Unimedia.info favored Igor Dodon through the tone and frequency of presentations in positive contexts. PPDA candidate Andrei Năstase also appeared frequently in positive contexts, and candidate Violeta Ivanov of the Șor Party was promoted through clearly advertising materials that were not labeled accordingly.
• The portals Agora.mdand Newsmaker.md had a relatively balanced editorial policy, the authors of materials keeping a generally impartial toward the protagonists of their materials. These media outlets presented registered or potential presidential candidates mostly in different contexts and without biases in favor or against them.
• The portal Realitatea.md presented registered and potential presidential candidates equally in neutral, positive, and negative tones. Most materials about Maia Sandu presented her in a favorable light, and articles about candidate Violeta Ivanov promoted her through clearly advertising content that was not labeled accordingly.

The report was produced by the Independent Press Association (API) as part of a media monitoring project implemented with the financial support of the National Endowment for Democracy (USA). The views expressed in it are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the funders.