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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: UKR 1YR: MOLDOVA RUSSIA PROPAGANDA
HEADLINE: Moldova Fights Russian Propaganda
TEASER: Crackdown on Russian-language media also raises debate on freedom of expression
PUBLISHED AT: 3/13/23, 12:56p
BYLINE: Ricardo Marquina
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: CHISINAU, MOLDOVA
VIDEOGRAPHER: Ricardo Marquina
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, Steve Hirsch
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:38
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:
((INTRO)) [[Moldova is firing back at what its officials believe are Russian attempts to destabilize the tiny former Soviet republic, which borders Ukraine and has long had leanings toward the West. Moldovan leaders have unleashed a campaign against Russian propaganda that has reopened the debate on the use of the Russian language and on freedom of expression. Jonathan Spier narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau.]]
((NARRATOR))
Moldovan President Maia Sandu takes on a serious tone as she addresses her nation. The government of this small country believes that Russia, a year after starting an expansionist war in Ukraine, has a plan to force a violent change in power here.
((Maia Sandu, President of Moldova - WOMAN IN ROMANIAN, REUTERS))
“The purpose of [Russia’s] actions are to overthrow the constitutional order, change the legitimate government in Chisinau to an illegal one, which would put our country at the service of Russia.”
((NARRATOR))
Moldovan society is deeply divided between Romanian speakers, historically linked to Romania and Europe, and Russian speakers who maintain strong ties to Moscow.
This de facto 50-50 division is the perfect ground for Russian propaganda to promote the Kremlin's agenda here, much as it happened in Ukraine.
((NARRATOR))
The cameras are off at RTR Moldova, a channel based in Chisinau. The Moldovan government has withdrawn its broadcast license, along with five other Russian-language channels.
The official justification is that these channels illegally broadcast programming produced in Russia, but the unspoken reason is different: they are accused of being the hand of the Kremlin in Moldova.
Employees at the channel criticize that decision and say it leaves a large part of the population without content that is impossible to create in Moldova because of a lack of advertising revenue.
[[RADIO VERSION: Vasily Moyseenko is a journalist at the Russian-language TV channel RTR in Chisinau]]
((Vasily Moyseenko, RTR Moldova Journalist - MAN, IN RUSSIAN, ORIGINAL VOA))
“The content from Russia that we broadcast is traditional for many Moldovan viewers. There are many people here who are Russian-speaking, and they really like these programs that are impossible to produce here.”
((NARRATOR))
The closure of these channels has reopened the debate over freedom of expression during wartime. The authorities responsible for this blackout have been blunt in stating their reasons.
[[RADIO VERSION: Liliana Vitu, is president of Audiovisual Council, the body that suspended the license to these channels.]]
((Liliana Vitu, Moldovan Audiovisual Council - WOMAN, IN ENGLISH, ORIGINAL VOA))
“Freedom of speech does not mean the freedom to disinform. (CUT)
We looked at how certain TV stations reported before the war. Prior to the war we noticed that a group of media stations prepared this attack on Ukraine. It was an informational preparation and justification for the aggression that was to come.”
((NARRATOR))
Mikhail Sirkeli is one of the best-known political news YouTubers in the country. In his opinion, the now suspended TV channels are Putin's loudspeakers in Moldova.
((Mikhail Sirkeli, YouTuber, MAN, IN ENGLISH, ORIGINAL VOA))
“You have to choose. There is a freedom of speech from one side and from another side – the security of the country, security of the nation. They are promoting the hatred against Ukraine. They are promoting Russian general line of politics.”
((NARRATOR))
Others believe that the suspension of these Russian-speaking channels is an attack against press freedom. That is the view of GRT TV, a channel in the southern region of Gagauzia that broadcasts in Russian, Romanian and Gagauz, the local language and that has not been closed.
[[RADIO VERSION: Vadim Anastasov is its director.]]
((Vadim Anastasov, GRT TV Director, MAN, IN RUSSIAN, ORIGINAL VOA))
“It is difficult to state that this is freedom of speech when certain people in power try through their influence to press or somehow or dictate something. That is why I think that there is no freedom of speech.”
((NARRATOR))
Moldova has joined countries in Europe in banning Russian propaganda channels, but having such a large Russian-speaking population, the debate in this country goes much deeper.
((FOR RICARDO MARQUINA IN CHISINAU, MOLDOVA, JONATHAN SPIER, VOA NEWS.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateMarch 13, 2023 13:06 EDT
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
