On Tuesday, October 3rd, APEL experts had a meeting with the representatives of the information and institutional support mission regarding ownership transparency and mass media concentration, which was in Chisinau at the invitation of the Audiovisual Council (AC).
During the meeting, which took place at the AC headquarters, it was discussed about the existing mechanisms and some new ones that could be established with reference to the transparency of media ownership, the identification of the final beneficial owner, the dominant position in the formation of public opinion and media concentration.
The mission was formed by Olaf Steendaft, director of the Global Media Registry (GMR) – organization that develops the Media Property Monitor (MOM) https://www.mom-gmr.org/; Jadranka Vojvodic, deputy director of the Agency for Electronic Media – the regulatory authority in Montenegro; and Konrad Bleyer-Simon, associate researcher at the Center for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom of the European University Institute, which compiles the Media Pluralism Monitor https://cmpf.eui.eu/media-pluralism-monitor/.
The experts’ visit was supported by the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau, through the Support for Media Pluralism and Freedom of Expression project and the Audiovisual Council.
Increasing media transparency and eliminating media concentration is part of the 9 measures of the European Commission for the start of accession negotiations, as well as of the Plan of measures to limit the excessive influence of private interests on economic, political and public life, approved in May 2023 by the Commission National for European Integration.
Source: AC
