A single objective in the media field in the future government’s program. Candidate for Minister of Culture: “The media will be a focus of my mandate.”

The government’s program of activity, which Alexandru Munteanu, the nominee for prime minister, will take to Parliament to seek a vote of confidence from MPs, contains a single objective regarding the press: the development and implementation of a media development strategy.

On October 28, Alexandru Munteanu announced the team of ministers-designate and the future government’s program – “EU, Peace, Development” – with 16 sectoral priorities. The provision on the development and implementation of the Media Development Strategy is included in the Culture chapter, and the relevant ministry, which also oversees the media, is to be headed by Cristian Jardan, a journalist and media manager, former member of the Supervisory and Development Council of Teleradio-Moldova. In 2023, he was appointed political advisor to Prime Minister Dorin Recean.

When asked what exactly the future strategy would entail, Jardan hinted that he wanted “a document that truly serves the interests of the media,” but that he would hold further discussions and consultations to develop a “clear and concrete” vision. He also believes that 2026 would be a realistic deadline for its approval. In his opinion, the small market and lack of money are two major problems in the field that need to be addressed as a priority.

“Unfortunately, we do not have a competitive market. Budgets are decreasing every year, including advertising budgets, and we need to bring as much money as possible into the media. We need to create very good, fair conditions for media activity in the Republic of Moldova, so that, finally, media institutions become sustainable. Of course, the context is complicated. I am not talking about the war in Ukraine, but about new technologies and the way information spreads. It is clear that there are many challenges, but if we manage to contribute to a fairer media market that allows advertising to grow and develop, it would be a very good thing. And the attack on traditional media from new information channels such as Telegram, TikTok, and so on, which undermine the credibility of traditional media—and there is a lot of work to be done here. But I care deeply about the independence of the media, and I want all interventions by the Ministry of Culture in this area to be not an intervention in the independence and freedom of the press, but rather a support for the consolidation of these basic principles of media activity,” commented Cristian Jardan for Media Azi.

Referring to the fact that the program contains only one objective in the media field, he points out that the strategy is only the starting point.

“The program was created to highlight seven basic priorities for each field. First of all, the strategy will be a document that must address all the problems in the media and come up with not just nice words, but solutions. Of course, in order to be as good and effective as possible, they need to be consulted and, why not, even taken from the discussions I plan to have. In addition, the Ministry of Culture has many areas of competence: arts, museums, theaters, libraries, tourism, and others. I have tried to cover them all with these seven priorities in the program, and the fact that I insisted that one of these points be about the media seems to me to be primarily a symbolic issue—to show that the media will be a concern of my future mandate,” Jardan concluded.