{"id":13589,"date":"2026-04-30T12:44:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T09:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/jeanne-cavelier-de-la-rsf-dupa-lansarea-indicelui-libertatii-presei-progresul-republicii-moldova-este-real-dar-reversibil\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T16:42:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T13:42:02","slug":"jeanne-cavelier-de-la-rsf-dupa-lansarea-indicelui-libertatii-presei-progresul-republicii-moldova-este-real-dar-reversibil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/jeanne-cavelier-de-la-rsf-dupa-lansarea-indicelui-libertatii-presei-progresul-republicii-moldova-este-real-dar-reversibil\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeanne Cavelier of RSF after the launch of the Press Freedom Index: \u201cMoldova\u2019s progress is real, but reversible\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Republic of Moldova\u2019s rise in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index<\/a>, launched by Reporters Without Borders on 30 April, \u201cis real, but should be interpreted with nuance\u201d, says Jeanne Cavelier, the organisation\u2019s Head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk. According to her, strengthening the financial sustainability of the media, ensuring genuine access to information for newsrooms and protecting journalists against pressure and attacks will be \u201cdecisive factors in determining whether Moldova consolidates its gains or loses ground in an increasingly hostile regional environment\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the RSF representative, one of the factors that helped Moldova reach 31st place is a solid legal framework for the media. \u201cPress freedom and access to information are enshrined in law, and recent legislative reforms have moved closer to European standards. This has translated into greater institutional autonomy for public broadcasters and a certain reduction in the level of political interference,\u201d Jeanne Cavelier<\/strong> explained to Media Azi.<\/p>\n

Another factor, in her view, is the \u201cremarkable\u201d resilience of independent journalism. In this context, the RSF representative refers to media products and journalistic investigations that played a decisive role, particularly in the run-up to elections, by exposing pro-Kremlin propaganda networks and information manipulation campaigns. \u201cSeveral media outlets and organisations have stepped up their efforts to promote media literacy among different segments of the population, helping to strengthen resilience against disinformation,\u201d the expert said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, Moldova\u2019s improved ranking also reflects a regional contrast effect. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, press freedom indicators \u2014 particularly the legal framework \u2014 have declined sharply. Moldova stands out as the only country in the region still classified as being in a fairly good situation, highlighting both its progress and the broader regional regression.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Jeanne Cavelier warns of several challenges that need to be addressed urgently: \u201cThe most pressing issue is the economic vulnerability of independent media. In fact, of the Index\u2019s five indicators, this is the weakest, with a score of only 60 out of 100. Many media outlets rely heavily on international funding, and recent cuts have affected their sustainability. This creates fertile ground for self-censorship and deepens inequalities vis-\u00e0-vis better-funded media, often politically aligned.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also refers to media polarisation, persistent oligarchic influence, even though the phenomenon has diminished recently, as well as problems regarding access to information, which remains \u201cuneven, while abusive defamation lawsuits continue to be used as a means of pressure. Journalists also face intimidation, online harassment and coordinated smear campaigns, which affect their ability to carry out their work freely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we cannot ignore the situation in regions such as Transnistria and Gagauzia, where information is either tightly controlled or heavily influenced, creating grey zones in the country\u2019s information ecosystem,\u201d Jeanne Cavelier concludes, also pointing to the numerous external risks that significantly affect independent journalism and the media market in the Republic of Moldova.<\/p>\n

The Republic of Moldova has risen to 31st place<\/a>, up from 35th in 2025, in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index. The country remains the only one in Eastern Europe where the state of media freedom is classified as \u201csatisfactory\u201d. Moldova ranks ahead of countries such as Romania, in 49th place, Ukraine, in 55th, the United States, in 64th, and far above Russia, in 172nd place, one of the most restrictive countries for journalists. As in previous years, the ranking is led by Norway, followed by the Netherlands and Estonia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Republic of Moldova\u2019s rise in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, launched by Reporters Without Borders on 30 April, \u201cis real, but should be interpreted with nuance\u201d, says Jeanne Cavelier, the organisation\u2019s Head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk. According to her, strengthening the financial sustainability of the media, ensuring genuine access to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/media-azi.md\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PORTRAITS-35-800x533-1.jpg",800,533,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/media-azi.md\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PORTRAITS-35-800x533-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/media-azi.md\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PORTRAITS-35-800x533-1-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/media-azi.md\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PORTRAITS-35-800x533-1-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/media-azi.md\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PORTRAITS-35-800x533-1.jpg",800,533,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/media-azi.md\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PORTRAITS-35-800x533-1.jpg",800,533,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/media-azi.md\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PORTRAITS-35-800x533-1.jpg",800,533,false],"jannah-image-small":["https:\/\/media-azi.md\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PORTRAITS-35-800x533-1-220x150.jpg",220,150,true],"jannah-image-large":["https:\/\/media-azi.md\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PORTRAITS-35-800x533-1-390x220.jpg",390,220,true],"jannah-image-post":["https:\/\/media-azi.md\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PORTRAITS-35-800x533-1-780x470.jpg",780,470,true],"awsm_team":["https:\/\/media-azi.md\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PORTRAITS-35-800x533-1-500x500.jpg",500,500,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Victoria Dodon","author_link":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/author\/vdodon\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Republic of Moldova\u2019s rise in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, launched by Reporters Without Borders on 30 April, \u201cis real, but should be interpreted with nuance\u201d, says Jeanne Cavelier, the organisation\u2019s Head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk. According to her, strengthening the financial sustainability of the media, ensuring genuine access to…","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13589"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13594,"href":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13589\/revisions\/13594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media-azi.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}