Media in Transnistria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 Press
2 Television
3 Radio
4 Internet media
5 See also
6 External links
7 References

[edit] Press

Transnistria has 14 main newspapers. A seminar organized by the British Embassy in September 2006 concluded that a relatively free press exists which is independent from authority.[1]

This conflicts with an earlier report by OSCE which claims that the media climate in both Moldova and Transnistria is restrictive and that authorities of both banks of Dniester engage in efforts to silence their respective opposition.^[1]

Several opposition newspapers exist in Transnistria. They include “Novoe Vremya” (The New Time), Rybnitsa-based “Dobryi Deni”, “Celovek i ego prava” (Man and His Rights), “Novaya Gazeta” from Bender, “Profsoiuznyie Vesti” and “Glas Naroda.”

The newspaper “Dnestrovskaya Pravda”, while not an opposition newspaper, also publishes editorials highly critical of the government. Its editor, Nadesha Bondarenko, is an opposition candidate in Transnistria's December 10, 2006, presidential election. The region's only English-language news service, “Tiraspol Times”[2], has also published articles critical of the government but is not openly affiliated with an opposition political party.

Newspapers published by the government or in favor of the government include “Trudovoi Tiraspol”, “Pridnestrovye”, “Novyy Dnestrovskiy Kuryer”, “Gomin” (in Ukrainian, "Adevarul Nistrean” (in Moldovan).

In addition to the local press, Moldovan newspapers are available in Transnistria although the opposite is not the case in Moldova.^[2]

[edit] Television

There are four TV channels in Transnistria. Two of them are local (to Tirasol and Tighina/Bender), while two of them cover all of Transnistria.

Television in Transnistria was for a long time dominated by the public service company “TV-PMR” (Television of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica). In 1998, Transnistria's first commercial channel, “TVS” (Television of Free Choice) was started. Foreign channels are also available. TV from Moldova and Ukraine can be seen via an aerial and other foreign channels (such as BBC TV and many Russian channels) are available through cable network operator “MultiTV”. MultiTV carries 35 television channels.^[3]

[edit] Radio

A stateowned radio station, “Radio PMR”, broadcasts both via FM and on frequency 5910 khz shortwave, 49 meter band. Four privately owned commercial radio stations broadcast on FM from Transnistria. They are: “Inter FM”, “Dynamite FM”, “EnergyRadio.FM”, “Frequence3”. The owners of opposition newspaper “Novaia Gazeta” plan to establish an independent radio station.^[4]

[edit] Internet media

Internet media is both stateowned and privately operated. In English, the websites include Pridnestrovie.net (political and general information), VisitPMR.com (travel information) and Transdniestria.com (news aggregator). Charges of propaganda and disinformation have been levied against some of these websites.^[5]^[6] In Russian, the websites include Lenta PMR (news agency], Olvia Press (official state news agency), Tiraspol Info (news aggregator), Pridnestrovie.info. Many political organizations and government departments also have their own news services and online news pages, not listed here.^[7]