Romania

[RO] Recommendations to Ensure Plurality of Opinion

IRIS 2002-9:1/19

Mariana Stoican

Journalist, Bucharest

At its meeting on 12 September 2002, the supervisory body for electronic media in Romania, the Consiliul National al Audiovizualului (National Audiovisual Council - CNA) adopted three recommendations applicable to both public service and private broadcasters designed to help them comply with the legal obligation to guarantee plurality of opinion.

According to these recommendations:

- in news bulletins, two-thirds of transmission time should be set aside for representatives of the government and parliamentary majority, and one-third for the opposition;

- in all matters of public interest or connected with public funding, the views of the opposition should be represented as well as the official government standpoint;

- more transmission time should be devoted to discussion-based programmes in order to provide greater plurality of opinion in relation to all matters of public interest.

In the CNA's view, meeting these recommendations would ensure compliance with the provisions of the new Audiovisual Act relating to plurality of opinion in Romania (Article 3 of Audiovisual Act no. 504 of 11 July 2002, see IRIS 2002-7: 14).