Moldova: Public Radio and Television

DW Akademie is actively supporting this plan. There's a spirit of change in the editorial rooms at Tele-Radio-Moldova (TRM), the Republic of Moldova's public broadcaster. Since the electoral defeat of the long-reigning Communist Party in the summer of 2009 and the transfer of power to the liberal, pro-European coalition, changes have come to TRM. In February 2010, professor Constantin Marin became the new director-general of the radio and television broadcaster and its 900 employees.

The former dean of Chisinau University's journalism faculty sees his main task as transforming the TRM into a genuine public broadcaster based on the European model. Professor Marin and his new team will be supported by DW Akademie and other European partners.

On paper, Tele-Radio-Moldova has been a public broadcaster since 2003. In reality, however, TRM was the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, faithfully broadcasting government propaganda.

#geosmall#This has already changed. Today, TRM reports in a much more balanced fashion than it did a year ago. But much still needs to be done. Basic and advanced staff training was neglected for years. Many employees have built their careers reproducing Soviet-style official bulletins and journalistic formats. On the technical side, the broadcaster is as antiquated as some editors' interpretation of their profession.

But TRM is now receiving help from friends abroad. The Soros Foundation has agreed to provide funds for acquiring digital technology. And the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has also pledged technical support.

DW Akademie's immediate focus is on supporting professor Marin and his executive team with the upcoming reform and restructuring processes. Training courses and consultation sessions for journalists and technicians, as well as for the broadcaster's executives, will begin in April. DW Akademie can draw on years of experience in many parts of the world - including in Moldova's neighbor, Romania. DW Akademie has been helping restructuring efforts at the public broadcaster "Radio Romania" for several years.

At the same time, TRM itself needs to acquire the expertise to provide its own staff with much-needed basic and advanced training. It also needs to establish a TRM training center for this purpose. DW Akademie can help with its extensive know-how in this field. And the German Center for International Migration and Development (CIM) - the human resources placement agency for German development cooperation - is also planning to send a consultant to Chisinau in 2011 to help with the establishment of a training center.