Public-Private Working Group for Strengthening Media Requests Reduction in Rent for Mass Media

After examining proposals for reforming print media that is financed by public money, the Public-Private Working Group (PPWG) for Strengthening Media in Moldova requested the reduction of the market coefficient used in calculating office rent costs for mass media.  The group is supported through a program funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation and managed by the U.S.  Agency for International Development. At the January 23 meeting, PPWG analyzed      proposed modifications to Annexe no 12 to the State Budget Law "Appointing the minimum quantum for renting goods in public propriety." The Public-Private Working Group disagreed with the existing branch coefficient, which equates newsrooms with enterprises selling food products or with eating halls, without taking into account the specifics and importance of mass media.  PPWG will request from the Government and the Ministry of Finance to reduce the market coefficient from 1 to 0.5, which is applied when calculating rent costs in the public buildings.   Also examined was the draft law regarding privatization of print media, developed by the Association of Independent Press.  The draft law sets up the legal framework to privatize print media.  The privatization of the print media, financed from the public budget, allows three methods of reform: reorganization of newspapers into official monitors of the rayon, municipality, or autonomous territorial unit; privatization; or abolition.  The members of PPWG presented their recommendations for improving the draft law, which will be taken in consideration.   For further information, please contact Petru Macovei of the Association of Independent Press at (22) 22 09 96 or pmacovei@api.md. ### The Public-Private Working Group (PPWG) for Strengthening Media in Moldova was created within the framework of the project “Improving the Media Sector’s Legal Framework and Economic Status”, implemented by the Association of Independent Press (API).  This project is part of the Strengthening Civil Society Monitoring Capacity in Moldova (SCSMCM) program, implemented by the Academy for Educational Development (AED) with technical assistance from the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX).  The program is funded by the Millennium Challenges Corporation (MCC) and managed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) within the framework of the Threshold Country Program (TCP) for Moldova. PPWG gathers together 21 representatives of media institutions and public officials, and aims at the elaboration of some concrete recommendations for improving the mass-media development framework from R.  Moldova in accordance with the Threshold Country Program.  The general objective of PPWG is to build and develop a transparent dialogue between public and private structures in the view of enhancing mass-media capacity to monitor public policies, and namely as regards corruption and access to information. With funding from the United States Government, USAID provides economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries to provide a better future for all.