Media monitoring in the framework of the project New Perspectives for Women January 2005 – February 2006

GOAL: The research is an integral part of the NPW awareness-enhancement component.

DURATION: Fourteen monitoring periods covering the entire NPW project (42 months) have been identified. Results are summarized in quarterly monitoring bulletins produced in English, Romanian and Russian.

Objectives: to provide a systematic review of available reporting patterns on the issue; to establish whether current reporting reflects all aspects of the phenomenon in a comprehensive and in-depth manner; to formulate recommendations on “journalistic best practices” that would help raise public awareness about human trafficking and its prevention.

Monitored newspapers: Săptămâna Novoie vremia Jurnal de Chişinău Moldavskie vedomosti Timpul Moldova suverană Nezavisimaia Moldova

Methodology: Analyzed articles include stories featuring aspects of internal and external human trafficking for the purpose of : prostitution, forced labor, begging and petty crime, organ harvesting. In addition, articles covering the following issues are studied: activities/projects aimed to combat this phenomenon, steps aimed at providing new opportunities to vulnerable population segments. Both the content features of articles and types of journalistic article processing are studied.

Number of relevant articles published in January 2005 – February 2006:

General tendencies observed in January February 2006: Relevant issues were not given high prominence (there were few front-page articles); Very short and short articles predominated; Most articles did not contain graphics; Straightforward news made up the largest group; Single-source stories predominated; The coverage was overwhelmingly limited to “breaking news” (very few stories followed up on issues featured earlier); Most of the relevant articles highlighted prevention activities of the Moldovan law-enforcement bodies, parliament or government; Articles predominantly focused on instances of trans-national trafficking.

Article genres:

News sources:

Story topics:

Victims specified in % of relevant stories:

Relevant graphics:

Typical illustrations:

Conclusions: Trafficking prevention and new perspectives for vulnerable population segments are not among the priority issues for monitored newspapers; Diversity of sources is insufficient, and such journalistic genres as interviews, analyses, opinion pieces and features remain largely under-represented; Journalists seldom follow up on issues raised in breaking news; Few attempts are made to put the examined problems in a general context; Most of the articles do not suggest solutions to trafficking victims; Taking into account the seriousness of the problem, a claim can be made that public awareness about relevant issues is not adequately raised.

Recommendations: Maintain permanent contacts with the news media. Be “pro-active” – offer journalists statistics, case studies, relevant illustrations. When organizing special media campaigns insist on the publication of articles of various genres and on the use of diverse news sources. Discuss the relevance of all graphics used as illustrations. Stress the importance for relevant stories to analyze problems in a general context and to provide concrete solutions.

Publication of monitoring results: Monitoring bulletins in English, Romanian and Russian are available on the IJC Web site at :

Monitoring team: Methodology, data processing and analysis - Natalia Angheli-Zaicenco, PhD, Independent Journalism Center, Coders - Maria Praporşcic, Carolina Budesco. External consultant - Snjezana Milivojevic, PhD, University of Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro.