IWPR has funded a journalist’s crisis cell in Moldova in response to concerns that the government was restricting access to information amid the coronavirus pandemic.
After the state of emergency began in Moldova on March 16, the government stopped holding open press conferences, only granting access to a select number of TV stations.
Civil society organisations petitioned the government to change this policy, and on April 10 the Independent Journalism Center of Moldova (IJC), founded the
The cell began its work by submitting a joint request with 25 other media organisations asking that the ministry of health, labour and social protection’s press conferences be held weekly. They also demanded that journalists be allowed to ask questions directly, rather than being handpicked by the government beforehand.