Moldova’s Media Navigates Between Russian Influence and European Aspirations

“We are already in a war. A war of information,” says Mihail Sirkeli, director of Nokta.md, a media platform in southern Moldova. His assessment reflects the challenging landscape for independent media in a country caught between Russian influence and pro-European aspirations.

While Sirkeli’s outlook emphasizes ongoing information warfare, his counterpart Renata Lupăcescu, editor-in-chief at Studio L in Moldova’s southeast, offers a more optimistic perspective: “Right now, under a pro-European government, we are moving in a good direction. We are staying positive.”

Moldova, which shares a significant border with Ukraine, has been directly and indirectly affected by Russia’s war of aggression for over three years. Media organizations across the country face disinformation campaigns, financial instability, and threats against journalists. Despite these challenges, press freedom has improved in recent years, benefiting even smaller media outlets focused on local coverage and community engagement.

To strengthen independent media, Deutsche Welle Akademie and its local partner, the Association for Independent Press (API), launched the TRIMEDIA project. This initiative provides grants to five selected media houses, allocating €30,000 each to produce quality content on underreported topics of public interest, including social cohesion, human and minority rights, and anti-corruption efforts.

“The media we selected for this program are all very different. Some are the only media in their region, some face strong local competition. Others deal with language diversity or regularly combat disinformation campaigns. But they all aim to build democracy and strengthen social cohesion,” explains Cristina Bobîrcă, head of training and organizational development at API.

Regional Media Confronting Challenges

Studio L, operating since 1993 in Moldova’s southeast, targets adults aged 30-50, primarily in rural areas. Its proximity to both Transnistria—a breakaway Russian-speaking region—and Ukraine (just 60 kilometers away) places it at a critical junction of conflicting influences.

“There are several villages so close they easily receive Russian channels from Transnistria. People are exposed to a lot of their content,” Lupăcescu explains. In response, Studio L launched an anti-disinformation campaign in 2022, organizing monthly expert discussions on resilience strategies and using social media to teach audiences how to identify misinformation.

Beyond propaganda concerns, financing remains a critical challenge. “Our greatest challenge is getting more people into our newsroom, developing ourselves, and growing,” says Lupăcescu. Studio L relies heavily on European project funding and grants, as “we cannot survive through advertisement alone; the market for this is very small in Moldova.”

Despite these obstacles, community trust sustains their work. “People trust us and know we’re on their side. Our audience especially appreciates smaller, human-focused stories from the region—a local farmer who lost his vineyard due to heavy rain, or a local artist making crafts with native flowers.”

Battling Information Warfare

Nokta.md, an independent media platform in the Gagausia region of southern Moldova, produces Russian-language content reaching an audience of 1.2 million through its website. According to director Mihail Sirkeli, 90 percent of their funding comes through grants and international projects from the US and Europe.

“I think what we see is a type of hybrid warfare,” Sirkeli says regarding Russian disinformation. “Our way to react is to portray things as they are, to tell the truth. We believe in positive change through storytelling.”

The war in Ukraine has transformed Moldova’s media landscape. “Russia is trying to further divide our society by spreading anxiety, fear, and hate. Through reliable coverage, our aim is to preserve peace and strengthen our role in Europe,” Sirkeli explains.

Regional Reporting Under Pressure

Nordinfo, covering eleven regions in northern Moldova, produces 80 percent of its content in Romanian while expanding its Russian-language offerings for neighboring communities.

Journalist Natalia Burduja highlights the challenges of accessing government sources: “It can be difficult on both local and national levels to get reliable information from authorities. Sometimes responses take very long, or we even face direct threats or attacks. We’ve been called ‘pocket press’ and one journalist was even kicked out of a mayor’s office when asking investigative questions.”

Like other independent media, Nordinfo financially depends on project-based funding with fixed timeframes. “Sometimes a project ends just when audiences get used to a certain format or show. This makes it difficult to provide coherence,” explains director Gheorghe Dolință.

To combat disinformation, Nordinfo created specialized sections called “Narrative Fights” and “Lie Detector,” inviting experts to analyze fake news. They’ve conducted field reporting to debunk rumors, such as investigating claims about an airport supposedly being secretly converted to a military port.

Despite the challenges, Moldova’s independent media continue their crucial work. As Lupăcescu of Studio L concludes, “I think we are very important for the media landscape in Moldova. There aren’t many regional TV stations, and we fight to survive, develop, and keep our citizens informed.”