Eastern Journal of European Studies (Jun 2017)
Within the media earshot: national ideas in the Republic of Moldova prior to the 2016 election
Abstract
A decade-old war of words is raging in the Moldovan media, amid renewed calls for the country to denounce the association agreement with the EU. Igor Dodon’s win in the runoff of the presidential election on 13 November 2016 fuelled the dispute about whether the country should remain on its European course or not. As always, propaganda wars and the ethnic background of those involved in the debate never fail to capture the imagination of foreign media. However, local audiences make choices that fall outside the modes of expression perceived as being popular with the major players in the information market of the RM: the Russian Federation, Romania, the Chisinau elites and the EU. The media-related communication of the Moldovans shows that their beliefs about nationalism are not necessarily shaped by the reception of Romanian or Russian-language media. Instead, their responses to media exposure point to poor national mobilisation.
