According to the authors of the report, during the months of October and November 2023, the content presented by 13 national and regional media institutions was monitored. This included five television stations (Moldova 1, Jurnal TV, GRT TV/Comrat, Elita TV/Rezina, and Studio-L, Căușeni), five news portals (Protv.md, Publika.md, TV8.md, Nokta.md/Comrat, Esp.md/Bălți), a radio station (Radio Moldova), and two regional newspapers (Unghiul/Ungheni and Observatorul de Nord/Soroca).

In the last monitoring period, a total of 1078 pieces of content about the phenomenon of corruption were published or broadcast, of which 77 (7.14%) addressed the four monitored thematic areas: social assistance, health, the agri-food sector, and education.

Corruption in health and the education system was reflected in more than 75% of the subjects, while the fewest media topics were about corruption in the agri-food sector.

TV8.md and Publika.md/Publika.media produced the most topics on the subject - 17 and 14, respectively, followed at a distance by Protv.md, with 9 topics. Three media institutions - GRT, Elita TV, and Unghiul - broadcast/published a single topic each in two months, and two others - Studio L and Observatorul de Nord - covered 2 topics each.

Only three newsrooms - TV8.md, Publika.md/Publika.media, and Moldova 1 - had at least one topic in each of the four thematic areas. The most newsrooms, 10 out of 13, produced media content about corruption in health, and the fewest, 4, covered corruption in the agri-food sector.

Of the 77 monitored media contents, 20 concerned cases of high corruption, while the rest covered cases of low corruption. Publika.md and TV8.md addressed cases of significant corruption most frequently. However, such thematic topics were absent in 7 out of the 13 monitored newsrooms. In only one case, at Jurnal TV, the number of topics about significant corruption exceeded that of topics about minor corruption.

In 66 cases (86%), the monitored contents were informative, in 6 cases analytical, and in 5 cases, all belonging to the TV8.md editorial staff, investigative. During the reference period, 8 newsrooms did not practice analytical genres in the reflection of corruption, and 2 did not use informative genres. No media institution utilized all three types of journalistic genres.

Following the evaluation, the overall average score accumulated by the monitored newsrooms was 23.55 points, which, according to the methodology, corresponds to a relatively good reflection of the corruption phenomenon in the four monitored thematic areas. The score of 23.55 points falls into the fourth step (between 19 points exclusively and 26 points inclusive) of the six qualification steps provided in the monitoring methodology. It should be noted that two newsrooms - TV8.md and Jurnal TV, recorded average scores that place them on the next, fifth level of qualification (between 27 and 33 points inclusive). In the same row, three newsrooms, with the average scores obtained, did not rise, only to the third level of qualification.

During the three monitoring periods, the authors of the report found that:

• Two newsrooms poorly covered corruption.
• In the case of two other newsrooms, the coverage of corruption was deemed acceptable.
• Seven newsrooms covered corruption relatively well.
• 

In addition to the recommendations made for each media institution included in the monitoring list, the authors also presented general recommendations. Among the most important are the development and implementation of an editorial policy that ensures planned and coordinated editorial activity, including the dimension of reflecting the phenomenon of corruption through analytical journalistic genres, as well as the production of thematic content.

"If a tree falls and nobody writes about it, then the tree didn't fall. It is the same with the phenomenon of corruption, which affects us all. If corruption is not covered in the regions, this does not mean that there are no such cases," concluded the author of the report, Ion Bunduchi.

The monitoring was conducted within the project "Strengthening of the Rule of Law and Anti-corruption Mechanisms in the Republic of Moldova," co-financed by the European Union, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the UK Government. The project is implemented by the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ). Partners of the project in Chisinau are the Independent Press Association (API) and the Center for  Investigative Journalism (CIJM), which is implementing the project "Strengthening a Network of Investigative Journalists in the Republic of Moldova and Increasing their Capacity to Investigate Corruption Cases."