"The media sector in Moldova is diverse. Dogged investigative reporting plays a vital role in public life. However, the legal framework governing the sector is unstable and underdeveloped. In 2020, much of the country’s political class treated the independent press with hostility, viewing journalists as obstacles to rather than partners in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial sustainability continues to elude the sector. Many outlets are captured by and serve as mouthpieces for political interests, and the fallout of the pandemic has exacerbated the precarity experienced by the independent press." (Executive summary)