Print Media

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Moldova saw the establishment of numerous national newspapers in both Romanian and Russian languages that made their mark on the media market (Timpul, Jurnal de Chișinău, Saptamana, Flux, Accente, Ziarul de Gardă, Moldova Suverana, Ziarul National, Literatura si Arta, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Argumenty i Fakty, Ekonomicheskoe Obozrenie, Moldavskie Vedomosti, Cuvantul, Observatorul de Nord, and Unghiul). Many of these are no longer in print as of 2024.

By 2016, the number of newspapers had halved compared to 2000, as many publications closed due to financial difficulties and their inability to adapt to market economy conditions while facing strong competition from television and especially the internet.

The distribution and sales of print media have been an ongoing challenge. Since early 2017, many newspaper kiosks have been removed from central Chisinau, with this process intensifying in subsequent years. In 2021, relations between publishers and the state enterprise "Posta Moldovei," the sole distributor of periodicals, became increasingly strained. Some editorial offices publicly declared they were on the brink of bankruptcy due to unacceptable distribution conditions imposed by Posta Moldovei.

In 2023, print media faced a major crisis when Posta Moldovei announced a 341% increase in newspaper distribution tariffs for 2024. The issue was partially resolved in 2024 when the government compensated distribution costs for all Moldovan periodicals that requested assistance. The situation for 2025 remains uncertain.

According to Posta Moldovei data, 122,502 people subscribed to Moldovan periodicals in 2023, dropping to 94,069 subscribers in the first half of 2024. Ziarul de Garda is the most subscribed and popular Romanian-language newspaper, while Komsomolskaya Pravda in Moldova, republishing mostly content from Komsomolskaya Pravda in Russia, leads Russian-language subscriptions.

The National Bureau of Statistics reported 84 newspapers in Moldova in 2023, showing a steady decline over 15 years, with a single print run of 1 million copies. In the first half of 2024, Posta Moldovei reported 70 newspapers with a monthly circulation of 1.6 million copies, serving 94,000 subscriptions. Romanian-language newspapers have consistently represented about half of the total number and circulation over the past 15 years. Recently, many newspapers have abandoned print editions in favour of online publishing.