Mass media in Romania: the state of play
The situation of the media in Romania is not very rosy and there is a lot of room for improvement, says the EC vice-president Vera Jourova
Mihai Pelin, 28.04.2023, 13:50
Romania remains last in Europe in terms of respecting and guaranteeing the freedom and safety of the mass media, as well as unrestricted access to information, the president of ActiveWatch Liana Ganea says.
In her opinion, one of the key problems is that major political parties are financing the media in a non-transparent manner, which leads to reasonable suspicions that the media coverage of the public agenda is distorted.
At the same time, the few journalists who are critical of the political power have become subject to vilification campaigns, initiated either by political players or by media institutions with a long track record of deviations from professional ethics, Liana Ganea adds.
She also believes the state should have genuine control over the intelligence services and restrict their growing powers and their ability to interfere with the right to free speech.
In turn, the president of the Centre for Independent Journalism, Ioana Avădani, says the mass media in Romania are facing major problems that are within the governments jurisdiction. Some of these problems include the lack of transparency regarding the shareholding structure of media companies and their influence on the editorial agenda, attacks on journalists coming from political players and the aggressive rhetoric against journalists.
The Romanian government must understand, even without pressure from Europe, that mass-media is a legitimate actor in the public debate and that its critical role goes beyond any financial or political interests, Ioana Avădani emphasised.
These opinions come in the context of the statements made by the vice-president of the European Commission for values and transparency, Vera Jourova, who said that “The situation of the media in Romania is not very rosy and there is a lot of room for improvement.”
Asked whether the new legislative instruments suggested by the European Commission last year and currently pending adoption are enough to address these problems, she said they are, but pointed out she is expecting more from the Romanian state in the meantime.
The Commissions 2022 report on the rule of law mentions that the mass media in Romania is facing problems such as the fact that “transparency on media ownership continues to be incomplete” and the worsening of the situation regarding threats, cases of harassment and violence against journalists.
In 2022, there were two cases of criminal sentences pronounced in Romanian courts with respect to offences against the safety of journalists. (AMP)
