Radio Romania, a new beginning
Radio Romania has a new leadership
Ştefan Stoica, 27.11.2025, 13:50
On Wednesday, the Romanian Parliament voted on the new leadership of the Romanian public radio and TV companies. The joint plenary session approved the new President and Director General of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, Robert Schwartz, a journalist and political commentator with over 30 years of experience at Deutsche Welle. Born in 1956 in Sibiu, he graduated in German Studies from the University of Bucharest and has collaborated with the German editorial offices of the Romanian Radio and Television since his student days. He joined Deutsche Welle in 1992 as a news editor in the Central Editorial Office, and two years later he was appointed deputy editor-in-chief of the Romanian Editorial Office. From 2000 to 2020, he headed the DW editorial office in Romanian. In 2012, he received the Order of Cultural Merit in the rank of Commander for his contribution to Romanian-German relations.
At the hearings, Robert Schwartz proposed long-term policies for developing media productions, drafting programs for younger audiences, and strengthening human and editorial resources. Our goal, he emphasized, should be to be relevant to all generations, and in this context, one of the directions is digital transformation. Without complete digitization, public radio cannot remain competitive, Robert Schwartz pointed out. As a guest on the public broadcaster’s morning show, he fondly recalled his early collaboration with two remarkable radio personalities, Catinca Ralea and Paul Grigoriu, legendary figures at Radio Romania International.
The new director also spoke about his plans. Robert Schwartz:
“It’s amazing to know that you’re starting at a radio station that has a rating of over 23%. It’s fantastic. Radio Romania News and Current Affairs is doing very well in both urban and rural areas. The reform will be a story that we will write together with the Board of Directors, with the employees, and, of course, with the support of Parliament, because first and foremost we need to continue modernizing the radio station. We are talking about digitization, but we are also talking about capitalizing on the archives, because Radio Romania has an extraordinary archive. But it also means budget predictability, because without a predictable budget, you cannot plan for the long term and you have to jump from year to year, from month to month, sometimes even from day to day, to carry out the projects that serve your listeners. So, digitization and continued transparency. I searched for and found a motto, and I believe and hope that this motto encompasses us all: innovation, transparency, and trust.”
The new President and Director General has confessed that he wants Radio Romania to remain in society’s memory as an anchor, with verified and verifiable information, as a pillar of credibility for another hundred years to come. (MI)
