Report: Just before elections, Romanian media quality worsens, gets more prone to political meddling

Romanian media became even more prone to political interference in 2011, as several politicians or political advisers became media owners or managers, right before the 2012 elections year, according to a recent press freedom report issued by ActiveWatch.

The report mentions Sebastian Lăzăroiu, Vasile Dâncu, Cosmin Guşă and Dan Andronic among those with political ties who became media owners or managers in the last year, which raised questions about the credibility of reporting. The Romanian media market is still dominated by business people with vested political and economic interests, who are willing to invest large amounts to reach their targets. This was wrapped up in a high number of news channels that were launched in the last months, which can be explained by the upcoming elections. But the authors of the study doubt these media projects' economic sustainability, in a market where advertising revenues do not seem to be reviving. More TV stations does not necessarily mean better quality, or more diversified content, according to the report. TV stations still run for ratings, and use any means to achieve higher ratings then competition, sometimes by fabricating stories and exposing so-called VIPs, rather than creating quality content. Meanwhile, the large international media companies continued to reduce their presence in Romania – German WAZ withdrawing from Romania is given as example. The poor situation of the Romanian media is reflected by the number of publications that were shut down during this period, by salary cuts for employees and labor conflicts, especially in print media. Newsrooms under pressure give in and compromise on editorial content, which has been continuously degrading, according to ActiveWatch. Media management is not any better either, as managers are unable to find economic solutions when advertising revenues are down and investments from media owners dry out. Most often, they go for lower quality content, favoring advertising clients, or political and economic sponsors. ActiveWatch highlights the Rosia Montana gold mining media campaign, which also invaded the editorial area with disguised advertising. Politicians continued to submit initiatives meant to intimidate journalists and restrict press freedom. One MP, who ended up arrested in 2012 – Mihail Boldea – proposed a draft law that excluded information about potential crimes from the public domain until after a final court decision was issued. The full report can be found here (in Romanian). editor@romania-insider.com