Romania appears in the Reporters Without Borders report with a negative rating because of the way the Secret Services are trying to gain as much control as possible.
Romania ranks 49th globally in terms of press freedom, up from last year (53rd place).
Romania in the Reporters Without Borders report:
Romania has a diverse and relatively pluralistic media landscape, which offers fertile ground for high-impact public interest investigations. However, the lack of transparency in media funding, especially by the state, as well as market difficulties undermine the reliability of information and trust in the media.
The media landscape. Major European media groups such as Ringier, PPT Group and Dogan Media International are present in the market alongside large and small local players (including Intact Media Group, RCS&RDS, Hotnews, G4Media, Recorder, Rise Project and PressOne). The market is diversified but fragmented, with many television channels whose sustainability is fragile. Editorial decisions are often subordinated to the interests of the owners, turning the media into a propaganda tool.
The political context. In Romania, the media lacks independence and suffers from attempts at interference, especially regarding the appointments of the heads of public radio and television, as well as the National Broadcasting Council. Political parties can get favorable media coverage in return for opaque media funding. Populist politicians have adopted an aggressive political discourse towards journalists.
The legal framework. Legislation protecting freedom of expression and freedom of the press is insufficiently implemented, although it is aligned with European standards, including at the constitutional level. Interference by prosecutors in journalistic activity amounts to harassment and raises serious issues. The judiciary is increasingly trying to pressure the media to reveal their sources. The number of abusive lawsuits (SLAPP) is increasing, while court rulings do not always meet press freedom standards.
The economic context. Media funding mechanisms are often opaque, even corrupt. While the largest media companies manage to be economically viable, most depend on external sources of funding, including subsidies. The widespread practice of diverting public funds to the media in a non-transparent manner distorts the market and undermines the media oversight function. In addition, the new business strategy of the Ringier group in Romania raised concerns about editorial independence in 2023, when several of its press editors were forced to leave.
The sociocultural context. Public interest journalism has faced competition from misleading narratives and fake news from some media outlets and politicians, particularly in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and, more recently, the war in Ukraine. Some population groups tend to trust this false information, which sometimes converges with Russian propaganda and fuels their distrust of the media.
Safety. The safety of journalists remains a cause for concern as they are often the target of attacks, threats and intimidation. In the large-scale harassment and defamation campaign against the reporter Emilia Sercan, the authorities not only did not do justice, but were also suspected of complicity. Surveillance remains a problem as intelligence services seek to gain more power and influence amid the war in Ukraine and other international conflicts.
Global context
Political attacks on press freedom, including the detention of journalists, the suppression of independent media outlets and the widespread dissemination of disinformation, have intensified significantly over the past year, according to the annual world press freedom index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). reports News.ro.
The index ranks 180 countries according to the ability of journalists to work and report freely and independently.
Norway remains at the top of this 22nd press freedom ranking, while Eritrea ranks last at 180, behind North Korea for the past two years. France dropped from 24th place to 21st place through a mechanical effect, with the country’s indicators “stagnating”, Anne Bocandé, editorial director of the NGO that defends journalists, told AFP. In general, the conditions for exercising journalism are precarious in three quarters of the countries.
In particular, the NGO condemns “the evident lack of political will of the international community to apply the principles of the protection of journalists” in Gaza. According to RSF, more than 100 Palestinian reporters have been killed by the Israeli army, at least 22 of them while on duty.
More broadly, this 2024 ranking highlights the fact that governments offer less protection to journalism, or even play an active role in disinformation.
RSF reports “a worrying deterioration in support and respect for media autonomy”, while “2024 is the biggest election year in world history”. Almost half of the world’s population is affected by at least one election, from India to the United States to the European elections, which portends new “very strong pressures”.
In Argentina (66th place, down 26 places), new ultra-liberal President Javier Milei announced in March the closure of the state-run news agency Télam, which he accused of “propaganda”. “The situation is particularly worrying” in this country led by one of the “claimed predators of press freedom”, warns the NGO.
In the Sahel, the junta that took power in Niger (80th place), Burkina Faso (86th place) and Mali (114th place) are “steadily tightening their control over the media and making it difficult for journalists to work,” the organization says.
Control over social networks and the Internet is very strict in Vietnam (174) and China (172), which, in addition to imprisoning the largest number of journalists in the world, practices censorship and surveillance.
And in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, “press censorship has intensified, in a spectacular imitation of Russian acts of repression”, RSF specialists note, citing Belarus (167th place), Georgia (103), Kyrgyzstan (120) and Azerbaijan ( 164). Russia, where Vladimir Putin was re-elected in March, ranks 162nd.
Generative artificial intelligence has also been added to the disinformation arsenal. An example of this is represented by the audio deepfake of journalist Monika Todova in Slovakia (29th place, down 12 positions) before the parliamentary elections last fall. The content “clearly took advantage of the pro-Russian disinformation that abounds in this country,” according to RSF.
Elsewhere in Europe, press freedom is being “tested by the ruling majorities in Hungary, Malta and Greece”.
Extensive interference
In more than three-quarters of the world’s countries, political actors are regularly involved in propaganda or disinformation campaigns. This involvement is described as “systematic” in 31 countries. The biggest declines in press freedom can be seen in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime (178th place, down 26 places), Togo (113th place, down 43 places) and Ecuador (110th place, down 30 places). of places).
Instead, the situation improves in Chile (52nd place, +31), Brazil (82nd place, +10) and Poland (47th place, +10). “Political will can lead to better guarantees” for the media, points out Anne Bocandé. The association proposes concrete measures for each election.
This ranking is based, on the one hand, on “a quantitative study of abuses committed against journalists” and, on the other hand, on “a qualitative study”. The latter is based “on the answers of hundreds of experts in the field of press freedom (journalists, academics, human rights defenders) to about a hundred questions”.
Razvan Robu
Tags: Romania Reporters Borders report Secret Services gain influence Bistrita News Bistrita Newspapers
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