Romania: Who pays the “price of silence”?

When reporters from the investigative website recorder.ro confronted prominent Romanian journalists and publishers with evidence that their media companies were receiving money from political parties last year, the latter reacted by trivialising, ignoring or showing disinterest

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis after his re-election on 10 November 2019.

“The Price of Silence” is the name of an investigative report into a network of advertising agencies through which the country's two largest parties – the social democratic PSD and the liberal-conservative PNL – have been paying money to Romanian media companies for years in return for the companies refraining from negative reporting on the government.  The price of silence is high: the non-governmental organisation Expert Forum estimates that in 2020 alone, subsidies amounting to 18 million euros were paid to these companies.  

Corruption and self-censorship  

Only 27 percent of Romanians trust the Romanian media. However, this loss of trust is not just the result of Expert Forum’s recent revelations but has developed over an extended period. Readers, listeners and TV viewers are very much aware of the influence exerted on editors. 

Most of the private TV and radio channels are owned by controversial entrepreneurs who use their media groups to exert pressure on legislators or gain a competitive economic advantage. Some are currently or have been under investigation for embezzlement, corruption or tax fraud. Others have already served prison sentences.

Many journalists have given up rebelling against the interest-driven policies of their sponsors. Over the years, they have learned to censor themselves, journalist Sabina Fati observed on the Deutsche Welle website in 2022. Those who persevere in uncovering facts, on the other hand, must reckon with intimidation and defamation, as is the case with journalist Emilia Șercan, who has exposed cases of plagiarism involving several government politicians.

 For years, journalists and managers in the public broadcasting sector have been afraid to openly oppose the political interference with their work, and thus failing in their mission to provide independent reporting.  

A paradise for the TV industry

 Television is the most popular medium in the country. There are more than 550 channels, led by Pro TV, Antena 1 and Digi 24. The most popular radio stations are Radio Europa FM and Radio România, which according to surveys are also the most trusted. While the TV sector continues to generate substantial revenues from advertising – in addition to party donations – the print media are in free fall. All print media – from daily papers like Libertatea and Adevărul or the country’s highest-circulation tabloid Click to specialised ones like the sports newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor or the financial newspaper Ziarul Fianciar – have been experiencing a dramatic drop in their circulation for years. It is only thanks to their mostly free online presence that they have managed to survive and still play a role, however minor, in the media and for the advertising industry.

Independent websites such as recorder.ro, g4media.ro or riseproject.ro practice information and investigative journalism. They try to make ends meet through donations and advertising revenue and categorically reject payments from government parties. 

World Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders): Rank 56 (2022)

  Last updated: April 2023

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