Global Integrity Report

Romania Home

Facts

Timeline

Notebook

Integrity Scorecard

2008 Assessment

Romania: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Romania: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Media
Indicators		Score
5	Are media and free speech protected?	100
6	Are citizens able to form print media entities?	94
7	Are citizens able to form broadcast (radio and TV) media entities?	75
8	Can citizens freely use the Internet?	100
9	Are the media able to report on corruption?	75
10	Are the media credible sources of information?	75
11	Are journalists safe when investigating corruption?	100

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Are media and free speech protected?

5a: In law, freedom of the media is guaranteed.

Score:

YES

Comments: There is no Law of Mass Media in Romania, and as several proposals to pass such a law during the last decade were largely regarded as attempts to curtail media freedoms, the failure to finally adopt such a law can be considered as a positive development. Each draft we have seen so far was meant to actually curtail, not support, the freedom of journalists, by indirectly introducing various restrictions. This being the frame of mind of the legislators, journalists' associations have invariably opposed the very idea of having a Media Law, judging that the current guarantees in the Constitution and the instruments offered by FOIA are sufficient, and that the main effort should be focused on actual enforcement of FOIA provisions.

References: The Romanian Constitution; Law of Access to Public Information (FOIA), no. 544/2001 Accepted practice

5b: In law, freedom of speech is guaranteed.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: The Romanian Constitution, art. 30; Accepted practice.

Are citizens able to form print media entities?

6a: In practice, the government does not create barriers to form a print media entity.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

6b: In law, where a print media license is necessary, there is an appeal mechanism if a license is denied or revoked.

Score:

YES

Comments: No specific license for media printing operations is necessary, apart from those applicable to other non-media printing operations.

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

6c: In practice, where necessary, citizens can obtain a print media license within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

6d: In practice, where necessary, citizens can obtain a print media license at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: It refers to general procedures of registering a business, which are not always user-friendly; they do not refer to media in particular. To register a business in Romania is quite cheap (up to US$300, legal fees included) and does not take very long, following reforms implemented in 2001-2003. However, this cannot be done online, and the person must pay a series of visits to some offices, or pay an ambulance-chasing lawyer to do this. Print media companies do not need a special license, being treated like any other business (unilike the electronic media).

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

Are citizens able to form broadcast (radio and TV) media entities?

7a: In practice, the government does not create barriers to form a broadcast (radio and TV) media entity.

Score:

100

Comments: There is a licensing process and allocation of bandwidth which can be expensive and not always transparent.

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

7b: In law, where a broadcast (radio and TV) media license is necessary, there is an appeal mechanism if a license is denied or revoked.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

Law 504 / 2002 regarding broadcast media contains provisions for this process.

7c: In practice, where necessary, citizens can obtain a broadcast (radio and TV) media license within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: The average period is about three months (or more, for broad coverage TV stations) and although a set of criteria exists, the final decisions of the licensing board still convey an impression of arbitrareness (which results in many appeals and requests for explanations from those turned down.) The main problem, however, is the delay in making a decision, which can have an impact on the business plan.

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

7d: In practice, where necessary, citizens can obtain a broadcast (radio and TV) media license at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

Can citizens freely use the Internet?

8a: In practice, the government does not prevent citizens from accessing content published on-line.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

8b: In practice, the government does not censor citizens creating content on-line.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

Are the media able to report on corruption?

9a: In law, it is legal to report accurate news even if it damages the reputation of a public figure.

Score:

YES

Comments: Earlier this year, a maverick MP submitted a draft of a law in which the media were only to report positive news, but the bill was never approved in plenum, being met with general ridicule by the mainstream media and political class. The radical party to which this MP belonged did not make it into the Parliament in the November 2008 elections.

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

Peer Review Comments: I thought that parliament was adopting a law in which the media were only to report positive news.

9b: In practice, the government or media owners/distribution groups do not encourage self-censorship of corruption-related stories.

Score:

100

Comments: There is a certain censorship, manifested in the following ways: sidelining anchors, talk show hosts and reporters who tread into no-go areas, in spite of their high ratings (which are irrational decisions, business-wise); promoting journalists who toe the line; having informal black lists of public people who are never invited to comment on current affairs, in spite of their better knowledge of subjects. Thus an "artificial public opinion" is created, carefully managed so as to illustrate only a narrow range of viewpoints.

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

9c: In practice, there is no prior government restraint (pre-publication censoring) on publishing corruption-related stories.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

Are the media credible sources of information?

10a: In law, print media companies are required to publicly disclose their ownership.

Score:

YES

Comments: By the general laws applicable to all companies, owners can be known publicly from the Firms' Public Registry. However, this is only applicable to prima-facie companies holding shares in a media group; second- or third-tier owners, especially individuals, who may be the real owners, are hard to identify, especially if off-shore companies are used as intermediaries.

References: Law nr. 26 / 1990 regarding companies, which defines how the Firms' Public Registry functions.

10b: In law, broadcast (radio and TV) media companies are required to publicly disclose their ownership.

Score:

YES

Comments: By the general laws applicable to all companies, owners can be known publicly from the Firms' Public Registry. Also, there are limitations in the Law of Broadcast Media (504 / 2002) regarding cross-ownership and concentration on the electronic media market, which implies ownership must be known to the Regulatory Council. However, this is only applicable to prima-facie companies holding shares in a media group; second- or third-tier owners, especially individuals, who may be the real owners, are hard to track down, especially when off-shore companies are used as intermediaries.

References: Law nr. 26 / 1990 regarding companies, which defines how the Firms' Public Registry operates.

10c: In practice, journalists and editors adhere to strict, professional practices in their reporting.

Score:

100

Comments: There are two main types of problems: 1. media groups (with electronic and print channels) that function as mere outlets of a political-business group; in this case there are important political biases in their programs, perceptible bad faith in reporting news, and a lot of self-censorship at the individual level. 2. a number of media channels (mainly newspapers) which are known to practice institutionalized blackmail: aggressive stories targeting public institutions or business people, which are withdrawn in exchange for payment.

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

10d: In practice, during the most recent election, political parties or independent candidates received fair media coverage.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

10e: In practice, political parties and candidates have equitable access to state-owned media outlets.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

Are journalists safe when investigating corruption?

11a: In practice, in the past year, no journalists investigating corruption have been imprisoned.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there were no journalists imprisoned related to work covering corruption during the study period. A YES score is positive. NO: A NO score is earned if any journalist was jailed because of his/her work covering corruption during the study period. The causal relationship between the official charges and the journalist\'s work may not be explicit, however the burden of proof here is low. If it seems likely that the journalist was imprisoned due to his or her work, then the indicator is scored as a NO. Corruption is defined broadly to include any abuses of power, not just the passing of bribes.$

Comments:

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

11b: In practice, in the past year, no journalists investigating corruption have been physically harmed.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews

11c: In practice, in the past year, no journalists investigating corruption have been killed.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there were no documented cases of journalists being killed because of their work covering corruption-related issues during the study period. A YES score is positive. NO: A NO score is earned if there were any documented cases where a journalist was killed in relation to his or her work covering corruption-related issues in the study period. The relationship between a mysterious death and an individual\'s work may not be clear, however the burden of proof here is low. If it is a reasonable guess that a person was killed in relation to his or her work on corruption issues, then the indicator is scored as a NO. Corruption is defined broadly to include any abuses of power, not just the passing of bribes.$

Comments:

References: Ioana Avadani, director, Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) Iulian Comanescu, media analyst, Hotnews