ROMANIA LIBERA MAGAZINE
Editor in Chief Replaced, Politics Involvement
> > Suspected
> >
> > The Shareholders' Association at the Romanian
central
> > newspaper "Romania Libera" decided yesterday to
name
> > Klaus Overbeck as president of the Administration
> > Council. Klaus Overbeck is the WAZ Balkan group
> > representative in Romania. He thus replaces the
former
> > editor in chief of the newspaper, Petre Mihai
Bacanu.
> > WAZ currently holds 72% of Societatea R, the
company
> > that edits Romania Libera.
> >
> >
> >
> > Petre Mihai Bacanu, who has no role in the new
board,
> > sent to all media institutions a press release,
> > challenging the legality of the decision. He also
> > informed the employees that the new board has no
> > authority over them.
> >
> > WAZ representative, Klaus Overbeck, declared that
the
> > majority shareholder took over, through this move,
the
> > leadership of the newspaper and said that all
problems
> > with Bacanu will follow the legal steps. "What
> > happened this morning has nothing to do with the
> > articles published lately by Romania Libera", said
> > Overbeck.
> >
> > During the past few months, the former Romania
Libera
> > board and team of editors issued a protest,
accusing
> > WAZ of interfering with the editorial policy and
> > demanding "less politics and a lower voice".
> >
> > Major changes in the editorial team are to be
> > expected, for both reporters and chiefs of
> > departments.
> > October 25-31:
> > Faulted Media Ready for Electoral Campaign
> >
> > The electoral campaign for general elections later
> > this year kickstarted last week with attacks under
the
> > belt between the two candidates for presidency,
with
> > debates over the incompatibility of some
parliament
> > runners with official positions, with electoral
> > advertising question marks and controversies
related
> > to the freedom of the media and its access to
public
> > information.
> >
> > The campaign started October 28 and will last for
30
> > days. It partly follows the rules set by the new
> > Constitution and new electoral regulations, which
have
> > risen controversies since the June local
elections.
> >
> > The main candidates for the top job in the
country,
> > current PM Adrian Nastase and opposition Democrat
> > Traian Basescu, previewed their campaigns by
> > exchanging names such as "candyman" (Nastase) and
> > "wacky wabbit" (Basescu).
> >
> > That sparked a huge outcry in the media, which
> > complained about the quality of the electoral
debate.
> >
> > The same media called on people to avoid voting
> > candidates that were included by a group of NGOs -
the
> > Coalition for a Clean Parliament - on a blacklist
for
> > their incompatibilities related to political
> > migration, fishy business, owning shares in
> > debt-burdened companies or even criminal deeds.
> >
> > While that did not seem to impress the
politicians,
> > some political effect resulted from two justice
> > decisions over media issues. Two Romanian
journalists
> > under libel accusations won their trial against
the
> > Romanian state at the European Court for Human
Rights,
> > while the Center for Independent Journalism won a
> > court decision forcing the state to reveal
information
> > over the use of state-controlled advertising.
> >
> > The Evenimentul Zilei newspaper recently revealed
that
> > the PM is personally in charge with the
distribution
> > of such advertising, which increases pressure on
the
> > media in an electoral period such as this.
> >
> > The Center for Independent Journalism was forced
to
> > call on Justice to force the government make its
> > information in this regard available publicly.
> >
> > The two successes did not change much, however, in
the
> > annual report of the Reporters without Borders,
who
> > place Romania 70th (down more than 30 seats
compared
> > to 2003) among 167 countries in terms of freedom
of
> > the press.
> >
> > The question of freedom of the press was also
raised
> > in a scandal related to the control of newspaper
> > Romania Libera. The owners of the daily, German
trust
> > WAZ, changed the managing board of the daily, a
move
> > which sparked a fierce reaction from the man who
> > controlled it for the last 15 years, director
Petre
> > Mihai Bacanu.
> >
> > While WAZ says the newspaper has to change and
become
> > a professional newspaper in order to boost sales,
the
> > Bacanu used his influence among journalists and
the
> > position as a shareholder to argue - without any
real
> > proof - that the German group was moving ilegally
in
> > an alleged effort to bring the newspaper closer to
the
> > interests of the governing party.
> >
> > WAZ representatives dismissed the claims and said
the
> > future newspaper would prove the contrary.
> >