News And Media

Censorship and the economic crisis of the last decade of communism resulted in a very poor landscape in the media. The number of central daily newspapers fell dramatically to only a handful, and local papers almost disappeared. The national television, which had initially transmitted on two channels for 20-24 hours a day, reduced its program to one channel, and broadcast only two hours a day. The activity of the 24 state-run publishing houses dramatically declined, and in 1989 only 1,900 titles came out, that is less than in the '50s and '60s.

After December 1989, there has been a genuine information boom, unmatched by any other sector of the Romanian society. The transition from the absolute control by the Communist Party and the strict censorship of information to full freedom took place in only a couple of weeks. After 1990, there was an exponential growth in the number of newspapers and magazines, publishing houses, radio and television studios and news agencies-all in the private sector. Only the national news agency ROMPRES (f. 1949), the National Radio (f.1928) and Television (f. 1957) Companies are still in the public sector.

There are about 1,320 newspapers and magazines, out of which 110 are dailies; 180 published in the language of ethnic minorities, particularly in Hungarian and German. In 1990, the circulation of the main dailies (Adevarul, Romania Libera, Evenimentul Zilei, Curentul, Ziua, National, Cotidianul, Curierul National, Libertatea, and Cronica Romana) frequently exceeded one million copies a day, but today it ranges between 50,000 and 200,000. There are also dailies in English and French, like Nine oíClock and Bucharest Matin, several weeklies, such as Romanian Economic Observer, the English version of Romania Libera, Romanian Business Journal, The Business Review, and monthlies, such as Curierul Romanesc (for the Romanians abroad).

Besides the national news agency ROMPRES, there are other private agencies: Mediafax, AR Press, AM Press, etc.

The National Television Company, with over 13,000 hours of transmission per year, has three channels: TVR1, TVR2, and TVR International, with local studios in the cities of Iasi, Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara. The private television channels, including the most popular PRO TV, and Antena 1, transmit 56 programs nation-wide. The National Radio Broadcasting Company (with three national programs, as well as programs in 17 languages for listeners abroad) has expanded its transmissions from 60,000 to over 80,000 hours per year. Nevertheless, it faces tough competition form the 140 private radio stations. The number of radio subscriptions is 4.1 million. As for cable television, its 2.8 million subscriptions place Romania in a leading position in Europe.