It was first founded in 1889 as Agentia Telegrafica a Romaniei, or Agentia Romana, as part of the Foreign Ministry, but discontinued in 1916 and re-established in 1921 as Orient-Radio Agency, later RADOR, turned by the communist regime in Agerpres in 1949.
It was first founded in 1889 as Agentia Telegrafica a Romaniei, or Agentia Romana, as part of the Foreign Ministry, but discontinued in 1916 and re-established in 1921 as Orient-Radio Agency, later RADOR, turned by the communist regime in Agerpres in 1949.
It was first founded in 1889 as Agentia Telegrafica a Romaniei, or Agentia Romana, as part of the Foreign Ministry, but discontinued in 1916 and re-established in 1921 as Orient-Radio Agency, later RADOR, turned by the communist regime in Agerpres in 1949.
It was first founded in 1889 as Agentia Telegrafica a Romaniei, or Agentia Romana, as part of the Foreign Ministry, but discontinued in 1916 and re-established in 1921 as Orient-Radio Agency, later RADOR, turned by the communist regime in Agerpres in 1949.
Freedom House ranked it as "partly free" in 2014. == History == Romania's newspaper market thrived after the 1989 revolution, but many newspapers subsequently closed because of rising costs.
Satellite digital TV appeared in 2004. ===Cinema=== Cinema is one of the least popular forms of entertainment in Romania, and over 100 cinema theatres have closed down since 1989.
Academia Catavencu is a cult satirical weekly. ===Publishing=== ===Radio broadcasting=== The first private radio stations appeared in 1990; there are now more than 100 of them.
In the early 1990s, only two state owned TV channels were available, one only in about 20% of the country.
Online-only news outlets (such as HotNews.ro) are more and more common, but they usually do not have the resources to produce original and quality journalistic contents. ===Media agencies=== Mediafax, a private news agency founded in 1991 and part of MediaPro group, dominates the news agency market, producing 600 news items per day, and expanding abroad in the Czech market too. Agerpres is the state news agency (from 1990 to 2010 known as Rompres).
It owns Kanal D Romania. Ringier Romania In the 1990s Swiss media group Ringier was an exception to the lack of foreign investments. Ringier controls 56% of the print market, publishing newspapers like Libertatea and magazines like Capital.
Online-only news outlets (such as HotNews.ro) are more and more common, but they usually do not have the resources to produce original and quality journalistic contents. ===Media agencies=== Mediafax, a private news agency founded in 1991 and part of MediaPro group, dominates the news agency market, producing 600 news items per day, and expanding abroad in the Czech market too. Agerpres is the state news agency (from 1990 to 2010 known as Rompres).
Antena 1 was founded in 1993 and is the main competitor of ProTV.
Its main outlet is ProTV which was launched in 1994, but it owns a total of five television stations, two national radio, the main news agency Mediafax, national and local newspaper, publishing company Publimedia.
However, this period soon ended, with consolidation around 1995–1996 with gentlemen agreements between larger companies over areas of control and pricing, with claims of monopoly abounding.
More details about some groups are below: MediaPro Bermudan Central European Media Enterprises (CME), founded by Ronald Lauder, entered the Romanian market in 1995, with Adrian Sârbu's Media Pro as a local partner, something that was required for operating an audiovisual license.
This is particularly relevant for cases of mergers or acquisitions, in which the NCA can intervene by not approving the transfer of license." The National Audiovisual Council appears however "more concerned with the regulation of content than with that of the market" The Audiovisual Law does not target vertical concentration/cross-media ownership. Competition Law The Competition Law (RP 1996, amended in 2001) applies to all economic sectors.
From 2003 to 2010 it was also the publisher of Evenimentul Zilei. Prima Broadcasting Group Cristian Burci founded Prima TV in 1997.
An Audit Bureau of Circulations was established in 1998 and today represents a large number of publications. The parliamentary majority controls appointments in the leadership of the public broadcaster Televiziunea Română, thus ensuring a constant pro-governmental bias.
A feature of Romanian Television after 2000 was the boom of specialized channels. Television broadcasts and cable television, frequency allocations, content monitoring and license allocation are done by the National Audiovisual Council (Consiliul Național al Audiovizualului, CNA). Romania has very high penetration rates for cable television in Europe, with over 79% of all households watching television through a CATV network in 2007.
It used to control also Kiss TV, which is now owned by Antenna Group. Lagardère French group Lagardère entered the Romanian market in 2000 with the launch of Europa FM.
Civil defamation lawsuits often target journalists. Freedom of access to information is guaranteed by the Constitution and by a specific law (Law on Free Access to Information of Public Interest, adopted in 2001).
This is particularly relevant for cases of mergers or acquisitions, in which the NCA can intervene by not approving the transfer of license." The National Audiovisual Council appears however "more concerned with the regulation of content than with that of the market" The Audiovisual Law does not target vertical concentration/cross-media ownership. Competition Law The Competition Law (RP 1996, amended in 2001) applies to all economic sectors.
Media ownership is highly concentrated and state advertising also poses a risk. ====Legal framework==== Audiovisual Law The Audiovisual Law (RP 2002) applies to television and radio: (1) Article 44 establishes that concentration of media ownership and increase in audience shares must not generate dominant positions in the formation of public opinion.
From 2003 to 2010 it was also the publisher of Evenimentul Zilei. Prima Broadcasting Group Cristian Burci founded Prima TV in 1997.
Satellite digital TV appeared in 2004. ===Cinema=== Cinema is one of the least popular forms of entertainment in Romania, and over 100 cinema theatres have closed down since 1989.
75 active cinemas were counted in 2008 (down from 155 in 2004), more than half being outdated theatres owned by the public company Romaniafilm.
In fact it has given the government more airtime than to the opposition in the 2004 general election. Intact Group Intact Group is owned by the family of Dan Voiculescu, former collaborator of Securitate, founder and former president of the Conservative Party (formerly Humanist Party), senator from 2004 to 2012.
Before 2004 general election Voiculescu's party was allied to the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Antena 1 was favourable to the party during the campaign.
Romanian Television gave the government more airtime than to the opposition in the 2004 general election. The national news agency Agerpres is publicly funded (€3.1 million in 2014).
This process of consolidation was completed around 2005–2006, when only two big suppliers of cable remained: UPC-Astral and RDS.
Agerpres produces around 300 news items daily and takes part in the European Alliance of News Agencies. NewsIn is the newest national agency, launched in 2006 by the Realitatea-Catavencu group.
The group owns a total of five television channel, others being Antena 2, Antena 3, Antena International, and Euforia TV, radio station Radio Romantic, news agency Amos News, many printed periodicals, a publishing and a production house. Realitatea Media Businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vântu was revealed in 2006 as being the key owner of Realitatea Media, which was formally controlled by Cypriot Bluelink Comunicazioni.
In 2012 Burci bought Adevărul Holding from Dinu Patriciu (Patriciu had bought Adevărul newspaper in 2006). According to 2007 informations it has 4% of the television market.
Small fines are imposed: in 2014, the president Traian Basescu was fined for an anti-Roma comment, and a Facebook user was also fined after he had posted a Nazi slogan that was then quoted by a local newspaper. In 2007 the media rights body Reporters Without Borders praised reforms to the criminal code; journalists can no longer be jailed on defamation charges.
Foreign media have a presence in the country but have recently scaled it down ===Print media=== The Romanian print press market is rich and diversified. The National Institute of Statistics (NIS) counted up to 300 newspaper publishers in 2007, of which 159 dailies, and over 350 magazine publishers.
A feature of Romanian Television after 2000 was the boom of specialized channels. Television broadcasts and cable television, frequency allocations, content monitoring and license allocation are done by the National Audiovisual Council (Consiliul Național al Audiovizualului, CNA). Romania has very high penetration rates for cable television in Europe, with over 79% of all households watching television through a CATV network in 2007.
Other providers are RCS&RDS and UPC Romania. ====Mobile==== The penetration rate of mobile telephony exceeded 100 percent in 2007 and reached 126 percent in 2008. There were 22.600.000 SIM cards active by December 2013.
In 2014 CME was bought by Time Warner and Pro FM was sold to RCS & RDS. According to 2007 informations in terms of ownership the group controls 26% of the television market, 9% of the urban radio market and 5% of the print market.
He is cited as an example of "Berlusconization" in Romania. According to 2007 informations 15% of the print market, 2% of the urban radio market and 15% of the TV market.
Sebastian Ghiță has been involved with Realitatea, but he left after a clash with Vântu and went on founding România TV. According to 2007 informations 4% it has of the television market. Doğan Holding Doğan Holding is a Turkish conglomerate founded by Aydın Doğan.
In 2012 Burci bought Adevărul Holding from Dinu Patriciu (Patriciu had bought Adevărul newspaper in 2006). According to 2007 informations it has 4% of the television market.
According to 2007 informations it has 4% of the television market. Public Service Broadcasters The board of TVR is appointed by parliament.
Cases of officials obstructing access to information have been reported. On 25 June 2008 the Senate adopted a draft amendment that would have obliged television and radio broadcasters to have a 50% of "good" or "positive" news.
Radio România also includes the news agency Rador, a publishing house, a radio theatre production department, several orchestras and choirs. ===Television broadcasting=== Television is the most popular entertainment media in Romania, and it gathers two thirds of all advertising funds (337 million euro in 2008).
75 active cinemas were counted in 2008 (down from 155 in 2004), more than half being outdated theatres owned by the public company Romaniafilm.
Over 85% of tickets are for US blockbusters, with only 3.6% in 2008 for domestic Romanian film productions. ===Telecommunications=== Romania has rapidly improving domestic and international services, especially in wireless telephony. The domestic network offers good, modern services in urban areas; 98% of telephone network is automatic while 71% is digitized; trunk network is mostly fiber-optic cable and radio relay; about 80% of exchange capacity is digital.
Other providers are RCS&RDS and UPC Romania. ====Mobile==== The penetration rate of mobile telephony exceeded 100 percent in 2007 and reached 126 percent in 2008. There were 22.600.000 SIM cards active by December 2013.
Mobile telephony had a 108% penetration rate in March 2008. ===Internet=== In November 2008, the number of registered .ro domains was over 340,000, of which 315,000 were active.
A 2009 study by CIJ, ActiveWatch and IMAS (The Institute for Marketing and Polls) reports that most journalists say that professional norms are not respected, mostly due to political and business pressures. The Romanian Press Club has an Ethics Code and a Council of Honour to inquire journalists and media outlets found in breach of professional norms – although its decisions have often been criticised as arbitrary.
Their circulation numbers remain low in relation to popular tabloids such as Click (Adevarul Holding), that in 2009 distributed 236,000 copies (more than all the quality press combined), Can Can or Libertatea (Ringier).
BBC World Service is available on 88 FM in the capital, and is relayed in Timișoara (93.9), Sibiu (88.4) and Constanta (96.9). Private FM stations dominate the market in Romania, with more than 700 licenses from the National Broadcasting Council by 2009.
Defamation was decriminalised in 2010 by a Supreme Court ruling, but this was later overturned by a 2013 Constitutional Court decision.
Online-only news outlets (such as HotNews.ro) are more and more common, but they usually do not have the resources to produce original and quality journalistic contents. ===Media agencies=== Mediafax, a private news agency founded in 1991 and part of MediaPro group, dominates the news agency market, producing 600 news items per day, and expanding abroad in the Czech market too. Agerpres is the state news agency (from 1990 to 2010 known as Rompres).
From 2003 to 2010 it was also the publisher of Evenimentul Zilei. Prima Broadcasting Group Cristian Burci founded Prima TV in 1997.
In fact it has given the government more airtime than to the opposition in the 2004 general election. Intact Group Intact Group is owned by the family of Dan Voiculescu, former collaborator of Securitate, founder and former president of the Conservative Party (formerly Humanist Party), senator from 2004 to 2012.
In 2012 Burci bought Adevărul Holding from Dinu Patriciu (Patriciu had bought Adevărul newspaper in 2006). According to 2007 informations it has 4% of the television market.
The Constitution of Romania guarantees freedom of speech. As a country in transition, the Romanian media system is under transformation. Reporters Without Borders ranks Romania 42nd in its Worldwide Press Freedom Index, from 2013.
Defamation was decriminalised in 2010 by a Supreme Court ruling, but this was later overturned by a 2013 Constitutional Court decision.
Other providers are RCS&RDS and UPC Romania. ====Mobile==== The penetration rate of mobile telephony exceeded 100 percent in 2007 and reached 126 percent in 2008. There were 22.600.000 SIM cards active by December 2013.
Freedom House ranked it as "partly free" in 2014. == History == Romania's newspaper market thrived after the 1989 revolution, but many newspapers subsequently closed because of rising costs.
Small fines are imposed: in 2014, the president Traian Basescu was fined for an anti-Roma comment, and a Facebook user was also fined after he had posted a Nazi slogan that was then quoted by a local newspaper. In 2007 the media rights body Reporters Without Borders praised reforms to the criminal code; journalists can no longer be jailed on defamation charges.
Collective labour contracts for the mass media sector expired in early 2014.
The distribution of public advertising funds is politicised, and that of advertising funds from the European Union (the biggest advertisement buyer) has not been transparent in the wake of the 2014 Romanian presidential election.
This represents an increase of 50% in a single year. Over 50% of the Romanian population used internet in 2014. Newspapers' websites are the main sources of information online.
However, in February 2014 he was charged with tax evasion, money laundering and embezzlement, sold his shares in CME and withdrew from all positions.
In 2014 CME was bought by Time Warner and Pro FM was sold to RCS & RDS. According to 2007 informations in terms of ownership the group controls 26% of the television market, 9% of the urban radio market and 5% of the print market.
Romanian Television gave the government more airtime than to the opposition in the 2004 general election. The national news agency Agerpres is publicly funded (€3.1 million in 2014).
In 2015 the CMPF assessed a high risk of "Politicisation of control over media outlets" and a medium risk of "Political bias in the media". Also, several cases of blackmail involving media can be cited.
He was detained for 30 days in February 2015.
In 2015 the CMPF assessed a high risk for the "Independence of [Public Service Media] governance and funding".
Journalists who stay in line are rewarded. ===Internet censorship=== Law 124/2015, passed on June 12, 2015, held that: According to the Civil Liberties Union for Europe this amount as establishing internet censorship.
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