Media groups invited to publish data about their shareholders and financing sources

Media groups in Romania are invited to make public information about shareholding, financing sources, ad payers and join the Coalition for Clean Press, an initiative launched this week by the Academic Society of Romania (SAR), the Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) and Active Watch, news from Agerpress reads.

2014-05-23 12:19:20

According to the three organizations, this initiative has proven necessary after in recent years the editorial independence and impartiality of Romanian press has been questioned by national and international monitoring organizations.

The organizations do not consider the source of financing to be an automatic influence upon editorial content, but believe that the public should know such information to be in full knowledge when deciding upon the impartiality of a media group.

"There is a community in Romanian mass-media and it wishes that press in our country function as that in the West", said SAR President Alina Mungiu-Pippidi.

She stated that "we are below the European average of trust in the press", according to the autumn 2013 Eurobarometer.

"The objectives of the Coalition are to form a sovereign public that is informed who is paying for the content, enhancing transparency upon possible conflicts of interest, as well as a debate on the social cost of a black or white PR press business model replacing the business model of information or entertainment press", said the SAR President.

According to the initiators of the Coalition, media groups would have to make transparent the structure of media property, a list of advertisement clients that contribute more than 10 percent of the publication budget (the first 20 clients in order of size), last year balance as well as historical debt to the state budget.

The SAR president announced that the initiators of the Coalition will send 100 letters to the directors of publications represented on Trafic.ro (an internet traffic monitoring website), be them radios, TV stations, written press, online press, inviting them to join their demarche. The list will be published on romaniacurata.ro and those that will respond positively to the request will be awarded a medal designed by artist Dan Perjovschi. After issuing a reminder 30 days after sending the letters, on the 60-day mark the final list of those who are hiding their finance sources will be published. Furthermore, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi has said that next week she will launch a similar initiative regarding advertising agencies.

Ioana Avadani, CJI Executive Director, said that the initiators propose the creation of the post of Ombudsman, a person or firm affiliated with the publication/media group that people who consider themselves aggrieved can contact, as a step towards mediation before complaints are filed with either the National Audiovisual Council or civil courts.

Publicist Liviu Mihaiu said that the Coalition initiative seems to be dated to the 1990 and proposed the establishment of trade unions in press.