(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) The mass media in Romania face a major crisis, a new report by the Romanian Center for Independent Journalism says.
Conditions for the mass media in Romania deteriorated sharply in 2014, mainly due to the economic downturn in the country and inadequate levels of press freedom, a new report says.
"Fear defined the sector last year. Journalists fear they might not have a job tomorrow, or won't receive their salaries at the end of the month. They are also afraid of politicians and authorities," the report published in the context of World Press Freedom Day reads.
The report is based on interviews conducted with journalists and media managers from 21 towns and cities across Romania.
"The media as a business have a lot of problems related to distribution, to the falling advertising and to the decrease of circulation of most print publications. Only 10 to 15 per cent of current media outlets are really independent," Catalin Moraru, the editor-in-chief of "Monitorul de Botosani", a daily newspaper in northeastern Romania, says.
Political and economic pressures has also played a role, weakening the independence of the media sector, as has editorial interference from private owners.
As a result, the public considers the media deeply flawed and laments the lack of quality content. "It sometimes condemns deviations in the media, but it's not willing to pay for content," the report added.
In related development, the 2014 report by the US-based watchdog Freedom House rated Romanian media only partly free, giving the country a total press freedom score of 42, where 0 is for the best and 100 for the worst. The Freedom House report was released late last week.
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