Conference sponsors included the embassies of France, Germany, the US and UK. At the start, ambassadors or acting heads of mission from all four along with the Head of the EU Commission Delegation, Jonathan Scheele made declarations emphasising the importance they attach to media freedom. Foreign journalists invited (from the Financial Times and Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung) gave presentations underlining some basic principles of independent journalism, such as codes of ethics and the importance of strict separation of marketing and editorial sections of a newspaper as well as the need for careful control of financial incentives to journalists. In many cases in Romania this separation barely exists, with some editors even awarding bonuses to journalists who bring in advertising revenue. Such abuses can only compromise objective reporting.
As well as speakers from the media and NGOs, there was a presentation on government-media relations by a British civil servant, Simon MacDowall, from the UK's Department of Pensions and Works, and from former UK National Union of Journalists President Chris Frost, who chaired the NUJ's Ethics Council, and who currently lectures in journalism at Liverpool John Moores University. This was especially relevant, in view of the debate currently taking place among Romanian journalists about the role of trade unions in protecting reporters from various forms of pressure, and helping them to maintain ethical principles.
One of the most valuable parts of the conference was the section in which provincial reporters (from Bacau, Focsani and Constanta) discussed the specific difficulties they face if they oppose the local administration. The presentations were quite shocking to many of the foreign participants in particular. Independent newspapers face harassment by state authorities like the Financial Guard or the police, in a gross abuse of the principle of the independence of public authorities. Companies which advertise in them also suffer similar pressure in an attempt by local barons to cut the life blood of these publications. Journalists whose salaries are very low are vulnerable to numerous financial incentives to avoid criticising the local administration or to join the pro-government media.
Given the broad range of issues discussed at the conference, it was particularly disappointing that no member of the Romanian government was prepared to participate and respond to journalists' concerns. It was an important objective of the event to promote such a dialogue, and great efforts were made to include the government in the programme. Unfortunately, Vasile Dancu, President of the Agency for Government Strategies, who was due to speak, withdrew at the last minute for no other reason than the fact that he did not like the look of the programme. Alina Tonigaru, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice, who was also scheduled to make a presentation, simply failed to show up. The Romanian public and sponsoring embassies will draw their own conclusions as to what this suggests about the Romanian government's attitude to media freedom.
On the other hand, a particularly welcome recent development, taking up one of the major themes of the RTT conference and other similar events has been the initiative by the Centre for Independent Journalism, which has put in an official request for details of government advertising contracts signed by Prime Minister, Adrian Nastase, following revelations that the premier has insisted on approving all state publicity. The CIJ's move directly takes on one of the most serious abuses of freedom of expression and of public money in Romania, namely government advertising aimed at influencing editorial content. The issue was specifically referred to at the RTT conference by US Deputy Chief of Mission Tom Delare, who declared that state advertising ''allows some papers to prosper and other papers to exist on the brink of bankruptcy.''
The link between government advertising and editorial content has been clearly demonstrated by NGOs. For example, a study by Media Monitoring Agency and Centre for Independent Journalism showed that while the Ministry of Transport is the largest advertiser out of all government departments, it receives the least negative reporting. Much of the advertising cannot be justified in commercial terms or as public information. For instance, there is no reason why publicity for Bucharest Otopeni airport should appear in the press, when it is the only major international airport in Bucharest , with no real competition. Equally, advertising should be placed where it will have maximum impact and the decision should not be influenced by a paper's editorial line.
Once the Centre for Independent Journalism receives the information it has requested, a thorough assessment should be made of the entire government advertising machine. Firstly, the criteria for placing publicity in the press should be looked into. Newspapers should be chosen according to their circulation figures and likely impact of the advertising on readership. The editorial line of the publication should never determine whether or not it receives state publicity. Secondly, a cost-benefit analysis should estimate the approximate revenue generated by a broad range of government advertisements. If the revenue is less than the cost of the publicity, then the government advertising budget should be correspondingly cut. Loss making advertising can be accepted only in very limited cases where there is a clear public information justification, the criteria for which should be strictly defined. Thirdly, it would be useful for a comparison to be made with developed countries perhaps including some of the 2004 EU accession states. This would look at the proportion of budget revenue used for advertising in Romania compared with other countries as well as the kind of institutions or issues which state funds are used to promote in each case. There are three times as many newspapers in Bucharest compared with Budapest in spite of Hungary 's far higher living standards, and the reason for this is that many Romanian publications depend heavily on advertising to stay afloat. The study should assess what role the state has in sustaining these titles.
Use of government advertising to influence the editorial line of a newspaper is a misuse of public funds. Citizens pay taxes to support infrastructure and social services, not political propaganda. It is also a violation not only of media independence, but also of the principles of the free market economy. The Centre for Independent Journalism deserves to be congratulated for this initiative, and the results will be awaited with interest.
Mark Percival is the Managing Director of Romania Think Tank. More on Romania Think Tank can be found at its website, www.rtt.ro
