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CONSERVATION
A Last Blast?

by Andrew Taylor
March 2005

What with presidential pardons turning into national jokes and hunting trips attracting the kind of PR that no one needs, the last blast of the old regime went out with a bang.

Media reports about Ion Tiriac’s hunting trip, in which 185 wild boar were shot and killed were surprising in both their disgust with the scale of the destruction and their disgust with those responsible. Regular readers will be aware of the views of this columnist, not to mention Vivid’s long-term animal rights stance.

But rather than rake over the details of one single act, I was rather more intrigued at the extent to which the Romanian media voiced its indignation on a moral point against the country’s elite. It is rare to see the press take such a strong line in defence of ecological issues. Furthermore to do so against some of the most powerful interests in the country is the kind of thing that has caused journalists serious career and health problems in the past. Let us not forget that participants in the hunt included the former prime minister and some of the country’s most important businessmen.

The new government has already withdrawn Mr Tiriac’s concession rights over the property, which was doubtless designed as a warning shot of the government’s intentions to be different from the last non-PSD government and not be intimidated by the hidden power of the previous regime.

Step back and consider: a press that stands up for ecological issues, that is unafraid to attack the most powerful interests in the country and a government that is willing to face those interests down when they cross certain lines. Is this really Romania? It certainly doesn’t sound like the kind of country that we have been writing about for the last few years. If things carry on this way Vivid columnists may have no place for their moral indignation and become redundant!

The question is whether the kind of behaviour seen around the hunt is symptomatic of a wider sense of openness and justice in public affairs, or whether it is no more than political posturing in the wake of the election. The press had nothing to lose by putting the boot into a gathering of the old crew; the characters are widely thought to be spent political forces in any case. By focussing on the scale of the killing they could appeal to readers, listeners and viewers insatiable appetite for sensationalism. Whilst the new government was provided with the perfect chance to show their opponents in the worst possible light, as arrogant and out of touch, prior to the municipal elections.

Tempted as I am to take the cynical line, using prior experience as a good justification, the ‘us and them’ sense that people felt about the whole concept of the rich and powerful engaging in this needless slaughter was perfectly captured in the press. It was one of those rare occasions when the press is completely in tune with the mood of the nation.

We have recently seen an unusual level of depth to articles about other environmental topics, such as those concerning the mining at Rosia Montana, as well as features on subjects as diverse as the Kyoto Protocol and organic foods. In both these cases the government has proactively engaged in a way that has never been seen before, both accepting criticism and sharing a vision of the future.

As reluctant as one is to put one’s neck on the block, I get a sense that things are not the same this time around. Government and media may actually be becoming responsible and grown up. Perhaps, as I wrote when Basescu ran for mayor of Bucharest, the times they really are a’changing.

Andrew Taylor runs Connect-CEE, an outdoor training company.