Is the Swiss media group Ringier putting pressure on two Romanian newspapers to protect the interests of the gambling industry? About a very fundamental debate about advertisers and freedom of the press.
What began as a crisis of trust among some editors towards their employer has now escalated into a heated debate across the entire media landscape in Romania. Because the whole thing doesn’t just concern a few journalists from two renowned Bucharest newspapers who see themselves being forced out of their jobs by their Swiss owners. Rather, the dispute highlights the difficult situation of the independent press in (Eastern) European democracies. It’s not just the takeover of critical media by Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz empire, as has happened many times in Hungary, that can undermine press freedom. But also the lack of differentiation from lobbyists or oligarchs who like to keep a newspaper or a broadcaster – which is the order of the day in Romania.