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Covering the EU – what’s in it for Romanians?

“This is what the European Union imposes on us.”  This is a statement easily used by Romanian politicians to justify decisions related to national policy. Romanian media outlets deliver the quote to the public, seldom bothering to question the politicians by pointing out the fact that Romania is a full member of the European Union with a right to decide and vote for its own destiny.

The statement reflects the comfortable and shallow coverage given to EU affairs in Romanian media. It reveals a strange relationship between politicians and journalists, which seemingly allows politicians to take advantage of the tacit complicity of journalists’ ignorance in EU affairs to deliver any message about the EU.

Who covers the EU?

Romania’s two major private news channels do not show much interest for EU news in their programming.

The Romanian public radio and television broadcasters keep special correspondents in Brussels and recently, one of the major Romanian newspapers Adevarul opened a desk in Brussels – Adevarul Europa, in a strategic move which was considered bold and risky. So far, it is the only Brussels-based office of a Romanian media outlet.
     

Beckham sells, Barroso doesn’t

Ovidiu Nahoi is the editor in chief of Adevarul Europa. He also writes a column on EU affairs for the weekly magazine Dilema Veche.

Dacian Cioloş, European Commissioner of Agriculture and Rural Development (left) and Ovidiu Nahoi (right), editor in chief Adevarul Europa at the launch of Adevarul Europa in Brussels,
photo: Adevarul Europa

When the Brussels’ office opened nine months ago, Nahoi declared that “if you don’t care about Brussels, you make a huge mistake”. After almost one year of covering EU affairs, Nahoi still criticises Romanian media for their exclusive focus on national problems and current events: ”Maybe this is because there is a lack of interest [for EU issues] or maybe it is only due to journalists’ lack of EU knowledge. It might also be the lack of vision from editors and managers.”

“As a consequence, nobody is connecting what is happening in Romania to what is happening in Brussels and there is no internal debate on EU matters, such as the euro crisis,” Nahoi says.

There is no magical answer to the timeworn and widespread question of how to make the EU an appealing subject for the public, especially in a media environment dominated by tabloid news.

A newspaper such as Adevarul Europa simply cannot compete with the tabloid press. “Our purpose is to gather a faithful audience, with a high intellectual level and good financial means – because our news needs to attract advertisers, as well,” says Nahoi. “I am aware that this can only be accomplished with time.”

“You start with the assumption that ‘Beckham sells, Barroso doesn’t’, says Gabriel Giurgiu, producer of the programme “Europa mea” (“My Europe”), a weekly magazine on Romania’s public television channel TVR 1.

Gabriel Giurgiu presenting the programme “Europa mea” (“My Europe”) on Romanian National Television, photo: TVR

Sometimes, in an attempt to “sell” EU news to a wider audience, Giurgiu presents them as a parody. “The big challenge for a journalist is to find an attractive packaging for EU news, to identify interesting elements for ordinary people,” says Giurgiu, who also writes a weekly column on EU matters for Dilema Veche. “You have to dig deeper, discard the clichés and cut through the official jargon with a rotary hammer. As a journalist, you have to ‘translate’ Brussels’ abstract language into Romanian.”

Covering the EU – before and after the accession

“The European Union will bring us money; everything will be changed in the country.”

Before Romania joined the EU, the common perception among the public was that the EU would bring investment and change into the country. Reporters used to travel to isolated villages and interview elderly inhabitants on their opinion about the EU. The answers were sometimes comical, but the media did not provide much clarification or analysis on the true meaning of the EU adhesion for Romania.

After the accession, the EU topic ceased to receive any attention.

Giurgiu also notices an evolution in the tone of the EU coverage. “Before the accession, the topic was a matter of life and death, there was a certain element of suspense. But since the adhesion, I only see a surfeit of the ´And now what?’ attitude.”

Nevertheless, Nahoi recognises some positive changes: “The financial crisis, the Schengen zone, the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification, the EU budget, the rate of absorption of EU funds, all these themes and more have appeared in Romanian public debates and this is good.”

Old and new member states: discrepancies in EU coverage

“I don’t see any difference between old and new member states, in the way their media report about the EU”, says Giurgiu. The only difference he identifies is in the British approach: “In Great Britain, the media looks carefully at the EU, with a critical eye. By criticising EU policies all day long, fairly or unfairly, it influences EU decisions and forces EU institutions to become more transparent. While on the continent, the surfeit attitude predominates,” says Giurgiu.

“The European Union is not foreign policy,” he adds. “European journalists fail to understand that. This is manifest even in the French Le Monde, where EU news appears in the foreign news page. The British media is the only one to connect what goes on in the EU to changes within the UK.”

“The problem is not that we don’t have EU news,” Giurgiu explains. “The problem is that it is not covered well. I don’t think there should be special programmes dedicated solely to the EU. The EU should be integrated in all the news, when required. The EU is a part of everyday life, from the quality of the paper on your desk to the food you put on your table. This is how a journalist should report on the EU.”

Is there hope?

Giurgiu does not expect any significant changes in the quality of EU coverage in Romanian media. “Why should I be optimistic, when I see the problems in the Romanian educational system or the level of public debates?”

Nahoi has a more hopeful view: “I think that with time, the attitude will change. Still, this change will not affect everybody, only those who want quality information.”

Tags: brussels, correspondent, coverage, dilema veche, eu affairs, european union, gabriel giurgiu, journalism, media, ovidiu nahoi, romania, romanian national television,

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