Messages in the Media - University of Toronto

and the newspaper upholds a strong commitment to the
free market. 11 Socially conservative, and fully privatised, it
is one of the most popular and trusted press outlets in Romania.
12
Evenimentul Zilei
www.evz.ro
Founded shortly after the transition in 1992, Evenimentul
Zilei has a daily circulation of 150,000. 13 It is not only one
of the leading newspapers in Romania, but also one of the
most accessed internet pages. In the early 2000s, the Swiss
press conglomerate Ringier owned it; however, journalists
complained that the foreign owners were interfering editorially
and lessening the political coverage and toning down
negative reports of the government. 14 This caused a considerable
scandal, after which the paper became one of the
most fervent attackers of government corruption. 15 After
the 2004 elections, the paper began changing its editorial
policy to become a tabloid. 16 In 2007, it came under the
ownership of by Bobby Paunescu, a director and screenwriter.
17 The newspaper now addresses largely urban and
educated public. 18
Gandul
www.gandul.info
Gandul was created in 2005 by Mircea Dinescu, a former
writer for Scintea (the only newspaper published during
the communist era). Since then, it has converted to an online
source, and records 35,000 daily hits. 19 In 2006, MediaPro
(based in the United States) took over the majority
of the company. 20 MediaPro owns many magazines, websites
and TV channels both in Romania and Moldova. 21 Central
European Media Enterprises own 95% of their Media-
Pro’s stock. 22
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