A contested public sphere
Politics and the media in Romania
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
In Romania, the socio-economic preconditions for the creation of a civic public sphere were lacking until the 20th century. Under the communist regime, the media were pure propaganda instruments. After the upheaval of 1989/1990 and the abolishment of censorship, the media sector flourished and became more professional and pluralistic. In the meantime, it has become dominated by two trends: the spread of social media in the wake of digitalisation and a process of concentration and merging of business and the media. Businesspeople and politicians use the media in their inner political power struggle in order to discredit their opponents and assert their own interests. In doing so, they also benefit from the lack of any constitutional regulation of the media.
(Osteuropa 6-8/2019, pp. 251–260)