Privatisation of press in Central and Eastern Europe 1989–1991. Case study: Romania

Abstract

ABSTRACT:One of the measures which had a major impact in achieving a free press was the liberalization of the media market, and thus foreign trusts were able to enter the market. These trusts promoted a politics free from any political interests, and also being passed over in the property of certain persons or national groups. In the first years after 1989, foreign press trusts attempted to develop a powerful media network in the respective countries, aiming at making huge profits, since the "hunger for press" was so high that profit was guaranteed. After December 1989 in Romania, the state monopoly gradually vanished due to the appearance of some new press enterprises, even though, at an early stage, setting up a publication did not have the required legal framework. In 1990, it may be noticed that press was regrouped into two large categories: one consisted of headlines which belonged to the state and were later to undergo privatization, and the second one consisted of headlines created by private enterprises, individually or grouped. During the privatization process, various methods were used, according to case. As compared with the other countries in the region, Romania did not benefit from the contribution of foreign capital dedicated to the development of the mass-media system. Despite this lack of foreign capital into the mass-media market, Romanian undertakings were courageous enough to invest in this field, in which gains had become a certainty.