Tell me who is your boss and I will tell you who you are!

Victor COBĂSNEANU,
Editor-in-chief, "Observatorul de Nord"

A few weeks ago, while in Bucharest, I had the opportunity to skim several studies on the present and the future of the local printed media written by some famous authors that are familiar with this phenomenon - Petrisor Obaie, Liviu Alexa, Alex Mihaileanu, and after reading them I came to the following conclusion: even if the realities differ a lot (Romania is a full member of the European Union and the Republic of Moldova continues "to beat its head against one wall or another"), when it comes to the present and the future of the local media the similarities are striking. Why? For we all hatched from the communism egg and today many people are still living in the nets of past. But in this review, we will try to say (not hearsay, but speak based on the experiences achieved during 18 years, since “Observatorul de Nord” appeared) something about those who, in one way or another, influence the process of conception, birth, spread and - God forbid! - death of a newspaper: the owner, the journalist, the authorities (in many cases) and the reader.

The ideal OWNER should be the one who brings the money, but who does not influence the creative process. In our press, however, the opposite often happens – the one registered in documents as "master" believes that journalists should generate money, and his ultimate goal is then to bless them and boast in front of his business colleagues about being a kind of Berlusconi of Soroca (Orhei, Floresti, Balti, Comrat...). I have known a "boss" from Soroca who did not know the alphabet and did not have basic knowledge, but who always set himself up in... columnist and opinion maker. The materials written by him and read, let’s say, by actors Anatol Durbala or Petru Oistric could become true masterpieces of humor. Of course, his worthless newspaper went off in a few months, but this time was enough to pollute the not so clean information space. Or, if to open a pharmacy the owner needs a bunch of certificates and permissions, to become the owner of a newspaper someone needs some money, some people who can write and as many people as possible to deceive and manipulate.

The JOURNALIST should,(although he often cannot or does not want) be the backbone of a newspaper. A good journalist can influence the employer, if the latter goes off the rails and does not mind his own business. Unfortunately, in Moldova is often the opposite; therefore we have every right to paraphrase the well-known folk wisdom - "tell me who your employer is and I'll tell you who you are." On the other hand, the quality of journalists who recently graduate the respective departments, is not quite brilliant, and that is being kind. I personally sought a reporter during eight years (!), from dozens and dozens of students come to practice, and only after so long I "found" just two reporters that whom I am not ashamed of in front of others - Tatiana Zabulica and Vadim Sterbate. What does this deficit tells us about? The fact that a good journalist is "nature creation" or God creation rather than good university graduate, who can do wonders if taught by brilliant teachers.

The AUTHORITIES may not, normally, have media outlets, but are obliged therewith to ensure transparency in their activity. For many people, complying with these rules is almost impossible. Official of all ranks are used to be boasted and worshiped, the and find it difficult to give up the toy named "newspaper". The  recent remark about the privatization of press is not a coincidence, since the privatization is de jure - not de facto. Not for any other reason, but in the districts where the heads were more cunning, the newspapers have only changed the form, not the content. Otherwise, it would be best if local papers, not all together, but those with higher circulation and distribution area, edited a kind of Official Gazette of the district, where they would  publish all the decisions made by the council, but many presidents feel less like spreading official material – they need image polishing and praise every day, 24/7.

The READER is perhaps the most important link in this chain, but the size and especially the quality of readers is continuously decreasing. It is enough to do a review of newspaper editions to see the decreasing trend and that readers prefer other sources of information than newspapers. An analysis done by our editorial staff shows that the share of young and middle-aged readers who subscribe to or buy a newspaper is insignificant: only 10-15 percent of the working population reads newspapers, the lion's share of subscriptions, for example, accruing to retirees. No subscription means no possibility for a newspaper to exist.

In conclusion: the owners of newspapers and the journalists must urgently solve two very important tasks: first - to focus on the quality of the materials published and on the veracity of the information provided to the reader and second - to keep up with life and to "westernize" as urgent as possible their media. This is a prerequisite to survive in a century of great technical and informational changes.