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Catalin Radu Tanase, About the Credibility in Media: ‘If You Lose it Once, it is Very Difficult to Get it Back’

05 November 2019
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On 1 November, the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) hosted at the Media Hub a meeting with one of the most famous Romanian journalists, Catalin Radu Tanase. The event brought together more than 20 reporters, publishers and press managers from Chisinau, who had the opportunity to informally discuss with the Romanian journalist.

During two hours, the special correspondent from PRO TV Bucuresti shared stories from the field, especially from war zones, spoke about the evolutions and the regress of the Romanian media in the recent years and about his motivation to continue to do this profession for more than two decades.
 

‘Journalism is a job you marry to and the satisfaction it gives is huge’, mentioned Catalin Radu Tanase.
According to the journalist, the media on both sides of Prut River face similar challenges. ‘If the problem of the media in Moldova can be compared to an elephant, then that of Romania – with an even bigger elephant’, he told to those present.  

The participants in the meeting wanted to find out more professional secrets from the special correspondent from PRO TV Bucuresti. ‘There is no recipe for a good report... A reporter and a media outlet should, first of all, aim to provide people with the news that they need, using simple words and avoiding the wooden language’, he said. When asked about how he manages to make long and attractive live transmissions, the journalist shrugged and said ‘I suppose I like to tell stories a lot’.

Catalin Radu Tanase believes that credibility is paramount for the media outlets: ‘If you lose it once, it is very difficult, even impossible to get it back’, he outlined.

Present at the meeting, Veronica Gherbovetchi, editor at TV8, told us that she was impressed with journalist’s ability to get involved and dedicate himself to the profession, even after 25 years of intense journalistic work. ‘He contaminated us with enthusiasm and passion for what he does. Passion and curiosity are key elements without which one cannot do quality journalism. It’s hard to avoid the routine, especially when you are a journalist for many years and write about the same issues and events.’

In his turn, Anatolie Esanu, reporter at Ziarul de Garda, was curious to learn from Catalin Radu Tanase how it felt to be a journalist ‘in the most hot spots in the world, where wars take place’, what the risks he took were and how he managed to make live transmissions of several minutes without writing the text in advance.

This event is part of the ‘Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M)’ project, funded by USAID, UK aid and implemented by Internews in Moldova. Its purpose is to promote the development of an independent and professional mass-media and to build a media sector that is more resilient to political and economic pressure.