Freedom of the Press - Romania (2002)

Status: Partly Free
Legal Environment: 11
Political Influences: 14
Economic Pressures: 10
Total Score: 35

Population: n/a
GNI/capita: n/a
Life Expectancy: 71
Religious Groups: n/a
Ethnic Groups: Romanian (90 percent), Hungarian (7 percent), other, including German and Roma (3 percent)
Capital: Bucharest

The penal code provides jail terms for libel, slander, or disseminating false information. This inspires self-censorship by journalists. In October, parliament approved the law on free access to information of public interest. Implementation will require fair dissemination of bureaucratic information, which has been subject to political pressure. The media are mainly independent, and major printing plants are privately owned. There are 15 national dailies and 100 local and regional dailies, most of which are privately owned. Though the state controls major radio and TV stations, there are more than 100 private television stations and some 200 private radio stations. Legislation on the protection of state secrets, approved by parliament in March, provides that anyone who is found guilty of publishing state secrets could receive a prison sentence of up to ten years, and up to seven years for those trying to acquire state secrets. Critics argued that the law infringes upon the rights of freedom of information and expression.