Tag: Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation
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89 Years of Radio Broadcasting
Ten years after WWI and the unification of Greater Romania, the most
efficient and popular means of communication was first introduced in Romania:
the radio. On November 1, 1928, the newly founded Romanian Radio Broadcasting
Corporation aired its first broadcast. From the very beginning the radio was
described as a means of public information, education and entertainment.This
year Radio Romania celebrates 89 years of continuous radio broadcasting.
Despite having to constantly adapt its editorial policies, the public radio
survived each radical change on the political spectrum, from the interwar
democracy to right-wing dictatorships around the Second World War, and from the
communist dictatorship to the democracy restored after the anti-communist
revolution of 1989. For years now the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation
has been considered one of the most trustworthy and reputed media institutions
in Romania, due to its large number of listeners.Radio Romania addresses all
generations and caters for all tastes, addressing society as a whole. It
consists of channels with nationwide coverage, Radio Romania News and Current
Affairs, Radio Romania Culture, Radio Romania Music and the Village Antenna, as
well as regional and local studios, Internet platforms and a children’s and
youth station. The Romanian public radio has started broadcasting abroad ever
since the 1930s.Today, Radio Romania International tries to keeps both
international audiences and Romanians living abroad up to date with news from
Romania and our traditional values. RRI broadcasts in 11 languages: Arabic,
Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Serbian, Spanish, Russia, Ukrainian
and starting this year, Hebrew, as well as in Romanian and the Aromanian
dialect. Its target audience virtually includes the entire world, from Alaska
to Australia, from Argentina to the Russian Far East.Nearly nine decades since
its first broadcast, Radio Romania continues to innovate, to reinvent itself
and to adapt to the ever-increasing market competitiveness and legislative
changes. One such change was the recent scrappage of the radio license fee,
traditionally covered by taxpayers, which now means the institution is fully
funded by the state, amidst criticism from the political, civil and
journalistic fields over editorial interference.Similarly, other voices from
outside or within the institution have over the years signaled controversial
managerial practices of successive administrations. Thanks to its
professionals, however, Radio Romania remains the leading media institution in
the country to date. (translated by Vlad Palcu) -
April 26, 2017 UPDATE
VISIT Romanian Prime Minister Sorin
Grindeanu on Wednesday met his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Kvirikashvili on a
two-day official visit to Bucharest. Prime Minister Grindeanu said that Georgia
would continue to be a country, which is a friend and partner for Romania.
Grindeanu has also mentioned the diplomatic relations between the two
countries, which have been very good since their beginning 25 years ago. In
turn, the Georgian official said that he was grateful to Romania for the role
it played in supporting his country’s EU integration process. The two officials
have signed a political statement of cooperation and have agreed upon the
resumption of the activity of the joint intergovernmental committee of economic
cooperation after a recess of 15 years. The Georgian Prime Minister’s agenda
also includes among other things talks with the head of the Romanian state
Klaus Iohannis and with Senate speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu. In the first
quarter of 2017 the volume of the bilateral trade exchanges exceeded 44 million
dollars.
TENNIS Simona
Halep,Romania’s best tennis player and the world’s fifth on Wednesday
qualified for the quarters of the tennis tournament in Stuttgart with 760
thousand dollars in prize money. Halep clinched a two-set win against Barbora
Strycova of the Czech Republic. In the doubles, the Romanian – Polish pair
Halep – Rosolska will be taking on the Czech – Australian pair Hlavakova -
Stosur. In another development Romanian-Dutch pair made up of Horia Tecau and
Jean Julien – Rojer has qualified for the quarter finals of the double
tournament in Barcelona with prizes totaling 2.3 million euros.
EUROSTAT The number of people who
received asylum in the EU countries doubled in 2016 as compared to 2015 a
survey published on Wednesday by EUROSTAT, the statistical office of the
European Union says. Over 700 thousand people, mostly war refugees from Syria
and Iraq got asylum last year. The most of them, 445 thousand, got asylum in
Germany, followed by Sweden, Italy and France. Immigrants from the Balkans and
southern Asia got most of the refusals, the Eurostat says.
SACKING The Romanian Parliament on
Wednesday rejected the 2015 and 2016 activity reports of the Romanian Radio
Broadcasting Corporation, thus leading to the sacking of president Ovidiu
Miculescu from the Board of Administration. Serving as President and Director
General of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation since 2012, Ovidiu
Miculescu has been under investigation for abuse of office and conflict of
interest since 2016 in a case involving the purchase of travel services in
which ten members of the Board of Administration of the Radio Broadcasting
Corporation have also been indicted. Recently, Ovidiu Miculescu received a
verdict of incompatibility in court for being in the management of another
public institution while also serving in the management board of the public
radio station. Some of the public station’s employees repeatedly revealed the
serious harm done to the station’s image by Ovidiu Miculescu’s legal problems. The
former Social Democratic senator Georgica Severin is to take over from
Miculescu in an interim position.
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November 17, 2016 UPDATE
INCOME Incomes in Romania have seen a 13% rise in the past 12 months, while consumption has increased by 10% against the latest cuts in taxes and prices, shows a balance sheet presented by the country’s technocratic Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos after one year in power. By and large, the economy’s growth pace has increased from 3.8% in 2015 to over 4% in 2016. Pundits have pointed out to the fact that pay rises have caused an unprecedented increase in demand for goods and services, which, in turn, has triggered an almost 7% rise in imports. Because exports went on to a much slower pace of only 4.3%, the trade deficit soared and that might lead to a generalized imbalance in macroeconomic indicators.
SEARCHES Prosecutors with the Bucharest’s Sector One Court announced on Thursday that the hearing of the 11 current and former members of the managing board of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation (SRR) ended, but that investigations in the case continue. The managing board members are being investigated for abuse of office and conflict of interests. Prosecutors say that between July 2011 and January 2014 they alledgedly took some decisions aimed at bringing them illegal benefits. The damage has been estimated at 90 thousand euros. Searches had been carried out earlier on Thursday at the head offices of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, with prosecutors taking up files from several offices.
DEBATE – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday in the city of Cluj-Napoca, that the EU is in a complicated situation and that his main concern is to find the best solutions for the country. Iohannis attended a debate dubbed ”The European Union between dismantling and reform. Romania’s contribution to the consolidation of the European construction”, held at the Babes-Bolyai University in the city. The debate was occasioned by the International Students’ Day, marked on November 17. The date commemorates the anniversary of the 1939 Nazi storming of the University of Prague after demonstrations against the killing of Jan Opletal and the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the execution of nine student leaders, over 1200 students sent to concentration camps, and the closing of all Czech universities and colleges.
EURO In order to join the Eurozone, Romania might need a yearly economic growth of 5% by 2024 — shows a survey carried out by the European Institute. With such a sustained growth, Romania might reach 75 percentages of the EU average in terms of the GDP per capita. According to the survey, the development gap between the states using euros and the others does not recommend it for accession yet. Because Romania’s economic structure is very different from those in the Eurozone, the country would have more to lose if it gave up its independent monetary policy, the report says. We recall the initial term set by the authorities in Bucharest for adopting the single currency was 2015.
VISIT Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu on Thursday, on the second day of his official visit to Jerusalem, had a meeting with the country’s prime minister and foreign minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two officials approached issues such as bilateral cooperation and the evolutions in the Middle East, as well as prospects for the relaunch of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Previously, Lazar Comanescu had paid a two-day official visit to Jordan, to meet with Amman officials.
DECEASED The Romanian football world is in mourning as 44 year old former international Daniel Prodan died of a heart attack on Thursday. A five years champion with the Romanian football side Steaua Bucharest, Prodan also played with Atletico Madrid in Spain and with Scottish side Glasgow Rangers. A member of the so-called Golden Generation of the Romanian football, Prodan, who was described by the sport press as an ‘iron fullback’, won 54 caps for the national football side and participated in the World Cup 1994 and the European Championship of 1996.
GAUDEAMUS The Gaudeamus International Book fair currently underway in Bucharest saw on Thursday numerous book launches, including the bilingual (Romanian-English) anthology of Romanian post-war prose “10.000 de semne/10,000 characters”, launched at the Romanian Cultural Institute’s stand. Until Sunday the fair will have been attended by hundreds of publishing houses, and have seen over 850 events. The largest stand allotted to a participant country is that of China, an honorary guest to the present edition. Gaudeamus Book Fair has been staged by Radio Romania, the world’s single radio station to have initiated and carried such a large-scale project in support of written culture.
(Translated by Elena Enache)
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Preparations for RadiRo
The famous conductor Kristjan Jarvi, musical director of the German Radio Orchestras and Choirs, will be the honorary director of the third RadiRo Festival, organised this autumn in Bucharest by Radio Romania. The directors of the previous editions were Christian Zaccharias and Cristian Mandeal. Jarvi won over the Romanian public with his spectacular first performance in the opening of the George Enescu Festival in 2015. Born in 1972 in Tallinn, Estonia, Kristjan Jarvi emigrated at the age of 6, together with his family, to the United States, and settled in New York. He studied piano at the Manhattan School of Music, and conducting at the University of Michigan.
His original approach to conducting and his projects that combine various music genres prompted Reuters to describe him as “one of the canniest, and most innovative programmers on the classical scene.” He is currently working with several orchestras in Europe and the USA. As honorary director of RadiRo 2016, he will bring to Bucharest, for the second time, for two concerts, the German Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra, the oldest such ensemble in Europe. Kristjan Jarvi said he was very honoured to take part in the event and to return to Romania, because the first time he came here he was impressed with the warmth and love of the Romanian public. Such connections, he went on to say, cannot exist without love and true commitment, and neither can music.
The invitation to conductor Kristjan Jarvi was made by the president of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, Ovidiu Miculescu, in Leipzig, where several meetings took place between the leaders of Radio Romania and ARD. On this occasion, talks were initiated regarding possible joint projects of the two institutions, with a focus on minorities issues and cultural initiatives. Also, the ARD director general, Karola Wille, said she was honoured to see the German Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra invited to take part in the International Festival of Radio Orchestras in Bucharest. The event, organised by Radio Romania, showcases the diverse repertoire, the innovative style and the artistic excellence of the radio symphonic orchestras in Europe.
(Translated by Ana Maria Popescu)
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2014 Excellence Award for Radio Romania for the EuranetPlus project
The European Institute of Romania has awarded the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation the 2014 Excellence Award, in the radio broadcasting category, for its promotion of the European spirit and values. The award was granted for the EuranetPlus project, developed by Radio Romania, which produces and broadcasts journalistic material on European issues on Radio Romania News, Radio Romania Culture, Radio Romania Regional, Radio Romania Village Antenna and Radio Romania International.
The General Director of the European Institute of Romania, Gabriela Dragan, has stated that the Excellence Award was granted to Radio Romania because, we quote, “it does an extraordinary thing, as through the EuranetPlus project it promotes quality shows, which reach all corners of Romania. It is very important that Radio Romania has included in its schedule a whole range of programmes that focus on European issues” Gabriela Dragan has also said.
EuranetPlus is an international radio co-production project (2013-2016) funded by the European Commission. The project also facilitates debates on citizen issues at the European Parliament, under the heading ‘Citizens’ corner’.
EuranetPlus is a network of 15 public and private, national, regional, and international radio stations and corporations, providing EU news to 20 million listeners every day.
