MAKE: "Press freedom, a shivering chick whose nest has been turned into a ragged soup"

Freedom of the press has returned to the public agenda after the editor-in-chief of our country's only printed sports newspaper, Gazeta Sporturilor, was dismissed by the owner, Ringier Sports Media Group. The discussion revolved around internal conflicts, pressures, the influence of betting houses, the role of advertising, editorial guidelines, and their boundaries. The public was not forgotten either, a public that we must admit, at the risk of causing offense, has become accustomed to obtaining information for free and often to freely criticizing those who deliver it, without discrimination between good and bad.

On this topic, I decided to approach someone from the media ownership sector. I turned to the most authoritative source in the field, the director of Ziarul BURSA. As readers know, he has been writing for the newspaper he leads for several decades, which raises the question of why he didn't "express" himself directly. Of course, he could have done so, but I thought it would be best to hear the journalist's opinion, so I asked for the owner's perspective. I must make a few clarifications to avoid any misconceptions. I have the advantage, as can be confirmed, that despite our fairly long collaboration, I allowed myself the luxury of not praising the director directly or indirectly, not even when he deserved it. But, to be truthful, we didn't turn a blind eye either when he annoyed me. Over 13 years ago, in July, I was hired at Bursa, and at noon, I resigned. I had a discussion with the director, explaining that the employee's attire didn't suit me, and he agreed to let me take it off but continue our collaboration as I wanted it at that time. After a few years, I put the attire back on; it suited me better. It should also be mentioned that during our years of collaboration, he offered me several leadership positions within the media group, which I declined because I wanted to remain a simple editor until the end of our collaboration (I'm thinking of my retirement, not a natural end). Yes, I know, I jumped the gun and painted a small picture related to freedom and how much each of us is willing to take. Having said that, I asked the President and CEO of the BURSA media group, Make, for an answer to the question, "How does the debate on freedom of expression - Gazeta Sporturilor - Ringier, with all the arguments and exaggerations, look from the office of a media owner with 33 years of experience?"

Here is the response: "The issue of our colleagues is somewhat more complicated than it seems because it sounds like an echo of the corruption in the capital market, as recently accused by the Bulgarian Assen Christov, [n.n. - President of Eurohold, the group that included Euroins insurance company]. And the echo deserves to be exposed with source and reverberations:

In the interview published in BURSA on September 26, Christov claims that Euroins was removed from the Romanian market through the actions of the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF), I quote: "We are talking about an attempt to steal our business. I say this because a few days ago, a new insurance company was licensed in Romania (Eazy Asigurări). It's very strange that ASF did this so quickly. I tried to find out more about this company, I looked for its website. Nothing. I think it's a very interesting case for journalists.'"

In the October 3rd issue of BURSA, we published the article "ASF's Maneuvers Stir Interest in the European Parliament," where the author cited "The European Conservative" publication, reporting that a German MEP is calling for an investigation into our insurance market following an article titled "Exclusive: Von der Leyen's Brother, a U.S. Betting Giant, and the Romanian Insurance Scandal," which shows that ASF granted a license for selling auto insurance in our country to a company managed by the brother of the President of the European Commission, shortly after revoking the operating license of Euroins Romania.

The article in "The European Conservative" contained inaccuracies by attributing "Eazy Asigurari" to the ownership of the gambling company "Superbet"; however, "Superbet" stated that Easy Asigurări is not its subsidiary, and both companies belong to businessman Sacha Dragic: "Describing Easy Asigurări as a subsidiary of Superbet is totally false. There is no connection between the management of Superbet or our brand and Easy Asigurări. Consequently, references to the Chairman of our company's Board [n.n. - Hans-Holger Albrecht, brother of Ursula von der Leyen] entering the insurance market are also false.'"

In this context, with gambling companies hovering above the insurance market abyss and explicit corruption allegations "at the level of ASF or even higher" (as Assen Christov claims), the cherry on top is freedom of the press. So, it's more complicated than it seems. In these circumstances, freedom of the press appears to be a chick left out in the cold, whose nest was turned into a rag soup (i.e., beaten egg). First, we need to determine the waters in which ASF swims. Personally, I have noticed that the freedom of the press to publish evidence of ASF's incompetence and to argue the suspicion of corruption at ASF has counted for as much as a chick left out in the cold: - The careful dissection of malpractices in the capital market governed by ASF (dozens of articles in BURSA - people started asking me what I had to do with Bogdan Dragoi and Nicu Marcu); - The two resounding bankruptcies in insurance - City Insurance and Euroins (here, no one asked me anything anymore - it was in plain sight, without subtlety). The political class seems to aspire to enormous gains from maintaining incompetence at the helm of ASF; otherwise, it cannot explain why the disasters have not shaken the leadership of the capital market supervisor. Furthermore, as it seems, the European Commission has denied members of the European Parliament access to a report related to the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF), suggesting that Romanian bribes are influencing the leadership of the continent. It's not news that we have journalists and publications that not only did not dare to report on the role played by ASF in both the stock exchange and insurance sectors but also assumed the role of apologists for ASF and the Cooperative in the capital market, receiving, in return, requests and payments for so-called advertising services from market players. Everything has turned upside down. The "untouchables" in the media have become the cultivated and promoted ones. The capital market Cooperative controls ASF and controls the stock exchange, controls three SIFs out of five, and controls brokerage firms. This is the environment in which Sacha Dragic made his entrance, an entrance described in "Superbet's" statement as follows: "The insurance and brokerage license was obtained by Eazy Asigurări, which is a completely separate company in the portfolio of entrepreneur Sacha Dragic, the founder of the Superbet Group. Dragic currently holds a diversified portfolio of investments in several sectors - financial services, logistics, consumer, health tech, as well as in companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).' "Superbet's" internet advertising budget in 2020 was 4.7 million euros - the largest internet advertising investor in Romania. The cold has set in. What can Ringier do? If you don't have a journalist's blood in you, then you ask to see the articles about gambling companies before publication. It's not the same everywhere as it is at BURSA. By the way, the question challenges me as a media owner, so I must clarify: it's hard for me to split myself between being an owner, manager, journalist, and graphic illustrator; I can't speak in one capacity while ignoring the others. I am also a member of the MediaSind and the International Federation of Journalists, a member of the Union of Professional Journalists, and a member of the Owners' Department at the Press Club. None of these organizations has asked me for exclusivity."

Since one of the rules of the newspaper is that an article should not end with quotes, I will add something more about the... rule: I have always seen it as an opportunity for the editor to have the final word in the article they sign. Freedom!