''Evenimentul Zilei'' is a formerly physical and now exclusively online

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Its name translates to "The event of the day" or "Today's event".

History and profile

''Evenimentul Zilei'' was founded by Ion Cristoiu, Cornel Nistorescu, and , and the first issue was published on 22 June 1992.Media Index. Evenimentul Zilei
Euro Topics. Retrieved 6 December 2013 Ion Cristoiu, one of the 3 founders of the newspaper, was also its first director, but he is currently columnist at the same newspaper The newspaper reached its peak daily circulation of 675,000 in 1993. In 1997 chief editor Ion Cristoiu quit and this job was taken by Cornel Nistorescu. The newspaper was purchased along with its parent company Publishing in 1998 by the German company

Gruner + Jahr Gruner is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dov Gruner (1912–1947), Jewish Zionist leader * Eduard Gruner, Swiss engineer * Elioth Gruner (1882–1939), Australian painter * Gottlieb Sigmund Gruner (1717–1778), Swiss ca ...

(owned, in turn, by

Bertelsmann The Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (), is a German privately held company, private multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, ...

), which later, in 2003 sold it to the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

press trust

Ringier Ringier is a media group operating in multiple countries with over 6,500 employees. Founded in 1833, the family-owned business manages media brands across print and digital, TV and radio, and is active in the entertainment and digital marketplac ...

; at the time of purchase, Ringier representatives stated that there would be no direct or indirect intervention in the newspaper's editorial policy. In September 2004 more than 50 ''Evenimentul Zilei'' journalists protested Ringier's management decisions. Similar issues were raised at the same time at rival daily '' România liberă'', owned by

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

's WAZ-Mediengruppe. At both papers, journalists have complained that foreign owners are telling them to lessen the political coverage and tone down their negative reporting of the government. Their concern has been echoed by a variety of organizations including the

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

. After this scandal, ''Evenimentul Zilei'' became one of the most fervent attackers of the government's corruption. Nonetheless, ''Evenimentul Zilei'' remained "The biggest thorn in drian Nastase's side" throughout the 2004 Romanian elections. Ten days after Năstase's defeat in the 13 December 2004 runoff elections, the Ringier group moved the ''EZ'' editor-in-chief, Dan Turturică, to

Bacău Bacău ( ; , ; ; ) is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. With a population of 136,087 (as of 2021 census), Bacău is the 14th largest city in Romania. The city is situated in the historical region of Moldavia, at the foothills of the ...

(officially, to look into the possibility of starting a free newspaper there) and began changing the editorial policy, to become a tabloid. As a response, 80 journalists signed a protest against these decisions and organized rallies in front of the Swiss and EU embassies. Subsequent negotiations were unsuccessful and on 4 January 2005, 30 journalists resigned, in addition to another five that resigned several days earlier. Paid circulation dropped at least 40% from a high of over 100,000. In 2010 Ringier sold its shares in the paper to Bobby Păunescu. In 2019, the newspaper ceased to exist on paper after 8650 numbers. From 1 January 2020, the team moved exclusively online.

Notes

References

* Business Magazin, "Evenimentele Evenimentului", nr. 8/2005 (8 March 2005), p. 68 * Academia Cațavencu, "Oda de slavă - 'Găina naște pui vii'", nr. 8/2005 (2 March 2005), p. 23

External links

*
''Evenimentul Zilei'' home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evenimentul Zilei 1992 establishments in Romania Newspapers published in Bucharest Newspapers established in 1992 Romanian-language newspapers