Romanian media mogul takes a shine to Moldova

The Romanian media mogul Sorin Ovidiu Vântu apparently wants to invest 4.5 million euros in the media market of neighbouring Moldova. This would be fine if Vântu didn't use most of his media for propaganda purposes, warns the daily Evenimentul Zilei: "Our entire trade has lost credibility after the most recent election campaigns. The first question on readers' and viewers' lips is: who's paying these journalists? It seems that almost no one believes any more that there could still be editors who write or say what they think, rather than what they're told to say. We have [media moguls] Vântu, [Dinu] Patriciu and [Dan] Voiculescu to thank for this. ... But now Vântu's media company Realitatea could take root in the Republic of Moldova. Why? To help the local press? ... The Moldovan journalists could avoid the situation in which their Romanian colleagues find themselves. The Moldovan public sector, the politicians and the journalists should know that asking Vântu to democratise the mass media is like inviting Igor Smirnov [president of Moldova's secessionist region Transnistria] and the Russian army to come set up base in Chişinău."

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