Romania's jukebox media

Over the past week the Romanian media, which are partly owned by politicians, have attacked President Traian Basescu repeatedly. The latter countered by saying that the media resembled a jukebox in which you only had to insert a few coins for it to play the desired tune. Cristian Campeanu comments: "I have no doubt whatsoever that the Romanian press is open to bribery. They are financed by important interest groups which are intent on promoting their own political and economic agenda. We journalists all know who those voices belong to. The Romanian media pioneers honesty and morals just as little as the politicians do. Nonetheless, this doesn't justify the president's 'jukebox theory'. I don't believe Basescu is a dictator in disguise. I think he's driven by a demon."

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