After graduating from the Faculty of History in Bucharest, he joked that he would work as a journalist. But, for about 18 years since he started this job, he still loves what he does.
Let’s meet him!
- You graduated from the Faculty of History in Bucharest and completed an MA in International Relations. After that, you completed your postgraduate studies in diplomacy and are doing a PhD in History in Chisinau, Moldova. Still, you’ve been working as a journalist since 2006. What made you become a journalist?
Somehow, this job chose me. At first, it was a joke that a colleague and I would go to work for a newspaper after finishing the degree in History. And so we did. Only it wasn’t in a newspaper, but in the most significant news agency in România at the time – Mediafax. That’s when I started to like the press. We monitored all the print media in Romania every night before the newspapers reached the readers and I liked certain newspapers that were better on the foreign policy side. I joined one of them as a foreign policy journalist due to my History and international relations education. Therefore, my training in foreign policy, research skills, and the field of History helped me a lot, especially when I started practising investigative journalism. It’s driven me to practice this job for about 18 years, and I still like what I do.
- Why did you specialize in Eastern Europe and the politics of ex-Soviet states in the region?
That’s a good question. The first newspaper I worked for in Romania, ZIUA, The Day, had one of the best foreign policy editorial offices in Romania, and mainly dealt with Romania’s immediate neighbourhood and the former ex-Soviet space. So, I started to specialize in Moldova, Ukraine and the Russian Federation. In addition, this area, unfortunately, as we see today since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is up-and-coming for foreign policy journalists. I have also always been interested in the “frozen” conflicts around the Black Sea created by Russia in the former Soviet states.
- What has changed in this region for journalism and media outlets in the past few years, especially since the beginning of the war in Ukraine?
Journalists in this area are, first of all, in high demand, and many of them are close to burnout. After the Coronavirus pandemic, journalists from this region almost immediately entered a new crisis – that of the war in Ukraine. So, the last four years have been and are still very difficult for journalists in the vicinity of Ukraine.
Unfortunately, there is news fatigue among journalists and the public regarding Ukraine. The fact that Ukraine is having a hard time maintaining the lines of defence against Russia, and the Western aid has been unacceptably delayed for a long time, is also reflected in the state of the journalists reporting on this area.
The Moldovan media, for example, is still very much subject to Russia’s hybrid war with all its elements of disinformation, fake news, manipulation, etc.
I have noticed another worrying trend in recent years, especially among young journalism graduates not found in newsrooms. On the other hand, I also see many colleagues who have re-profiled in other, less stressful fields. However, there are more opportunities for professional growth through training, development programs, scholarships, and other benefits that journalists enjoy. In other words, there are many less good parts and some opportunities.
- In 2016, the Romanian Professional Journalists Union awarded you for your political and investigative stories in Romania, the European Commission awarded you the ‘European Reporter in 2017’ prize, and the UN Development Project awarded you in Moldova in 2016. What do all of these awards mean to you?
Of course, I am happy for each of them. I won all of them with stories on which I worked a lot, some even in dangerous conditions in very unsafe areas or on the edge of wars.
The awards recognise my work but they don’t mean so much to me anymore; they are just nice memories. These prizes only validate the work from that moment. It is a good opportunity to mark some milestones and move towards new ones in my career.
The fact that such awards bring you professional satisfaction simultaneously raises your bar even higher. They also come with responsibilities not to reduce the engines and always try to be your best version. Always work professionally and for the benefit of those who read or follow you on TV screens.
For example, I don’t even participate in some competitions, to give younger colleagues more chances in such contests. I am happy to see their emotions and satisfaction when they receive such awards because I know this will push them to continue in this challenging job.
- What Balkan Insight stories are you especially proud of and why?
In seven-and-a-half years of working for Balkan Insight, I have written over 1,200 items, 350 of which were long stories.
One of my favourites was about the cryptocurrencies produced in the separatist Transnistrian region of Moldova with the help of cheap energy obtained from Russia’s supply of free gas. It was tricky and hazardous to get there. However, I created an exciting story about a cryptocurrency production scheme involving some dubious characters from Moldova and Russia.
Another story I liked that I have written in Albania was from a museum of the horrors of communism in Shkoder. I wrote it after a trip to the Balkan region organised by the European Commission. I liked it because, in addition to visiting this earth-shattering museum, I also made many documentaries to understand Albania’s history in the communist era and this whole phenomenon of the totalitarian state. I found shocking similarities with the history of the communist victims in Romania. My training as a historian led me to an in-depth analytical material for a foreigner who writes about Albania in the communist era.
But I have written dozens of stories for Balkan Insight, which in turn have various stories behind them.
- What obstacles do you encounter during your work, and what was the most challenging thing you experienced as a journalist?
There are many stories in this sense because I am also an investigative journalist. I’m not an adrenaline junky; I prefer to calculate the risk, not to take it.
However, I often went through dangerous situations during investigations in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria and in Ukraine or in the Middle East on the border with Syria.
There are always obstacles, such as bureaucracy, lack of transparency, bad faith, etc. But as a journalist, you must enter through the window when you are thrown out the door. A good journalist should keep going until he gets what he wants to write in the public interest. The rest is easy and non-involved sort of journalism or PR.
- What is one message that you would like to send to young journalists interested in politics?
I would tell them that if they are unwilling to work and do a lot of poorly paid work at the beginning, they might look for another field of activity. If you don’t also have a romantic component of Don Quixote, who fights with windmills, and don’t put the public interest above your disposition to effort and resistance to stress, it’s good to look for something else. Real journalists are strong characters willing to sacrifice a lot of their free time, leave home for whole days, and be reimbursed below their level of training and involvement.
Those unwilling to make such sacrifices at the beginning of their careers are better off not even starting. To the others willing to go through these trials, I advise them to learn continuously, focus on specific aspects/areas/topics, and improve themselves. The most important thing is not to be complacent, to keep an open mind, and to always try new things.
