Romania counteracts British media

In recent years, Western media has found that investigative journalism in the eastern EU member-countries can be exciting, unique and groundbreaking. The looming anxiety over the rapid expansion of the Union beyond the former Iron Curtain into Bulgaria and Romania led to arrival of numerous journalists from older member-states to cover the “uncharted lands.” Western journalists traveled to the new member-states bringing back rich, news-worthy and controversial inputs. The British stood out for their diligent and thorough work which even provoked reverse investigations from the Bulgarian Home Ministry about their integrity and impartiality.

The two most memorable BBC movies about Bulgaria “Buying the Games” and “The Abandoned Children of Bulgaria” (focusing on the Mogilino orphanage) brought bad publicity to the country and yet proved a useful tool to take legal action against perpetrators exposed in the movies. Another was that of a journalist from the British Sun who bought a fake passport in Sofia, with the name and photograph of the British Minister of Internal Affairs, John Reed. Although these stories were significant, a recent article by a British journalist in Romania revealed how some investigative journalists got the wrong impression that to do an exciting story they just had to arrive in Sofia or Bucharest and talk to a random person in the street, who, without doubt would either be involved in some “unclean” business or be a victim of trafficking and abuse.

Last year, Chris Rogers and his colleague arrived in Romania to investigate sexual exploitation of under-aged Romanian girls. The plan was to present themselves as owners of a London bar and to try and buy a girl. They easily found a girl at a gas station in the city of Iash, where three girls were waiting for “customers.” The drama was chronicled Rogers’ story in the Daily Mail, titled – “The shocking truth about the vice trade: Girls of 14 working as sex slaves” (www.dailymail.co.uk/archive). Rogers’ story describes how he bought the girl for about 800 Euro and how he took the girl to a Support Centre for Victims of Sexual Harassment in another city. After the good deed was done, the two journalists returned to the UK and in January 2008 their story appeared in the Daily Mail. The story quickly became a hot topic and Western media went further to explore and report on the issue.

This forced the officials in Romania to find the girl in question and begin investigation. All were surprised to find out that the alleged “child-prostitute” was a long term acquaintance of the police and was much older than 14 years, she was 25. Identified as Monica Ginga, her account of that night’s events was different than the published one. She claimed that three men – two English-speaking and one Romanian – were looking for an under-aged girl to spend the night with for 800 Euro. Once the amount was settled Monica, who is relatively tiny, decided to act the child. The undercover journalists apparently fell for the ruse; their story says: “She stroked my face and smiled to show her submission. She told me that she was 16 years old but she looked much younger, and I later learnt that she was only 14.”

After the girl got the money she sat in the car, but to her surprise it headed to a highway leading out of town instead to a nearby hotel. She claimed to have tried calling for help, but her “saviours” took away her phone.
The strangers left Monica at a social centre in Pitesht from where she escaped three weeks later. Now, Monica is determined to sue the Britons and her lawyers say that she has a good chance of winning. The Romanian newspapers speculate that the British scribes could face up to several years in jail if proven guilty. Some journalists from the British tabloid Sun are also facing similar threats. In January, the Sun published a series of articles which suggested that the people of Tandarey in South Romania would sell their children to beg in the UK. The people of Tandarey were enraged by the accusations and started a petition to sue the paper for libel. The local Roma population, which the Sun mentioned, claims that they have never sent their children abroad as beggars. The mayor of the city, Vassíle Sava, confirmed to have spoken to journalists of the Sun but rejected some of the words that the articles attributed to him. The headmaster of the local school was so indignant at the articles that she threatened to file a separate court case against the tabloid.

Bucharest emphasises that these were not isolated cases and they demonstrated the lack of professionalism, fairness and objectivity on part of British journalists. It is also seen by some as a manifestation of UK’s hostile attitude towards newcomers whom they view as a threat to the economic and social structure of Britain. Finally, the publication of such misleading articles is humiliating for the worldwide image of the countries but it also raises questions about the ethics and credibility of journalists out there to get a story.