National Press Review, November 25

How much does the Romanian National Company of Motorways and National Roads (RNCMNR) spends on lawyers, mayors on Christmas preparations and television stations for ensuring scandal? – these are the topics of today’s newspapers, together with the echoes of change in the Neamţ Police Department.

"Şoric’s dragons turn into lambs" – writes the Evenimentul Zilei.

Ten days ago, the police station chiefs in Neamţ county were threatening to resign if their chief was removed from his position. Now they have forgotten ever supporting him and suddenly remembered they have families, children and that they cannot resign.

The Jurnalul Naţional: "40 million euros wasted on lawyers". That is how much the Romanian National Company of Motorways and National Roads (RNCMNR) spents on legal counseling.

For example, the expropriations for the Braşov – Borş highway earned a lawyer a 5 million euro bonus.

But has anyone ever driven on the Braşov – Borş highway? The Company is paying a lot of public money on legal assistance for roads on paper, closes up the Jurnalul Naţional .

The analysis with which the Adevărul opens today’s edition is called: "The middle class destroyed by the crisis".

The small enterprises, doctors and teachers should form the so-called middle class. In Romania, however, they belong to the category of poor people.

How many of them – asks the Adevărul – have an income of 1.500 lei per family member, a decent home, an average car, a computer and can afford a trip abroad? And the crisis – with its suite of taxes, cut backs and dismissals – has reduced even more the number of people belonging to the middle class category.

The România Liberă writes today about "the price of death on television".

Commercial television stations are spending large sums of money to convince the relatives of deceased stars or just different kind of quarrelsome guests to participate in public shows.

Producers and heads of television stations, media analysts comment on the topic in the România liberă.They talk, among others, about "the public interest" and about the concept of "modern television".

We close up with an article in the Gândul "Mayors and the spirit of Christmas". A district mayor in Bucharest is buying two 3D reindeers, with brown fur, black hoofs and red hats, that pull 2D sledges, a 3.2 foot angel and a 22 pound elf. Other parts, however, are hit by a big crisis.

In Miercurea Ciuc – writes the Gândul – the City Hall officials are repairing the garlands and the mayor of Braşov announces that the City Hall will not longer bring celebrities to hold concerts. "We"d rather sing ourselves – says the mayor- than pay others to do it."

Translated by: Iris Butnariu and Raluca Mizdrea
MA Students, MTTLC, Bucharest University