Centennial of Romanian press, celebrated at Palace of the Patriarchate

A centenary of Romanian press was celebrated on Thursday, at a gala, at the Palace of the Patriarchate, where academician Eugen Simion, head of the Department of Literature and Philology with the Romanian Academy affirmed that journalism has "a moral role and a national role." 

"The press is first and foremost a combat body and that is its calling. It is a chronicler of the time and by this it becomes a fight tool, a combat body. In all of history's important moments, from the smaller union of the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 to closer times, the press is always present," Simion showed at the Gala "100 years in the Romanian Press". 

"I believe the printed literature is the one that endures. I don't know what will happen with these electronic devices. For me, it is like throwing a bottle into the ocean. (...) At present, I believe, the media in general plays an essential part," the academician pointed out. 

"In the global era [journalism, ed.n.] plays an extraordinary ethical role, a moral role and a national role, if we talk about identity, the media is firstly called upon to defend," the academician further said. 

The Gala "100 years in the Romanian Press" was organised on the occasion of the Greater Union Centennial celebration and according to organisers, the purpose of the event was to celebrate the memory of all those "who sacrificed themselves for the Romanian people, who fought against censorship, of those who accomplished the Union, of the 100 years of press for Romania and the Romanians." Romanian press institutions and people in Romania and the Republic of Moldova were awarded diplomas for their efforts in preserving the Romanian identity. 

The documentary film "The Greater Union and the press of the time", accomplished with the support of the Ministry of Culture and National Identity was screened at the Gala. The documentary tackles the period before the Greater Union, the mediatization of the Union Act, as well as the echoes and reactions of the Romanian and foreign press related to the Greater Union. 

The event was attended by the descendants of the journalists 100 years ago, of those who ended up in communist prisons or the Canal, those who lived the 1989 moment and especially post-1989, members of the Romanian Academy, members of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, diplomats, historians, Romanian-language journalists from the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, representatives of the Romanian Journalists' Union, journalists of ethnic minorities. The presenters of the event were journalist Ana Iorga and historian Filip Iorga. 

The event was organized by PSNews, with the support of the Bucharest City Hall, through the Monuments and Heritage Tourism Administration.