According to the latest official statistics, there were a total of seventy-six "general information" newspapers published throughout the country in 1969. Of these, fifty-one were dailies, twenty-three were weeklies, and two appeared at infrequent intervals, from two to three times per week. Daily circulation estimates were available for very few newspapers. Together, these newspapers had a total annual circulation of more than 1.1 billion copies, a substantial increase over the 1950 level of 870 million copies that was achieved by the seventy-five newspapers then being published. The acceptance of high circulation figures as an indicator of reader appeal is of doubtful value, however, since many readers were required to subscribe to newspapers because of their party or work affiliation. Also, certain functionaries throughout the governmental apparatus and many supervisory workers had subscription costs automatically deducted from their salaries.
Newspapers traditionally have been published in the national minority languages, but since the mid-1960s the government has published no official statistics on them, apparently in keeping with its integrationist policy (see ch. 7). In 1964 it was estimated by Western observers that the ethnic minorities were served by approximately twenty newspapers, including eight dailies, with an annual circulation of slightly more than 103 million copies.
All newspapers are licensed by the General Directorate for the Press and Printing, the state agency that also controls the allocation of newsprint, the manufacture of ink and other printing supplies, and the distribution of all publications. Thus the government is in a position to prohibit the appearance of any newspaper or other publication either directly by revoking the license or indirectly by withholding essential supplies or services. Each newspaper is organized into a collective enterprise made up of the entire personnel of all departments. Chief responsibility for the content of the paper is vested in an "editorial collegium" headed by the chief editor. Meetings are held periodically between all chief editors and party representatives, which serve as an effective means of followup control in lieu of prepublication censorship.
Major mass organizations, government-sponsored groups, local government organs, and the PCR and its subsidiaries publish the most important and influential papers, both in Bucharest and in the larger cities of the various counties (see table 3). Little latitude is allowed in the presentation of news, and almost all papers follow a serious, monotonous format that has little popular appeal. Shortly after renewed emphasis was placed on the ideological and political education of the population in mid-1971, a Western journalist likened the nation to a huge classroom in which unpopular and trite subjects were being presented to an unreceptive class by an exhortative mass media.
The most authoritative and widely read newspaper is Scinteia, founded in 1931 as the official organ of the Central Committee of the party. It has, by far, the largest daily circulation and enjoys considerable prestige as the outlet for party policy pronouncements as well as for semiofficial government attitudes on both national and international issues. The eight-page newspaper appears seven days a week and is national in scope. Its editorials, feature sections, and chief articles are frequently reprinted, in whole or in part, by smaller newspapers in outlying areas. Quotations and summaries are also repeated regularly in shop bulletins and in information letters put on by many enterprises, plants, and factories.
The next most important dailies are Romania Libera, established by the Socialist Unity Front in 1942; Munca, founded in 1943 as the voice of the Central Council of the General Union of Trade Unions and Scinteia Tineretului, the organ of the Union of Communist Youth, which has been published since 1944. Each of these newspapers is much smaller than Scinteia and is directed at a particular group of readers of level of society. Although Romania Libera contains items of both national and international interest, it deals primarily with the problems associated with the "building of socialism" at the local level. Similarly, Munca directs its major effort at the labor force and stresses the cooperative relationship between workers and industry. Scinteia Tineretului, in like manner, concentrates on the younger element of the population and stresses the ideological and political training of youth as the basis for a "sound socialist society."
Table 3. Principal Romanian Daily Newspapers, 1971
| Publication | Daily Circulation (in thousands) | Place | Publisher |
| Crisana | - | Oradea | Romanian Communist Party |
| Dobrogea Noua | - | Constanta | Romanian Communist Party |
| Drapelul Rosu | 54 | Timisoara | Romanian Communist Party |
| Drum Nou | - | Brasov | Romanian Communist Party |
| Drumul Socialismului | - | Deva | Romanian Communist Party |
| Elore¹ | - | Bucharest | Hungarian People's Council |
| Faclia | - | Cluj | Romanian Communist Party |
| Faklya¹ | - | Oradea | Hungarian People's Council |
| Flacara Iasului | - | Iasi | Romanian Communist Party |
| Flacara Rosie | - | Arad | Romanian Communist Party |
| Flamura Prahovei | - | Ploiesti | Romanian Communist Party |
| Igazsag | - | Cluj | Romanian Communist Party |
| Inainte | - | Craiova | Romanian Communist Party |
| Inainte | - | Braila | Romanian Communist Party |
| Informatia Bucurestiului | - | Bucharest | Romanian Communist Party |
| Munca | - | Bucharest | General Union of Trade Unions |
| Neuer Weg² | 100 | Bucharest | German People's Council |
| Romania Libera | 200 | Bucharest | Socialist Unity Front |
| Satul Socialist | - | Bucharest | Union of Agricultural Production Cooperatives |
| Scinteia | 1,000 | Bucharest | Romanian Communist Party |
| Scinteia Tineretului | 300 | Bucharest | Union of Communist Youth |
| Sportul Popular | - | Bucharest | Union of Culture and Sports |
| Steagul Rosu | - | Bucharest | Romanian Communist Party |
| Steau Rosie | - | Tirgu Mures | Romanian Communist Party |
| Szabad Szo¹ | - | Timisoara | Hungarian People's Council |
| Viata Noua | - | Galati | Romanian Communist Party |
| Voros Zaszlo¹ | - | Tirgu Mures | Hungarian People's Council |
| - circulation unknown. | |||
| ¹ Published in Hungarian. | |||
| ² Published in German. | |||
The principal and most widely known minority-language newspapers are the Hungarian daily Elore and the German Neuer Weg, also a daily. Both of these newspapers contain generally the same news as Romanian newspapers with additional local items of minority interest, such as cultural developments and problems associated with minority language use in education and other fields.
Periodicals