The first awkward war of 2021 for Iohannis and his followers!
"[…] The social media accounts of PNL supporters simmer with indignation. A member of the Audiovisual Council (CNA) is calling for the resignation of Doina Gradea, the president and director general of TVR, and so is “Liberal” MP Pavel Popescu. The reason? Jokes broadcast on a TV show! Jokes targeting political leaders, Iohannis in particular, but also the reality of the pandemic context.
Well, this was labeled as an attack on the authorities and anti-pandemic measures! For years, the same TVR mounted countless attacks on the Social-Democratic Party, at the time the ruling party! Plus all the mockery concerning Ion Iliescu during his term as president staged by the comedy group “Divertis” and others… But Iohannis surely isn’t Iliescu…
[…]
Yes, this is how 2021 begins – with a war between Ioahnnis (and his followers) and…Garcea! How unfortunate for Romania’s president – and for Romania in general! […]"
NARRATIVE: TVR is the target of a wave of criticism for broadcasting a parody of the president, not for promoting denialist theories concerning the pandemic. The theory presented by Sputnik has been supported by Activenews, a news portal with numerous coronasceptic articles, which stands accused of promoting fake news over the years. Both Sputnik and Activenews are quoting journalist Bogdan Tiberiu Iacob.
BACKGROUND: Ever since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the Russian Federation has staged a wide disinformation campaign on this subject, documented by mass-media and specialized debunking websites and criticized by United States officials and the European Union External Action Service. Sputnik is one of the channels most frequently used to spread fake narratives regarding the pandemic, and its Romanian-language version has been promoting people who have been involved in protests denying the existence/risks of the coronavirus from the very beginning.
Mugur Mihăescu, the host of the show "Revelion la mine acas’" (New Year’s Party at my place) broadcast by TVR, is one of the people who’s challenged anti-COVID measures. He attended an anti-mask protest in Victory Square in July, whereas in October he posted a message calling for a new protest. Mihăescu, a member of the comedy group Vacanța Mare, which has over the years attracted harsh criticism for its gaudy humor, was also an informer for the former secret police.
Dan Bittman, a guest on the aforementioned show, is also a well-known rejectionist of anti-COVID restrictions and has publicly expressed denialist views.
PURPOSE: To spread narratives regarding the coronavirus pandemic and its risks and undermine efforts to combat the pandemic. To divert public attention away from the target of criticism – promoting coronascepticism on the public television – and towards a fake issue, an attempt to censor TVR for a comedy show.
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: Public figures who’ve criticized the TV show broadcast by TVR have strictly referred to the promotion of coronasceptic theories.
OFFICIAL REACITONS: Dorina Rusu, a member of the National Audiovisual Council, announced she has taken note of the TVR show since “this is not about a few bad jokes targeting the authorities in charge of managing the pandemic, but the fact that the public television is deriding anti-COVID protection measures and actually encouraging people not to observe them, at a time of the year when many people are watching television”.
Iulian Bulai, the chairman of the Culture Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, denounced a “disinformation paid with taxpayer money” and a sabotage of measures to prevent the spread of the disease. Bulai also said he would summon CNA representatives in Parliament and called for the resignation of TVR’s President and Director General, Doina Gradea.
Bogdan Ghiu, a member of TVR’s Board of Administrators, said in a letter to his peers that the New Year’s show was a “dangerous implicit and explicit promotion of coronascepticism and anti-vaccination through various jokes and remarks by its guests (starring Dan Bittman), which might be considered an attempt to ‘undermine measures to combat the pandemic’”.
Doina Gradea, President and Director General of TVR, accused Iulian Bulai of trying to reintroduce censorship and described his intervention as “the most serious political interference in the editorial independence of the Romanian Television”.
