Libertatea’s editor-in-chief Dan Duca announced his resignation from his position, citing “a long series of events that have taken place in the company over the last year and a half”, attempts at “intimidation by some people in the group’s management against some of my colleagues”, the dismissal from the group

Dan Duka’s resignation follows the dismissal of editorial director Katalin Tolontan on December 6, as well as Julia Ros and Kamelia Sten, deputy editors-in-chief of Libertatea.

Dan Duka announced his retirement on Facebook:

• “Yesterday morning, I informed the CEO of Ringier Romania, Dan Puic, about my decision to leave the position of editor-in-chief of Libertatea. The reasons are not difficult to predict: a long series of events that took place in the company over the last year and a half, attempts to intimidate some people from the group’s management regarding some of my colleagues, the dismissal of Mihni Vasiliou, the dismissal of Cătălin Țepelin, after we, together with dozens of other colleagues, demanded an end to the pressure to the editorial office of Gazeta Sporturilor in favor of bookmakers, the dismissal of Dan Udrea and Cătălin Tolontan from Gazetă and, most recently: Tolo, Iulia Roşu and Kamelia Sten from Libertatea, as well as the intention to fire other Libertatea journalists.
• I believe that Ringier’s decisions are wrong not only in principle and humanely, but also strategically, because now they have hit hard on the work and achievements of a team of several dozen journalists and co-authors to turn the former tabloid into the only publication in the world. Top 25 sites from Romania that constantly publish investigations in Romania. And they were by no means few and by no means without consequences, there is no point in mentioning them here.
• I believe that these layoffs, and others after them, will eventually lead to a “taming” of content, and Libertatea will no longer have the power to bother many people, to the relief of some emails and phone calls to the company for which complaints have been made in the past. I do not say this as a vote of no confidence to my colleagues at Libertatea who decide to stay, I wish them that after January, when Tolo and Julia will no longer be here, and after February 15, when my mandate as editor-in-chief ends – the boss – contradicts me.
• In 2023, together with all my colleagues, I brought Libertatea to the 1st place in the top of the most read sites in Romania with the content recipe that Mihnia defined so well – “Libertatea should be a carrefour type product” – that is, a place where you will find both premium products as well as popular products. Investigations, reports, correspondence from around the world, meaningful interviews, as well as lighter content: evergreen or mundane.
• I am very proud of the work of those with whom I worked and work with in all departments of Libertatea, and I thank everyone – colleagues, employees – for accepting me as editor-in-chief.
• What will we do, (what will I do after February 15)? We will try to continue to work together or separately and fulfill our duty to the public. That is what I have done in recent years at Libertatea and the reason why I think almost everyone here (and from other places) chose this profession. We owe this not only to our readers, but also to Yulia Marin and Mikhnea.”

Read also:

• Cătălin Tolontan, fired from Libertatea along with two other names from the top of the editorial board
• The first reaction of the editorial office of Libertatea after the dismissal of Tolontan: today we were informed that a large-scale restructuring is taking place / “20% of journalists will be dismissed”

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