Presa, publicul și jurnaliștii în viziunea Lui George Barițiu și a corespondenților săi
The press, the public and the journalists in the eyes of George Barițiu and his correspondents

Summary/Abstract: This study aims to analyze the way George Barițiu, the founder of the first important Romanian newspapers in the Habsburg Empire, and his correspondents perceived the role of media in the society, as well as the public’s role related to the media and the duties of the journalists. Our sources were mainly Barițiu´s articles on these matters and the letters he received from fellow members of the Romanian intelligentsia, because his correspondents often advised him on his work as a journalist and editor.Regarding the media´s role in the society, our research has demonstrated that Romanian intelligentsia considered the following: to spread useful knowledge of all the fields, to sustain certain doctrines and political programs, to sustain the standardization of Romanian language, to strengthen the ties between Romanians, thus transforming journalism into an instrument for the emancipation of the Romanian nation. Like many European writers and journalists of his time, George Barițiu argued for liberty of the press in several well documented articles.The editor and several of his correspondents were aware of the important role of the public, and discussed several times about the ways to increase the number of the Romanian readers. The concept of ”public opinion” was known to the Romanian intelligentsia, which proves that they well understood the role of the press in the society. We can also find several interesting considerations regarding the duties of the journalists, who had to be independent men, to remain unbiased with the facts they were presenting and to have a profound knowledge of law, economy and foreign languages.

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