(; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled Adevĕrul) is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Romanian Kingdom's existence, adopting an independent pro-democratic position, advocating land reform, and demanding universal suffrage. Under its successive editors Alexandru Beldiman and Constantin Mille, it became noted for its virulent criticism of King Carol I. This stance developed into a republican and socialist agenda, which made clash with the Kingdom's authorities on several occasions. As innovative publications which set up several local and international records during the early 20th century, and its sister daily Dimineața competed for the top position with the right-wing Universul before and throughout the interwar period. In 1920, also began publishing its prestigious cultural supplement, Adevărul Literar și Artistic. By the 1930s, their anti-fascism and the Jewish ethnicity of their new owners made and Dimineața the targets of negative campaigns in the far right press, and the antisemitic Octavian Goga cabinet banned both upon obtaining power in 1937. was revived by Barbu Brănișteanu after World War II, but was targeted by Communist Romania's censorship apparatus and again closed down in 1951.
A newspaper of the same name was set up in 1989, just days after the Romanian Revolution, replacing Scînteia, organ of the defunct Romanian Communist Party. Initially a supporter of the dominant National Salvation Front, it adopted a controversial position, being much criticized for producing populist and radical nationalist messages and for supporting the violent Mineriad of 1990. Under editors Dumitru Tinu and Cristian Tudor Popescu, when it reasserted its independence as a socially conservative venue and was fully privatized, became one of the most popular and trusted press venues. Nevertheless, it remained involved in scandals over alleged or confirmed political and commercial dealings, culminating in a 2005 conflict which saw the departure of Popescu, Bogdan Chireac and other panelists and the creation of rival newspaper Gândul. As of 2006, had been the property of Dinu Patriciu, a prominent Romanian businessman and politician.
Ownership, editorial team, publications, and structure is the main trademark of Adevărul Holding, a company owned by Cristian Burci. The main newspaper itself is edited by editor-in-chief Dan Marinescu and several deputy editors (Liviu Avram, Adina Stan, Andrei Velea and others).
Also part of the holding are a number of other publications: Dilema Veche, a cultural magazine popular history magazine Click!, a tabloid Click! pentru femei ('Click! for Women') magazine Click! Sănătate ('Click! Health') magazine Click! Poftă bună! ('Click! Bon Appetit!') magazine OK! magazine.
In December 2010, Adevărul Holding also launched a sister version of its title asset, published in neighboring Moldova as Adevărul Moldova. "Adevărul Moldova a pornit cu toate pânzele sus" , in , December 7, 2010; "Pe scurt: Adevărul Holding lansează Adevărul Moldova şi contractează un credit de 42 de milioane lei. Ioana Lupea şi Mircea Marian în locul lui Radu Moraru", at Hotnews.ro, December 3, 2010; retrieved December 27, 2010
The Romanian newspaper had special pages of regional content, one each for Bucharest, Transylvania, Moldavia, the western areas of Banat and Crișana, and the southern areas of Wallachia and Northern Dobruja. It also hosts columns about the larger sections of Romanian diaspora in Europe, those in Spain and Italy. publishes several supplements. In addition to Adevărul Literar și Artistic (formerly a separate magazine, now issued as a culture supplement which is issued on Wednesdays), it publishes five others: on Mondays, the sports magazine Antifotbal ("Anti-football"), which focuses on the traditionally less-covered areas of the Romanian sports scene; on Tuesdays, Adevărul Expert Imobiliar ("Real Estate Expert"); on Thursdays, Adevărul Sănătate ("Health"), a health and lifestyle magazine; on Fridays, a TV guide, Adevărul Ghid TV, followed on Sundays by the entertainment section Magazin de Duminică ("Sunday Magazine"). In October 2008, also launched Adevărul de Seară ("Evening Adevărul"), a free daily newspaper and evening edition, which was closed down in May 2011. "Noapte bună, Adevărul de seară! Trustul are datorii", in Evenimentul Zilei, May 11, 2011
As of 2008, the newspaper publishes Colecția Adevărul, a collection of classic and popular works in world and Romanian literature. These are issued as additional supplements, and sold as such with the newspaper's Thursday editions.
History
1871 and 1888 editions
Origins
A newspaper by the name Adevĕrulŭ (pronounced the same as , but following versions of the Romanian alphabet which emphasized etymology, in this case from the Latin word veritas) was founded on December 15, 1871. Florentina Tone, "Povestea fondatorului ziarului Adevĕrul" , in , December 16, 2008 The weekly was owned by Alexandru Beldiman, a former Police commander, and published in Iași, the former capital of Moldavia. Beldiman directed the newspaper in opposition to Romania's new Domnitor, the German prince Carol of Hohenzollern, calling for the restoration of his deposed and exiled predecessor, the Moldavian-born Alexandru Ioan Cuza. Its articles against the new monarch soon after resulted in Beldiman's indictment for defamation and attack on the 1866 Constitution. He was eventually acquitted, but the journal ceased publication with its 13th issue (April 1872).
reemerged as a daily on August 15, 1888, seven years after the proclamation of a Romanian Kingdom. It was then known as Adevĕrul, which also reflected the veritas origin, and the ĕ, although obsolete by the early 20th century, was kept as a distinctive sign by all the paper's owners until 1951. Florentina Tone, "Părintele ziaristicii române moderne" , in , December 21, 2008 Initially financed by a printer, who agreed to advance it a short-term credit, Florentina Tone, , in , December 23, 2008 the new gazette was co-founded by Alexandru Beldiman and Alexandru Al. Ioan, the son of former Domnitor Cuza, and was again noted for its radical and often irreverent critique of newly crowned King Carol and the "foreign dynasty". Florentina Tone, "Adevĕrul la București" , in , December 17, 2008 Florentina Tone, "Campaniile Adevĕrului" , in , December 18, 2008 The small editorial team included writer Grigore Ventura and his son Constantin, as well as, after a while, political columnist I. Hussar. In December 1888, it changed its format, from a No. 6 to a No. 10 in paper size, while abandoning the initial, calligraphed logo, in favor of a standard serif which it used until 1951.
Beldiman's hostility to the monarchy was reflected in one of the 15 objectives set by the second series' first issue, whereby called for an elective monarchy with magistratures reserved for locals, and evident in having chosen for the paper's motto a quote from poet Vasile Alecsandri, which read: Să te feresci, Române!, de cuiŭ strein în casă ("Romanians, beware of foreign nails in your house", an allusion to Carol's German origin).Pârvulescu, p.115 The journalists called Carol's accession to the throne by the 1866 plebiscite "an undignified comedy", refused to capitalize references to M. S. Regele ("H[is] M[ajesty] the King"), and referred to May 10, the national celebration of the Kingdom, as a "national day of mourning". Florentina Tone, "Adevĕrul deranjează" , in , December 19, 2008 In December 1888, they also published a list of Carol's alleged attacks on Romanian dignity.Pârvulescu, p.115-116 According to one account, after the newspaper's first May 10 issue came out in 1889, Police forces bought copies which they later set on fire. Reportedly, its circulation peaked on May 10 of each year, from some 5,000 to some 25,000 or 30,000 copies. Florentina Tone, , in , December 24, 2008 also debated with the German newspapers Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung and Kölnische Zeitung, who worried that Romania's anti-dynasticists plotted Carol's murder, assuring them that the actual battle was political, "in broad daylight, on the wide path of public opinion." In 1891, the paper called for boycotting Carol's 25th anniversary on the throne.
Early campaigns Located in Bucharest, the new had its original headquarters in Calea Victoriei (Doamnei Street, Nouă Street, Brătianu Boulevard, and Enei Street). Florentina Tone, "Palatul de pe Sărindar, mărire și decădere" , in , December 27, 2008 It later moved to a building near the National Bank and the Vilacrosse Passage, where it occupied just several rooms (leading its staff to repeatedly complain about the lack of space). Florentina Tone, "Povești din viața Adevĕrului" , in , December 31, 2008 A serious crisis occurred during 1892, when, having omitted to register his trademark, Beldiman was confronted with the appearance of a competing , published by his former associate Toma Basilescu, who had been the original gazette's administrator for the previous year. In June 1892, an arbitral tribunal decided in favor of Beldiman, ordering Basilescu to close down his paper.
With time, the newspaper had moved from advocating King Carol's replacement with a local ruler to supporting republicanism. In 1893, as part of its extended campaign, during which it gathered letters of protest from its readers, obtained the cancellation of plans for a public subscription to celebrate the engagement of Crown Prince Ferdinand to Marie of Edinburgh. In addition, began militating for a number of major social and political causes, which it perceived as essential to democracy. In its 15 points of 1888, it notably demanded universal suffrage to replace the census method enshrined in the 1866 Constitution, unicameralism through a disestablishment of the Senate, a land reform to replace leasehold estates, self-governance at a local level, progressive taxation, Sunday rest for employees, universal conscription instead of a permanent under arms force, women's rights, emancipation for Romanian Jews. It embraced the cause of Romanians living outside the Old Kingdom, particularly those in Austro-Hungarian-ruled Transylvania, while calling for Romania to separate itself from its commitment to the Triple Alliance, and advocating a Balkan Federation to include Romania.
also took an active interest in the problems facing Romania's rural population: while calling for a land reform, it expressed condemnation of the failing sanitary system, which it blamed for the frequency of countryside epidemics, and for the administrative system, which it accused of corruption. It depicted revolt as legitimate, and campaigned in favor of amnesty for prisoners taken after the 1888 peasant riots. The paper supported educational reforms in the countryside, calling attention to the specific issues faced by rural teachers, but also campaigned against their use of corporal punishment as a method of maintaining school discipline. In similar vein, focused on cases of abuse within the Romanian Army, documenting cases where soldiers were being illegally used as indentured servants, noting the unsanitary conditions which accounted for an unusually high rate of severe conjunctivitis, and condemning officers for regularly beating their subordinates. As part of the latter campaign, it focused on Crown Prince Ferdinand, who was tasked with instructing a battalion and is said to have slapped a soldier for not performing the proper moves. investigated numerous other excesses of authority, and on several occasions formed special investigative commissions of reporters who followed suspicions of judicial error. It also spoke out in favor of Jewish emancipation, while theorizing a difference between the minority "exploiting Jews" and an assimilable Jewish majority.