STANDPOINT - TELEVISION BROADCASTING LEADS ROMANIA MARCH TOWARD AN OPEN, DEMOCRATIC-SOCIETY

Television broadcasting started slowly in Romania and for decades lang uished under strict state control. However, since it helped break the shackles of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's unique blend of Communist dog ma and censorship, it has been leading Romania's march reward a more o pen, democratic society. At first, broadcast improvements were slow to develop as the first democratically elected regime in post-revolution ary Romania maintained ifs Communist-era monopoly over state televisio n. More recently Romania has seen a dramatic increase in broadcast com petition and freedom. Four factors have played particularly significan t roles in spurring improvements: the development of alternative netwo rks, access to Western-style programming and production techniques, th e rise of private, independent broadcasters, and the international exc hange oi broadcast content.