A major challenge facing the Government of Romania is to sell the need for economic reforms to the media, which in turn play an instrumental role in selling these reforms to the general public. In order to drum up greater support for reforms, CIPE is looking to narrow the information gap by partnering with the Romania-based Economic Journalists Club, known as ECO-Club, in order to inform journalists of the need for reforms and of their role in advancing the reform process. ECO-Club is being supported by both CIPE and Project Syndicate, which funds a global network of newspapers based in Prague, Czech Republic.
ECO-Club activities will center on monthly meetings of member journalists with high-ranking domestic and international policymakers. Member journalists will have a voice in selecting the topics for discussion, and they will be briefed by policymakers on why such policies are needed and what their effects will be on the overall economy. In advance of each meeting, briefing materials will be prepared by a local policy institute. These materials will present a synthesis of information available from both local and Western sources; written copies will be distributed to all Club members, and the information will be posted on the Club's Web site. The Web site will also host electronic "chats" among Club members in different countries and will facilitate input from the general public.
The purpose of ECO-Club is to: 1) strengthen the quality of economic reporting and institutionalize the free flow of information concerning economic developments in Romania; 2) provide journalists with access to high-level domestic and international policymakers in an environment that lends itself to serious discussion of the issues; 3) enhance journalists' understanding of critical economic issues by providing them with access to key background materials, training programs, and information; and 4) help economic journalists develop contacts with their counterparts in other transition countries and in the West.
Economic journalism is relatively new in Romania and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe. If the ECO-Club project is successful, it is hoped that it will be replicated in other countries to create a close network of journalists with a solid knowledge of economic issues.