Turnul Sfatului is the newsroom that brings us the news from Sibiu closer

Blog
03.02.2020
Turnul Sfatului is the newsroom that brings us the news from Sibiu closer
03.02.2020

Turnul Sfatului is „the most dynamic publication in Sibiu”. Launched in 2009 by a young team of journalists, Turnul Sfatului stands out through the speed and accuracy with which it keeps us up to date with everything new in Sibiu and not only Sibiu. I talked to Ștefan Dobre, deputy editor-in-chief, and we invite you to find out the story of the publication and the team behind the stories.

1. When did the history of the publication Turnul Sfatului begin?
Last autumn, we celebrated ten years of existence in the newsroom, together with readers. We celebrated in September as we know best: writing a series of articles in which we tried to highlight the way how we, the inhabitants of Sibiu, have changed in the last decade. How Turnul Sfatului grew along with Sibiu. From tourism and salaries, to health and leisure. Let me give you just a brief example: Do you remember what the train station area looked like ten years ago and what it looks like now? The newspaper cannot exist without the people of Sibiu, those who read us every day, they are our reason for being. If you are curious, you can find the section „TS 10 ani” on our website.

2. What determined you to create a publication with and about Sibiu?
The Turnul Sfatului newspaper is one hundred percent the creation of journalists, graduates of the Faculty of Journalism within ULBS, experienced people, inspired by the desire to write news with rigor and seriousness, as we once learned in school: With verified information from three sources and clear articles, from which the reader can understand who did what, where, how and why. We avoid as much as we can „Read here! You won't believe it!” or “EXCLUSIVE! Bombshell!". We are free from any political influence and pressure and we receive our salaries depending on how many articles we write and how we write them. There are tens of thousands of daily readers who judge us, for better or for worse, whom we thank for being with us.

3. Who are the people behind the publication?
Although we don't like to admit that we are getting older, if we put together all the press experience of the people in the newsroom, I think we are over one hundred years old. On the one hand, we are proud, on the other hand, it makes us feel responsible because the people of Sibiu have high expectations of us. You can find the name of each of us and what we do on the website, in the contact section. I can consider myself proud and happy every day that I have the opportunity to work side by side with some extraordinary people.

4. Who are the founding members?
Rare are the cases in which a team manages to stay together for several years in a row, let alone 10 years like in our case! To which is added almost as much team work, the same team, but in other local publications. Călin Bucur, Alin Bratu, Traian Deleanu and Bogdan Brylynski are founding members of the newspaper Turnul Sfatului, with me amongst them. I remember how we chose the name of the newspaper, how we watched the first readers, how we enjoyed the first comments, the first friends on Facebook. It's part of our soul here.

5. What do you consider to be the main challenge of the Sibiu community at the moment?
There are many positive aspects and many things that can be improved. I would like the people of Sibiu to be a united community, to have the same creed, to be tolerant, innovative, modern and with more respect for each other.

6. You have a lot of people following you on your Social Media pages.
What is the information of most interest for the people of Sibiu?
In the editorials of my colleagues, our news addresses various fields, from helpful details, such as closed streets due to works, to social ideas and projects. Our goal is for those who read us not only to know everything that happens in the city, but to better understand the community in which they live. You can see for yourself that these days it all affects us, from what is happening in China to what statements the US president is making. We do not want to steal a click, to trick people with a spectacular title on Facebook, we want to offer substance, content. If I had to highlight one section, I would say that my colleague Traian's investigations are an almost unique species within the local Romanian press.

7. I noticed that you often publish very beautiful photos of Sibiu. Do you have collaborating photographers or are there also images that come from your readers?
The photos in our newspaper are the work of colleague Silvana Armat, the best press photographer in Sibiu. Silvana also looks for something special when she takes photos for an interview and the interviewee sits at his desk, but also when she goes to a small village at the end of the county for a report on a social case. Honestly, I don't think there is a corner left in Sibiu that she didn't immortalize. It’s needless for me to praise her, we have a section „Galerie foto” on the website and you can convince yourself.

8. Do you plan to also have a printed version of the „Turnul Sfatului” portal?
Turnul Sfatului began as a newspaper in the classic sense of the word, a printed weekly paper, dubbed by a daily updated website. Nowadays very few people still read the newspaper on paper, everyone has phones, laptops and PCs. It's a global trend that we obviously couldn't avoid. So we gave up the print edition a few years ago and focused on the online version. During this period, the number of unique monthly readers increased from a few thousand to almost half a million. As I said from the beginning, we have learned and still know how to do the press like in the past, I am convinced that some of my colleagues are nostalgic regarding the page alignment, to be „clear-headed”, to choose the right titles, templates, and, especially, regarding the enthusiasm of the freshly printed first page. But we are living in the year 2020.

9. Finally, please pass on a good thought to the people of Sibiu who follow you every day.
The people of Sibiu who read us every day know us. Some of us they even know personally. I just want to tell them to be as critical of us as they have been until now, because that helps us be better every day.
Photo by: Turnul Sfatului