Universul

"Universul" ("The Universe") was Romania's first mass-circulation daily newspaper. It was founded on 20 August 1884 by Luigi Cazzavillan, an Italian journalist who arrived in the Romanian Old Kingdom in 1877 as a war correspondent and later settled in Bucharest. It was among the first Romanian newspapers assembled according to modern journalistic principles, conceived as an independent political periodical and targeted to as wide an audience as possible. [Giurescu, Dinu C. (coord.), "Istoria României în date", p. 257, Editura Enciclopedică, Bucharest, 2003, ISBN 973-45-0432-0] Shortly after its launch it became the most-read newspaper in Romania, with impressive circulation figures for that era. While traditional newspapers reached numbers of around 5,000, "Universul" sold no fewer than 80,000. The secret to its resounding success was a combination of low cost compensated by large-scale advertising with an impartial editorial policy regarding politics and focused on attracting ever more readers. To this end, "Universul" was one of the first Romanian publications to feature an "in brief" ("faptul divers") section, a fact that drew severe criticism from contemporary newspapers and cultural figures, who considered the information to be of very poor quality, despite its high selling value. Various subjects were treated, such as murders, rapes, thefts and suicides. The language used was simple and accessible to the less-educated.

At the beginning, the newspaper (Romania's first to have permanent foreign correspondents) [ro icon Dan Ciachir, [http://www.ziua.ro/display.php?id=213683&data=2007-01-06 "Universul - maşina de bani" ("Universul - the Money-making Machine")] in "Ziua", 6 January 2007] was centred on brief notes from abroad, gradually including ones from the Kingdom. In addition, "Universul" featured serialized novels, current events and many illustrations. It appeared at 7 am and cost 5 "bani" in Bucharest and 10 "bani" elsewhere.

N. Dumitrescu-Câmpina succeeded Cazzavillan as director and was in turn followed by Stelian Popescu, who led it from 1916 to 1943 (with a two-year interruption during World War I). Popescu steered "Universul" toward a right-wing orientation and during the interwar period, it attained a circulation of 150,000-200,000, mainly in cities. [ro icon Delia Cristina Balaban, "Comportamentul de consum media al românilor în context european" ("Media Consumption Behaviour of Romanians in a European Context"), in "Revista Română de Jurnalism şi Comunicare", 2007] It continued to be published in the early years of the Communist regime, but closed in 1953.

"Universul" was first printed in Casa Cazzavilan on Strada Brezoianu. In 1926, the architect Paul Smărăndescu drew up plans for a new building, and Palatul Universul opened next door in 1930. After 1953, "Informaţia Bucureştilor" was housed there until 1989; for a decade thereafter, "Libertatea" occupied the space. [ro icon Catiuşa Ivanov, [http://www.gandul.info/societatea/cismigiul-fara-blocuri-teapa.html?3932;2419354 "Cişmigiul, fără blocuri-ţeapă" ("Cişmigiu, without Stake-like Apartment Buildings")] in "Gândul", 28 February 2007]

Notes

References

* Petcu, Marian, "Istoria jurnalismului şi a publicităţii în România", Politrom, Iaşi, 2007, ISBN 978-973-46-0794-5