AGERPRES general director heard by Chamber of Deputies Culture Committee

AGERPRES General Director Alexandru Giboi was heard by the Culture, Arts and Mass Media Committee of the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday, on the technical error occurred in the brochure "Germany-Romania. 135 years of diplomatic relations."

Photo credit: (c) Grigore POPESCU / AGERPRES PHOTO

Giboi pointed out that the news agency was responsible for the technical error, and the employee responsible for the desktop publishing and layout of the brochure has been penalized.

"I once again admit the technical error was ours; the pass for press was issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; two copies of the brochure were printed, and the cost of one was 14.70 lei. I don't think it fit now for two partner institutions with a very good collaboration to have an inter-institutions dialogue which could indicate they pass the buck to each other. (...) A single person was penalized, because a single person worked on that brochure; I did not see that brochure. It was technically produced by us, in collaboration with the Foreign Ministry; probably this was the source of the error, because that young lady, knowing she will be verified by the Foreign Ministry, did not give it all the necessary attention," Giboi told the Committee.

The members of the Committee also demanded a report on the travels in Romania and abroad on behalf of the Agency; the general director handed each attending member of the parliament a binder with all the details ? invitations, travel reports and activity reports.

He also pointed out AGERPRES was a member of several international organizations ? the Association of the Balkan News Agencies, the Black Sea Association of National News Agencies and the European Alliance of News Agencies, all within the News Agencies World...