The other day, I received a letter from a group of actors from the "Vasile Alexandri" Theater in Balti. It's not signed, but it seems to be from a group of desperate individuals. We receive such letters very often at the Center for Investigative Journalism, including in my name. Every day, two or three people come to the Center with serious problems that they cannot resolve in state institutions. Additionally, two or three people at least call me personally daily, with serious issues.

When they come to us, to the press, it's like a last resort; they are disappointed in state institutions, legal bodies, the judiciary, and don't know what to do anymore. They place their last hope, the only one left, in the press. We, as a small team, are always busy dealing with problems that state institutions do not solve, despite citizens paying from their hard-earned money for these institutions to exist. Our small team manages to resolve many cases that come to us, but we lack the capacity and power to investigate all of them. Yet, we understand that behind every case, even if it is personal, there are systemic deficiencies, officials' indifference or incompetence, and abuses in public service.

For 20 years, since the Center  for Investigative Journalism  has been operating, we haven't received a penny from the public budget. However, every year, CIJM pays at least ONE MILLION LEI to the public budget in taxes. We seek funding sources ourselves to carry out our work professionally, without interference. While it's not easy, we succeed because the satisfaction from the work we do is enormous and important.

We also receive donations from citizens and 2% of income tax, but these only cover 5% of our needs.

Yet, the authorities, who claim to be open to independent press, have not lifted a finger to support the press. In fact, they continue to burden us. To find out when Shor registered his last foundation, the  amazing ASP (Public Services Agency – attention (!), PUBLIC services (!)) asked us to pay. We needed this information for a journalistic investigation in which we showed how this foundation is already campaigning on behalf of a fugitive convicted of corruption, recruiting potential voters.

So we have to pay, as if we, the journalists, are conducting business with this information. We are required to pay, just like businessmen, lawyers, or other professionals who need information to make money.

Nothing has changed in recent years regarding access to information of public interest; the problems persist, and in some places, they have even multiplied.