Political pressure on the number of aggressive acts against Romanian journalists were down in 2005 compared to the previous year, but other issues remained unchallenged over the past year, according to a new report published on Monday.

The "Freedom of the press in Romania – 2005" report says the problems confronting the Romanian media since the 2004 change of political power moved from overt attempts by the government to control the press to more subtle methods of pressure, including legislative moves or the lack of such initiatives on issues of most importance for journalists and their organizations.

The report says there was a growing number of attempts to block reporters’ access to public information especially at local level, where the working conditions of journalists has not changed since the ex-PSD government was replaced by an alliance of Democrats and Liberals.

The new government does not manifest the same obsession for its own image as the PSD government, the report says, and it doesn’t seem to have a plan to manipulate the media as its predecessor did.

But the Romanian media are facing more subtle dangers such a series of legislative measures involving the reform of the public radio and tv stations, the copyright regulations and the audiovisual landscape as a whole. Plus, a trend of market consolidation that, according to the report, is not sufficiently regulated to avoid any abuse.