Ionut Chiruta

University of Tartu, Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, Junior Research Fellow

University of Oslo, Department of Media and Communication, Graduate Student

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Ionut Chiruta is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Tartu and a Marie Curie-Skłodowska fellow in Project FATIGUE (Delayed Transformational Fatigue in Central and Eastern Europe: Responding to the Rise of Populism).
His doctoral thesis, under Dr. Vello Pettai, wants to reveal how populism is shaping Romanian politics and reconstructing the memory and political identity of the Hungarian minority. Prior to his Ph.D., Ionut received a MAc in Media Studies from the University of Oslo and a BAc in Communication from the Cuza University. Foregoing places of study and research include Maastricht, Tartu, Budapest and Helsinki.
Phone: +4740292758

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Multifaced Hungarian Kin-State Activism in Szeklerland: Rebuilding the Last 'Nation' Through Restorative Nostalgia and Lieux de Mémoire

Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe, 2022

This article explores the cultural dynamics of Fidesz's kin-state policies achieved in Romania be... more This article explores the cultural dynamics of Fidesz's kin-state policies achieved in Romania between 2015 and 2020, particularly in the enclave of Szeklerland. In recent years, Fidesz's external policies constructed a transborder "synthetic home" connected to Hungary by memory spaces. Consequently, this study investigates how the ethnocultural reproduction

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CONTEMPORARY POPULISM AND ITS POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES: DISCOURSES AND PRACTICES IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE Belgrade, 12-13 December 2019

Populism in Central-Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Europe has been framed through theoretical i... more Populism in Central-Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Europe has been framed through theoretical ideas and expectations based on West European experience. However, the region's experience of populist politics has diverged from that of Western Europe in important ways. In older West European democracies, the most typical vehicle for populism are, for the moment, new or previously marginal illiberal challenger parties which confront an essentially liberal, non-populist mainstream. In Central-Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Europe, it is the "mainstream" which is or has become populist. Therefore, it is important to elaborate which of these universal indicators of populism can be applied to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Western Balkans, and what kind of particularities will crystallize as a consequence of the socialist background. The main aim of the conference is to gather scholars that are researching different aspects and manifestations of populism in...

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Challenging the Rule of Law in Romania: The Metamorphosis of Political Discourse Towards Populism

Problems of Post-Communism, 2021

This article is an exploratory analysis of the political style of the Romanian Social Democratic ... more This article is an exploratory analysis of the political style of the Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSD), which, despite being a mainstream center-left party, has shifted from a latent to a crystalized populist rhetoric. Using qualitative content analysis of party speeches and press statements from 2015-2019, the article shows how the political style of the party became more populist as the domestic justice system began to pressure leading PSD politicians. The data reveal an intersection between populist rhetoric and institutionalist discourse when the PSD was trying to amend the rule-of-law institutions.

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The Representation of Roma in the Romanian Media During COVID-19: Performing Control Through Discursive-Performative Repertoires

Frontiers in Political Science, 2021

This article investigates the narratives employed by the Romanian media in covering the developme... more This article investigates the narratives employed by the Romanian media in covering the development of COVID-19 in Roma communities in Romania. This paper aims to contribute to academic literature on Romani studies, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, by adopting as its case study the town of Ţȃndȃrei, a small town in the south of Romania, which in early 2020 was widely reported by Romanian media during both the pre-and post-quarantine period. The contributions rest on anchoring the study in postfoundational theory and media studies to understand the performativity of Roma identity and the discursive-performative practices of control employed by the Romania media in the first half of 2020. Aroused by the influx of ethnic Romani returning from Western Europe, the Romanian mainstream media expanded its coverage through sensationalist narratives and depictions of lawlessness and criminality. These branded the ethnic minority as a scapegoat for the spreading of the virus. Relying on critical social theory, this study attempts to understand how Roma have been portrayed during the Coronavirus crisis. Simultaneously, this paper resonates with current Roma theories about media discourses maintaining and reinforcing a sense of marginality for Roma communities. To understand the dynamics of Romanian media discourses, this study employs NVivo software tools and language-in-use discourse analysis to examine the headlines and sub headlines of approximately 300 articles that have covered COVID-19 developments in Roma communities between February and July 2020. The findings from the study indicate that the media first focused on exploiting the sensationalism of the episodes involving Roma. Second, the media employed a logic of polarization to assist the authorities in retaking control of the pandemic and health crisis from Romania. The impact of the current study underlines the need to pay close attention to the dynamics of crises when activating historical patterns of stigma vis-à-vis Roma communities in Eastern Europe.

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Using the Past in Populist Communicational Strategies

Populism, 2020

This article investigates how political strategies interrelate populist rhetoric with memory issu... more This article investigates how political strategies interrelate populist rhetoric with memory issues. By looking at the case of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) from Romania, between 2017–2019, this article reveals how the slide to populism, generated by cyclical confrontations with the rule of law institutions, steered the PSD to adopt conspirational beliefs and appeal to traumatic memories to frame the judiciary as the new Securitate. Through the use of discourse analysis and virtual ethnography, this article analyses party resolutions and political rallies. This article explains how the populist rhetoric created a new hegemonic narrative of the judiciary, by intersecting its values and symbolism with the memory of the former Securitate from the Communist period.

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Norwegian Cinema Market -The transition from Public to the effects of Privatization

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and debate the question: What are the implications of pri... more The purpose of this paper is to analyze and debate the question: What are the implications of privatization of the Norwegian Cinema System? Thus, the structure of the following paper will analyze the stages that lead towards privatization, inasmuch as the generators of the shift from public to private. In the second part, the essay will reveal the dimensions of the takeover of the Norwegian Cinema Market. Similarly, this part will identify the conglomerates that are responsible for the shift within the market; and what are the economic and political reverberations caused by their actions. In contrast to the new private tendency from the Cinema market, the article will present an opposite example of the municipalities from Norway that resisted the buyout wave.

format_quotePost-2008 financial crisis, Nordic market faced pressure to transition from public ownership to privatization with new consortiums.format_quote

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Historical perspectives of the Public Service Broadcast and Digital Age. "Filter Bubble" and the changes in media

The introduction of the Public Service Broadcast changed the landscape of television and radio to... more The introduction of the Public Service Broadcast changed the landscape of television and radio to a point where these two mediums dictated the tendencies in the society, influencing people, and giving birth to new channels of communication. Having this in mind, this paper consists of three parts. The first part will discuss the principles of the Public Service Broadcast, with an emphasis on its genesis. The second part will present the implications of the digital age in relation with PSB. Lastly, the third part will present the concept of the Filter Bubble and present examples related to changes in the media industry.

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Nordic Public Service Broadcast, Media Welfare State and the implications of Deregulations and Digitalization

One aspect that leads to the increase of democracy in Scandinavia is media, particularly the Publ... more One aspect that leads to the increase of democracy in Scandinavia is media, particularly the Public Service Broadcasting in relation to the unique Media Welfare State. Having this said, this paper will try to assess and analyze the Public Service Broadcasting in the Nordic countries in regards to the development of Media Welfare State. Thus, the following paper consists of three parts. The first part will talk about the distinctiveness of the Nordic Model, inasmuch as of its particularities. Secondly, the paper will reveal the relation between the Nordic PSB and the Media Welfare State along with the characteristics and differentiation between the Nordic states. Thirdly, the articles will present the effect of the Deregulation and Digitalization over the PSB within the last years

format_quoteNordic public service broadcasters exemplify Media Welfare State principles: public ownership, editorial independence, diverse quality output, and broad political support.format_quote

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