It Was a Challenging Year!

We believed in ourselves. We believed in the team of Jurnalul National. We experienced the ups and downs, the doom and the glory. We turned the paper from a 20 page tabloid into a 40 pages broadsheet. We also made a 2005 resolution to surpass the previous year with bigger and more numerous accomplished projects. The resolution last year, when re-launching Jurnalul National daily, looked like this: "I would like that we, Romanians, to not be constantly blasé. I would like us to forget the meaning of being resigned. I would like us to learn to surpass our own status. I would like us to have initiatives, to be dynamic and active, inventive and creative, to let our imagination go free.

Let us not plan on how we will survive our poverty, and let’s start thinking on how we can get rid of it. Let us act, not react. Let us produce more and spend less. Let us not rely on handouts from the state. Let us demand the state to respect us and our rights. Let us put an end to the demeaning behavior of civil servants - from the simple clerk to the head of the state - that act as if we owed them something.

Whereas the truth is that they owe it to us, since they are paid from our taxes. Let us be incisive and unforgiving with those that steal or waste public money. The same treatment should be applied to law offenders. Let us stay united against all kinds of injustices.

Since we will join Europe and become fully European, we must now constantly look forward, and look back only when really necessary. Let us not waste our time in futile debates. Let us not debate at national level things like how we will proceed from now on with sacrificing the pigs for the Christmas dinner. Let us stop thinking that we are the center of the earth. Let us learn once again what good taste is all about and forget the lack of manners, the bad taste and the tacky. Let us turn the pride to be Romanian into a real commitment. In other words, pride should mean accomplishment, not a memory of distant deeds our forefathers did.

Just so, let us not reminisce on old memories. Let us live in the present times and, most importantly, let us keep our thoughts towards the future. Let us live our lives to the fullest, since they pass so quickly. Let us promote our values, let us cherish them and, more importantly, let us not destroy them. Let us not trample over our idols, let us not pull down our statues and let us build, not demolish.

Let us stop whining; let us get rid of our chronic pessimism; let us be optimistic and trustful and serene. Let us be so as to turn Romania into a country of all avenues, in the good sense of the word. Let us believe in our own destiny. Sweet and resigned Romania, eternally fascinating, this is what I whish for you.

We, the team of Jurnalul National daily, believe that such a Romania exists. Let us call it "our" Romania, which must turn into everybody’s Romania." These were the words I wrote a year ago, at a new beginning, in the first issue of the revamped daily.

We were fearful and shivering deep inside, as if coming out into a freezing cold world. But we placed our trust in the team of Jurnalul. We believed in ourselves. We set ourselves higher goals for 2005, much higher than those of the year before. But we will have time to expand on that at later dates.

Starting tomorrow, a new section of the paper will be published: the Jurnalul for Health. So, from tomorrow on, on every Tuesday, a free 32-page full-color special section dealing with health issues will be part of the newspaper.

Another 32-page large special section will be issued with the Thursdays’ paper. But the topic of Thursdays’ special section will rest a surprise, every week. So, to sum up, Jurnalul National starts this year with the following special sections supplementing the regular issue of the newspaper: on Mondays - there is the Collection Section; on Tuesdays - there is the Health Section; on Wednesdays there is the Cooking Section; on Thursdays there is the Surprise Section, and on Fridays - there is the TV Guide.

As we did last year, we plan to keep all the promises we make to our readers. Is it enough or not? We believe it’s everything. I whish you this year to be a challenge to you too!