Universul.net celebrated its fifth anniversary on Tuesday with journalists vowing to continue their mission of bringing unbiased and relevant reporting about Romania and the world to their readers.
The Romanian and English-language media outlet went live on October 1, 2019, and by the end of that year was reporting on the start of the biggest pandemic in the last hundred years.
Since then, a small team of committed and professional journalists have reported on the war in Ukraine and the Middle East and the AI revolution as well as delivering daily news from Romania and neighboring countries.
The site has earned a reputation of being the go-to news outlet for foreign news, and was named after one of the first Romanian newspapers, Universul, which appeared in 1884. Today’s Universul covers Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from all angles, reports on what the independent Russian media is saying, and brings readers the latest on the crisis in the Middle East, and developments in Iran, China and the United States.
It’s also known for its op-eds by senior international affairs journalist, Dan Perry, who regularly writes for Newsweek and other publications, and editor-in-chief Laurentiu Mihu, who has written extensively about Ukraine and Russian politics in the last five years.
Its English section serves a community of expats and readers looking for in-depth news, commentary and interviews about Romania and world affairs in English.
The English section provides a vital service to readers (some have even called it a lifeline) to Romanians and foreigners at home and abroad from the NATO and EU member where there is a shortage of relevant and interesting news about Romania in English.
Universul.net was founded by U.S. educated journalist Dan Turturica in 2019, after he left Digi24 where he was editor-in-chief of www.digi24.ro website.The veteran journalist headed the site from 2019 until November 2021 when he was appointed director-general of state broadcaster TVR following a vote in the Romanian Parliament.
Mr. Turturica was one of Romania’s top journalists who began his career in the aftermath of the 1989 anti-communist revolt.
Alison Mutler was appointed Universul.net director after Mr. Turturica’s departure and she named Mr. Mihu editor-in-chief.
Mrs. Mutler was the Associated Press correspondent in Romania for 25 years until March 2019, and was part of the team that launched Universul.net in 2019 with Mr. Turturica,
Mr. Mihu was Universul’s deputy editor-in-chief until Mr. Turturica’s departure and previously worked at Digi24 from December 2015 to March 2019, and before that in the same position at România liberă.
In the footsteps of a rapidly changing world. We are five years old and not stopping here
