For over 20 years, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has been funding an exclusive scholarship for Romanian journalists to train them in independent reporting on European policy. In doing so, JTI has managed to grow over 280 press pawns.

By the web editor

For over 20 years, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has been the main sponsor of an exclusive scholarship for Romanian journalists, called the JTI Scholarships for Journalists. It is the longest-running scholarship for journalists in the world and has attracted over 280 journalists since its inception in 2000. According to the website, the scholarships consist of three days of courses by ‘experts’ on EU law and media institutions, and a week-long working visit to EU officials, NATO and newsrooms focusing on European issues. The scholarship concludes with a four-week internship at the Romanian representation to the EU, the European Parliament or a news agency in Brussels. Participants are thus introduced to the European establishment. The list of alumni shows that there are quite a few influential names in Romanian and Moldovan TV, radio and print journalism.

One of the founders of the JTI scholarship, Gilda Lazar, has worked for more than 27 years as head of Corporate Affairs & Communications at Japan Tobacco International, writes Financial Intelligence. According to Lazar, JTI took over the funding of the scholarship in 2000 and moved the program from Washington to Brussels in 2007, when Romania officially became a member of the EU. Apparently, JTI saw more opportunities to influence policy there. In addition to this third-largest tobacco giant in the world, the JTI scholarship is also sponsored by a number of other organizations, including Freedom House Romania, Euromonitor Foundation for Excellence, Ad Media Consult and Club Economic.

PR for tobacco and oil

The second co-founder of both the JTI scholarship and sponsor Ad Media Consult, Daniel Apostol, is an experienced PR professional who, in addition to his collaboration with tobacco giant JTI, also represents the interests of the oil and gas industry. In 2015, he became Secretary General of ROPEPCA (Romanian Petroleum Exploration and Production Companies Association), after which, according to his LinkedIn page, he has held management positions at the Petroleum and Gas Federation (FPPG) since 2019. With his PR agency Ad Media Consult, specialized in crisis PR, he has been supporting companies that want to ‘build’ or ‘protect’ their reputation in times of crisis for decades. He himself says that the predecessor of the JTI scholarships was a turning point in his own career.

Scholarship grows mouthpieces

Before the year 2000 the journalist training was organized by the American NGO Freedom House, with the US government as the main financier, according to a press release from 2019. The aim was to provide journalists from Central and Eastern Europe with skills that would help them strengthen democracy in their part of the world. The fact that the grant was funded by US agencies (USIA, USAID, NED) that, according to the Harvard Nieman Reports and Influence Watch, act as extensions of the US State Department’s “public diplomacy” shows that this seemingly altruistic project primarily served to align public opinion in Central and Eastern Europe with US foreign interests through the media. Freedom House, which is also partly funded by private parties, has been criticized for promoting a radical libertarian ideology.

Press contact all over

The fact that a tobacco company is organizing a training course for journalists is clearly aimed at creating access to the press. You don’t have to look far to see that this plan is successful. Iona Matei, who received the grant in 2015, already worked at the business magazine Business Magazin, of which she has been editor-in-chief since 2018. The magazine regularly reports on JTI and the tobacco industry in general. In 2023, the magazine reported on the introduction of JTI’s heated tobacco product in Romania. Profit News TV, with trade fair participants in 2020, also reported on the product introduction and other news from JTI. As tobacco companies’ advertising and promotional opportunities have diminished, as well as their access to governments and policymakers under the terms of the WHO FCTC treaty, free publicity, that is, articles and reports in the press, has become increasingly important for these companies to influence public opinion. In that case, it is very useful to have good contacts in the editorial offices.