It is with deep sadness that we share the news that our colleague Brîndușa Armanca passed away today, at the age of 72.
Brîndușa was one of the most prestigious and important member of AZIR — the Romanian Section of the Association of European Journalists — and a member of the AEJ Arbitration and Conciliation Commission. She gave our association her authority, her standards and her time, and she was among the first to stand up whenever a colleague came under pressure.
For more than four decades she was one of the most lucid and courageous voices in Romanian journalism. She headed TVR Timișoara (1997–2003), was among the founders of the Journalism Department at the West University of Timișoara, and trained generations of reporters. Her name is tied to Radio Free Europe, Revista 22, Contributors.ro, PressHub and HotNews. As director of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Budapest (2006–2012) she strengthened Romanian–Hungarian cultural ties. She was Vice-President of Societatea Timișoara and a member of the Group for Social Dialogue, and she received the Cultural Distinction of the Romanian Academy and Hungary’s Cultural Merit Award. Only weeks ago, Timișoara made her an Honorary Citizen of the city.
She defended media freedom to the very end, including when it came at a personal cost. AZIR will not be the same without her.
We will miss her so much!
We extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.
May she rest in peace.
