An opinion piece for Hotnews/Contributors.ro, Romania’s top news website published in January 2013. This satirical comment was hugely popular, registering over 4,300 likes on Facebook and around 32,000 visitors, plus creating heated debates online – http://www.contributors.ro/editorial/an-open-invitation-to-all-romanians-and-bulgarians-please-come-to-the-uk/ An Open Invitation to all Romanians and Bulgarians – Please Come to the UK As a British citizen, I would […]
Monthly Archives: February 2013
A feature showing how stray dogs are trained to help mentally disabled children communicate and empathise in Romania. Online at http://www.thediplomat.ro/articol.php?id=1644 New life for Bucharest strays in therapy for disabled Facing death after a near-fatal car accident, Romanian street dog Gigica is now playing in therapy sessions with mentally handicapped children Five-year old Costin is […]
A feature showing the prejudice against guide dogs in Bucharest. Published in ‘The Diplomat – Bucharest’ http://www.thediplomat.ro/articol.php?id=1645 Romania’s first guide dog shut out from city Golden Labrador Chloe helps blind city resident Gabi Nicolescu move around the streets of Bucharest – but shops, hotels, taxis and buses ban them from going further Around the blocks, […]
Charities are sterilising Bucharest’s tens of thousands of stray dogs, but first they must catch the crafty hounds in a fearless operation requiring a net, frankfurters and a blowpipe. A report first published in ‘The Diplomat – Bucharest’ in December 2010 In a red uniform, beard and pony-tail Ovidiu is running through the car […]
An exclusive story on Iran’s response to Romania’s decision to host an American missile shield on its territory published in ‘The Diplomat – Bucharest’ in March 2010 – Link below: http://www.thediplomat.ro/articol.php?id=905 Missile shield raises new nuclear arms race fears Iran hits back at US plans to hold a missile shield on Romanian soil, stoking fears […]
An investigation into how widescale mental health reform in Romania has been ignored by the authorities. This feature required undercover reporting as many healthcare institutions do not allow journalists into their buildings. This was published in April 2010 for ‘The Diplomat – Bucharest’ magazine – http://www.thediplomat.ro/print2.php?id=1022 Mental healthcare in need of treatment Underfunded, overcrowded, ignored, […]
An investigation into how a funding crisis for NGOs carrying out direct care on the street for heroin addicts could provoke a rise in new cases of HIV In Bucharest, Romania. Since this article appeared, its predictions have sadly come true. In 2012 there was a 200 per cent increase in the the number of […]
An investigation into the one per cent of Bucharest’s population addicted to heroin for ‘The Diplomat – Bucharest’ magazine published in February 2008 – http://www.thediplomat.ro/reports_0208_2.php Invisible addiction With one per cent of Bucharest’s population addicted to heroin, ‘The Diplomat’ reports on a drug attacking poor communities and children as young as nine years old. Report […]
This is a small feature on how to turn stray dogs into a money-making opportunity in Romania, written for US story website Loopletters in January 2013 – http://www.loopletters.com/ How Romania turns dogs into cash For the past two years, I have been making a film about Romania’s problem with stray dogs. The east European nation […]
A comment piece about the state of the media for Romania’s top news website, Hotnews, originally published in Romanian in September 2012 – http://www.contributors.ro/editorial/falit-neiubit-muncit-redus-la-tacere-si-predispus-la-mita-faceti-cunostinta-cu-jurnalistul-secolului-21/ The English version is below: Bankrupt, unloved, mute, workaholic and open to bribery – meet the journalist of the 21st century Journalist Michael Bird examines nine ways the industry has changed […]
Michael Bird Writer & Journalist 