Observatorul de Nord

Observatorul de Nord (ODN) is an independent local newspaper that has been published continuously since 1998 in the city of Soroca. It partially covers the cities of Drochia and Fălești. The publication also has a website, observatorul.md, which publishes daily news about events pertinent to Soroca and the country. The newspaper is edited by a group of people from Soroca. It is a member of the Independent Press Association, and has been awarded over the years in annual competitions organised by the Independent Journalism Center and the Independent Press Association. ODN is a signatory to the Journalist's Code of Ethics.

The print version of ODN is published weekly but the content on the website, YouTube, and Telegram channels, as well as other social platforms are updated daily. 95% of the newspapers are sold on a subscription basis, while the remaining 5% are sold through the Moldovan Post Office or Moldpresa kiosks. According to the publication, for 25 years the main sources of funding have been subscriptions and advertising. After advertising revenues and subscription sales declined, the publication applied for and received several grants from international organizations that support independent journalism: the US Embassy, Internews, Irex, the European Union, etc.

"In the early years when we didn't have money, we used to take subscriptions in exchange for agricultural or industrial products which we then sold or exchanged to pay for the services of the printing house. Back then there were many peasant households. One subscribed for wheat, another for oats," Victor Cobăsneanu, the publication's editor-in-chief, said in an interview in 2021.

For 17 years the paper was published in Romanian and Russian languages. In 2016, the editorial staff stopped publishing the newspaper in Russian for financial reasons.

Over the years the newsroom has adapted and created new formats to be closer to the community. Today, the Observatorul de Nord is not just a newspaper, but also a studio where they make video programs that are posted on their YouTube channel.

Key Facts

Audience Share	178.5 thousand copies (2023)
Ownership Type	Private
Geographic Coverage	Local
Content Type	Paid
Active Transparency	company/channel informs proactively and comprehensively about its ownership, data is constantly updated and easily verifiable

Ownership

Ownership Structure	Observatorul de Nord is published by the periodical "Observatorul de Nord" SRL, which has one owner.
Individual Owner	Elena Cobăsneanu 100

Media Companies / Groups

PP Observatorul de Nord

Facts

General Information

Founding Year	1998
Founder	Victor Cobăsneanu Victor Cobăsăsneanu studied at the State University "Ion Creangă" in Chișinău, where he graduated with honors. He started his work in 1986 as a correspondent for Moldpres and Nezavisimaia Moldova. After that he was editor of the Soroca district newspaper and regional correspondent of the republican newspaper Moldova Suverană for 10 years. Between 1998 and 1999 he was spokesman and counselor to the prefect of Soroca County. He was a columnist for the radio "Vocea Basarabiei". Over the years he has been on professional internships in countries such as Romania, USA, Poland, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Ukraine, and during his career, he has won several awards at national journalism competitions. He has been a member of the Union of Journalists of Moldova and an Honorary Citizen of the Municipality of Soroca since August 21, 2013. Serghei Spinei Serghei Spinei, (deceased) one of the co-founders, was a teacher and head of the Soroca education directorate. He is the father-in-law of Victor Cobăsneanu and the father of Elena Cobăsneanu, Victor’s wife. Constantin Volnițchi Constantin Volnițchi (born August 16, 1959) is the administrator of Soroca's local television station Sor TV. In 2001, he founded the company "Mar Sor" TV, which today owns the Sor TV channel. As of August 2024, the television is owned by Violina Cernatinschii, the daughter of Constantin Volnițchi. In 2021 he was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Soroca district.
CEO	Elena Cobăsneanu Elena Cobăsneanu is a journalist and editor of the periodical "Observatorul de Nord" since its foundation in 1998. Initially, she was an administrator and since 2008 she has been the newspaper's director. Before her involvement in the press, she was a teacher-speech therapist in a kindergarten in Soroca. She graduated from "Ion Creanga" Pedagogical University in Chișinău. She has completed professional internships in journalism both in the country and abroad. Elena Cobăsneanu previously served as the President of the Independent Press Association (IPA) from 2004 to 2006 and from 2021 to 2024. She has been a member of the IPA Board of Directors several times . In 2003 she received the award for "Best Manager in API" and in 2015 she came second in the same competition. She is the wife of the editor-in-chief of Observatorul de Nord, Victor Cobăsneanu.
Editor-In-Chief	Victor Cobăsneanu
Other Important People	Vadim Șterbate Vadim Șterbate is a video producer for the publication "Observatorul de Nord". He graduated in Journalism and has a Master’s degree in Communication Sciences from the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences of the State University of Moldova. Șterbate previously worked at Jurnal TV, Prime TV, and Sor TV. He is an award winning journalist.
Contact	75 Independenței Street Soroca odn.soroca@gmail.com 0 230 24073 www.observatorul.md

Financial Information

Revenue	MDL 2.442 million / USD 134,470 (2023)
Operating Profit	MDL 0 / USD 0 (2023)
Advertising (in % of total funding)	15%: MDL 366 thousand / USD 20,150
Market Share	Missing Data

Further Information

Headlines	”One subscribed for wheat, another for oats." The history of the newspaper, which has not missed a single publication since its founding, in Cartea albă a mass-mediei (2020), agora.md, acces Soroca district has five more honorary citizens. Among them - a communist parliamentarian and a former leader of the national revival movement (2021), jurnalist.md, accessed on August 18, 20 INTERVIEW."We gave the first newspapers for free and we were not disappointed, because people really didn't need a newspaper" (2019), observatory.md, accessed on August 18, 2024
Meta Data	According to the National Book Chamber of Moldova, in 2023, Observatorul de Nord had an annual circulation of 178,500 copies and an average circulation of 3,500 copies per week. The data on income, profit, income from advertising and number of employees were taken from the answer provided by the administration of the publication Observatorul de Nord.
Sources	Register of television media service providers, consiliulaudiovizual.md, accessed on August 18, 2024 Periodical "Observatorul de Nord", infobiz.md, accessed on August 18, 2024 About us, observatorul.md, accessed on August 18, 2024 Observatorul de Nord wikipedia.org, accessed on August 18, 2024 Website of the National Book Chamber of Moldova, accessed on August 2, 2024
Documents (PDF)	Răspunsul companiei „Observatorul de Nord” SRL File Extras din Registrul de stat al persoanelor juridice privind: „Observatorul de Nord” SRL File