Mihai Goțiu is an investigative journalist with almost 30 years of experience in the local and national press in Romania.
He was editor-in-chief of local (Clujeanul, Ziarul Clujeanului) and national (România Curată) publications. In the early 2000s, he began specializing in environmental journalism.
In 2013, he published the book Afacerea Roșia Montană after an 11-year investigation of the largest gold mining project in Europe. The book received several nominations and awards in the “book of the year” category. Following public involvement, the project was stopped, and Roșia Montană was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021. In 2014, he received a “Milena Jesenská” fellowship for excellence in journalism at the Institute for Humane Sciences (IWM Vienna).
In 2022 and 2023, he initiated the first journalism and environmental advocacy courses at university level in Romania, at Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca and the University of Bucharest. In January 2026, he launched, in collaboration with România Curată, the environmental investigative newsletter Verde Curat.
Investigations into the lobbying of the big timber industry and illegal logging (about the Wood Mafia and its political connections) confronted him with several SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) lawsuits. These were among the case studies that substantiated the adoption of the Anti-SLAPP Law in Romania, in September 2026.
