Bulgaria's media sector is highly fragmented and its outlets operate under economically and legally insecure conditions. Instances of intimidation and meddling by powerful businessmen and political parties are widespread.
Bulgaria: threats, violence and insecurity
Although Bulgaria recently climbed from 111th place (2020) to 71st (2023) in the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, this is not reflected by real improvements in the working conditions of Bulgarian journalists. On the contrary, attacks on journalists, insufficient legal guarantees for press freedom and allegations of corruption in the media sector continue to raise questions about media independence and are among the main reasons why the country still occupies a low slot in the ranking.
The case of investigative journalist Viktor Nikolayev from the private broadcaster Nova TV, who was physically attacked outside his home in 2020, is a concrete example of the dangers Bulgaria's journalists face. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) had already expressed concern in 2017 after the then deputy prime minister, Valeri Simeonov, threatened on live television that Nikolayev would lose his job if he didn't stop asking questions about the country's purchase of new military aircraft. Such attacks, together with widespread intimidation and censorship, have intensified the atmosphere of fear and self-censorship.
Media as a vehicle for politics
The close ties between opinion-shaping media outlets and politicians are undeniable. In a surprise move in September 2023, former prime minister Boyco Borisov's Gerb party nominated Anton Hekimyan, head of news at the leading television channel bTV, as its candidate for the office of mayor of the capital city Sofia. Hekimyan had already been accused of having political ties to Gerb and of being too uncritical in his reporting on the party.
The lack of transparency regarding media financing has also had a negative impact on the situation of Bulgarian media and journalists. There are no clear rules to ensure that state advertising contracts and EU funding are distributed fairly and transparently to media across the political spectrum.
The digital media sector offers a glimmer of hope: digital platforms are experiencing an upswing now that almost 70 percent of the population has access to the Internet, and these outlets tend to offer more critical coverage. A prominent example is the investigative news website Bivol.bg, which has published several reports based on data leaks that expose cases of corruption.
Also struggling financially
Bulgaria's media landscape has deteriorated in the last two decades. In the highly politicised years following the fall of communism, an unprecedented level of media plurality was achieved. Strong demand for independent journalism after decades of communist repression (1944–1989) led to the founding of numerous print media. But as a result of declining advertising revenues, most newspapers are struggling to stay afloat financially and are now dependent on financial backers.
The country's first independent dailies 24 Chasa and Trud are still regarded as opinion-forming, but the communist successor newspaper Duma leads a shadow existence these days. The weekly Kapital and the daily paper Kapital Daily are seen as quality newspapers and target an educated readership with an interest in political and economic news.
Bloggers have switched to Facebook
As the Internet gained importance in the early 2000s, a large number of news platforms and websites such as News.bg and Dnevnik sprang up and now have considerable reach. Blogs, by contrast, attract little interest nowadays, as most bloggers have migrated to social media and now post their content on platforms like Facebook instead of self-run blogs.
WIth the sale of private broadcaster Nova TV to Bulgarian oligarch Kiril Domuschiev, the trend of media owners exploiting their outlets for their own ends spread to the television sector. Shortly after Nova was transferred from the Czech PPF Group to Domuschiev's Advance Media Group in 2019, there were mass redundancies at the network. Well-known investigative reporters such as Miroluba Benatova, Genka Schikerova and Marin Nikolov who had made a name for themselves with critical reports on the government and numerous exposés were dismissed without explanation. In January 2021, Nova TV was acquired by the United Group, a telecommunications and media company based in the Netherlands and focused on south-eastern Europe.
Nova TV's main rival, the private broadcaster bTV, has been in foreign hands since it was first founded in 2000. bTV currently belongs to Central European Media Enterprises (CME), a media group that owns TV and radio stations in six European countries.
Although the public service television channels BNT1, BNT2 and BNT HD continue to have a strong influence on public opinion, their lack of international entertainment formats means that they attract fewer viewers than the private channels. The public broadcaster Bulgarian National Radio and the private station Darik Radio are the only nationwide radio broadcasters with a focus on spoken content.
World Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders): Rank 71 (2023)
Last updated: January 2024
