Bulgarian Media Research Articles

Infectious diseases risk framing in Bulgarian media during early COVID-19 pandemic and the Ebola crisis

IntroductionSocial forces, in conjunction with biological variables, play a crucial role in shaping the overall health of a community, particularly in the context of infectious disease outbreaks. Mass media calibrates risk perception among the public. The present study's aims are to review risk framings in the Bulgarian National Television in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and to compare results with the communication strategies employed when Ebola was exported outside of Africa. The research seeks to provide a quantitative and qualitative understanding of how the media communicated risk during the two crises. It also aims to determine the extent to which messages altered based on the distinct epidemiological characteristics of the two epidemics. MethodsWe used interdisciplinary analysis, combining methods from the social sciences and epidemiology. It is based on a controlled study of media content comparing the share and presentation of information on infections during two different outbreaks caused by newly emerging pathogens (in 2014 and 2020), as well as during periods with no specific concern for novel public health threats (JAN 2019 and OCT-NOV 2019). A content analysis was carried out. ResultsThe findings of the study indicate that during the Ebola crisis, medical frames were used in 92 % of the cases, whereas the majority of the analyzed media coverage of COVID-19 focused on the socio-political frame (97 %). During control periods, the extent of coverage using a medical framework varies between 100 and 86 %. In terms of geographic coverage, the presentation of content followed the principle of proximity. In non-emergency circumstances, clinical practitioners are often preferred candidates for interviews. However, during health crises, the media tends to highlight individuals holding administrative positions and authoritative functions. ConclusionThe present research confirms the hypothesis that public health emergencies increase the volume of infectious disease content on the news. The most frequently selected speaker categories should be briefed timely on outbreak developments in order to feed the media with accurate information.

Do the Bulgarian Media Have a Social Marketing Orientation?

Abstract The paper examines the problem of building a media environment through a socially responsible management model. The specific nature of this part of the non-production sphere – media business organisations – provides an opportunity to present a study of a relatively new phenomenon: the role of socially responsible marketing in mass media. A study of the importance of socially responsible marketing according to the practice of regional media in Bulgaria is presented, including a continuum review, nonstandardised interviews, and a survey of media teams and users applied. Answers are sought to the questions of how socially engaged the media are and what the expectations of their users are. The study shows that the monitored media produces products that objectively and impartially reflect social issues of public importance. However, there is a significant discrepancy between assessment and self-assessment of their contribution to public life. From the interviews conducted with journalists, it is clear that the media self-assess exceptionally highly as responsible participants in public life. However, users give a "two" on the five-point scale for the social role of the media. The main conclusion is that the creation of a socially responsible and alternative media space through social marketing approaches is essential for the effective functioning of a sustainable and solidary society.

Infectious diseases risk framing in Bulgarian media during early COVID-19 pandemic and the Ebola crisis

Infectious diseases risk framing in Bulgarian media during early COVID-19 pandemic and the Ebola crisis

In the mind’s eye: Mental conceptualization of floods by the British and the Bulgarian media

From a cognitive linguistics perspective, the present study is aimed at the analysis of manifestations of metaphorical mental conceptualizations of flooding events in terms of war in the language used by the British and the Bulgarian journalists and the extent to which the implementation of the cognitive metaphor FLOODING CRISIS IS WAR differs in the media representations of the two countries. The corpus used for the research consists of 19 articles extracted from the electronic databases of four newspapers – two for the British discourse (the Guardian and the Independent) and two for the Bulgarian discourse (Monitor and Standart). A total of 33 example sentences have been extracted from the corpus (21 from the British media and 12 from the Bulgarian media) and they have been coded with respect to the mappings between the source and target domain of the cognitive metaphor. The results of the research show that the media both in the UK and Bulgaria rely on metaphorical projection from the domain of war when flooding crises are reported, which confirms the notion that metaphorical projection is a universal structural element of cognition.

Необходим е напълно нов устройствен закон за БНР и БНТ

The article comments on the shortcomings of the Bulgarian Radio and Television Act, which affect the legal status of the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) and the Bulgarian National Television (BNT). It identifies the administrative licensing and registration regimes in relation to public service media as unnecessary, and presents in-depth theoretical and practical arguments for this. The publication also discusses a draft law amending the Broadcasting Act of 2020, which deepens the weaknesses of Bulgarian media legislation regarding the licensing of BNR and BNT.

Трансформация от политическия към медийния дискурс в България: нови думи и експресивни словосъчетания

Abstract: The study is focused the process of coining new words and new meaning of words in the language of the media through of politicians’ and public figures’ language. The hypothesis is that the changes of political discourse are reflected in the language used in the media, mainly through political jargon, which we find in titles and articles. The aim of the study is to investigate the transformation from political towards media discourse and the word formation means. These have an impact on creating differences and washing away the boundaries between political and media lexis. The new, post-1989, journalistic expression, is attractive and free of some ideologemes, totalitarian clichés and pompous slogans. It outpaces politicians’ linguistic liberation. Prominent public figures take the initiatives in this field, during the decade that followed. Through their messages, they bring more expressiveness and spontaneousness in public communication. The results of the study demonstrate that, through media projection, scores of new words and collocations become part of reporters’ and editors’ language. Thus, some words become part of the canonical lexical structure, making it more diverse, nonhomogeneous and different from the traditional. The theme of otherness is explored in the Bulgarian media and political context, identifying manifestations at the linguistic and communicative levels. Politicians increasingly use expressive words and mix them with ideologeme that are part of political rhetoric. The media disseminate these expressive words and the informative function shifts. Thus, heterogeneity at the linguistic level creates grounds to speak of a political and media rhetoric of otherness. Keywords: political discourse, media discourse, media text, derivation, linguistic expressions, vocabulary.

The State and Media Financing: Bulgaria and the Mediterranean Media Model

The study examines the applicability of the comparative framework of Hallin and Mancini (2004) with their three models of media‒politics relations (Mediterranean or Polarized Pluralist Model, North/ Central European or Democratic Corporatist Model, and North Atlantic or Liberal Model) to a post-communist country like Bulgaria. The answer to this question is sought through a study of the role of the state in relation to the media system, particularly the state funding of media in its various forms. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the Bulgarian media system is most similar to the Mediterranean Model due to the power of еtatism (the state finances public media, and the government buys media love through state and municipal advertising). At the same time, ineffective media regulation favors media concentration and the instrumentalization of large government media groups. The processes of rapid liberalization, privatization and deregulation in the media sector after 1989 brought Bulgaria closer to the countries included in the Liberal Model. Therefore, its media system is hybrid to some extent, but the similarities with the Mediterranean Model remain in the lead. The clientelism through which they are tamed, resp. corrupt the media, brings Bulgaria closer to the Latin American countries where it is much stronger than in the Mediterranean region (Hallin, Papathanassopoulos 2002). The concluding part predicts that, in the future, the analysis of the Bulgarian media system can be enhanced with a study of the applicability of the concepts of the “captured liberal model” of the media (in Latin America) and the “captured media” in the post-communist world.

За манипулативното въздействие на рекламата върху общественото съзнание (на базата на материал от българските медии)

Background: Advertisemments today play an exceptionally important role in the life of our society. By their concise form they draw the attention of people and stimulate them to buy goods and products and use various services. The role, functions, types and the importance of advertising messages attract the interest of specialists of various scientific fields in different countries. Almost all studies confirm the opinion that advertisements, besides being motivating and inducing, they also have manipulating function. Purpose: The aim of the present work is to study the manipulating impact of advertisements on public consciousness by various ways: verbal, visual etc., the stress being on language means (epithets, metaphores, antonyms, play upon words etc.). The object of the present study were advertisements in different Bulgarian media (by press and radio, television, internet). Results: This study proves that advertisements are given considerable place in electronic media and play an important role in the life of people mainly due to the language means used, thus becoming a powerful instrument for influencing society. A key point presented in the study is that users, young people in particular, do not trust much advertisement texts. This observation is based on the results of an inquiry among students which also show that interesting advertisements, while otherwise attractive and well-formed lexically, do not correspond to the actual quality of the products advertised. This ultimately leads to mistrust towards advertisements and advertisers iN general. Prognosis is made that in the future fewer people will trust advertisements no matter how vividly and emotionally effectively they are presented. Key words: advertisements, manipulation, language means, epithets, signal words, play upon words Bondgolova, V., 2007. The play on words in advertisement texts. TMG. XXXI, issue 2, Nish, April-June 2007, 401-419. Available at: http://teme2.junis.ni.ac.rs/public/journals/1/ previousissues/teme2-2007/teme2-2007-15.pdf. [Visited on March 5, 2021]. (In Bulgarian) Bondgolova, V., 2015. Characteristics of advertisement language and style. Lexical aspect. Veliko Tarnovo: Faber. (In Bulgarian) Bonev, B., 2017. Advertising of medicines and additives – the new opium for people. Available at: http://www.pharmacy-bg.com/novini/reklamata-nа-lekarstva-i-dobavki-noviyat-opium-za-naroda [Visited on April 10, 2021]. (In Bulgarian) Ivanov, L. Yu., Skovorodnikov, A. P. and Shiryaev, E. N., editors, 2003. Culture of Russian speech. Encyclopaedic dictionary and reference book. V. V. Vinogradov institute of Russian language at Russian academy of science, “Flinta” publishers, “Moscow” pub-lishers. (In Russian) Kaftandgiev, H., 2008. Harmony in advertising communication. Sofia: Siela soft and publishing. (In Bulgarian) Kara-Murza, S. Manipulation of consciousness. Available at: http: //www. klex.ru/65 [Visited on April 12, 2021]. (In Russian) Koltyisheva, E. Yu., 2008. Manipulating effect of contemporary advertisement texts: based on publications in lustrous women’s magazines in English. Academic philological work for acquiring M. A. degree, Yaroslavl. Available at: http://www.dissercat.com/content/ manipulyativnoe-vozdeistvie-v-sovremennom-reklamnom-tekste-na-materiale angloyazychnykh-glya. [Visited on April 12, 2021]. (In Russian) Manolov, E. L., 2017. Political advertisement. Between reality and manipulation. So-fia: published by Higher school of security and economics. (In Bulgarian) Panayotov, Kr., 2013. A study on the language of present day Bulgarian advertise-ments. In: M. Parzulova, compiler and chief editor. Bulgarian language at the beginning of the XXI century – a reflection of socal changes. Veliko Tarnovo: Published by “Znak’94”, pp.82–94. (In Bulgarian) Parzulova, M., 2016. Analysis of the results of an enquiry among students from Prof. Assen Zlatarov University in Burgas concerning “Place and role of media in students’ life”. In: M. Parzulova, editor. Media in students’ life and students about media. Scholarly re-search project. Veliko Tarnovo: Published by “Znak’94”, pp.10–36. (In Bulgarian) Vangelov, N., 2019. Ethics in advertising communication. Philosophical alternatives magazine. 4, pp.29–36. (In Bulgarian)

To Be or Not To Be: American Influence on LGBT+ Rights in Bulgaria

The purpose of this article is to assess the U.S. influence on the public perceptions towards LGBT+ people in Bulgaria. The research design incorporates several variables collected through in-person observations and comparative analysis of case studies. In this paper, we try to explain the increasing American influence and the gender aspect of U.S. Foreign Policy in the Balkans. To offer a more detailed analysis, we have employed an approach that compares the liberal wave in the United States, which advocates LGBT+ rights, to the conservative movements that promote homophobia under the guise of Eastern European traditions. The article argues that the debate about LGBT+ rights in Bulgaria mirrors the striking political and ideological polarization, which divides contemporary American society. Our study asserts that the public debate in Bulgaria reflects the neo-conservative attitudes of Russia and Moscow’s contradictory policy of sexual discrimination. Finally, we conclude that the United States also exercises significant cultural and political influence, not to say pressure, on the Bulgarian political elite to recognize the freedoms of LGBT+ people, which triggers a backlash and favors right-wing populist movements. We begin with a short critical review of the contemporary trends in the anti-LGBT+ rhetoric in Bulgaria. Then, we examine the most relevant official and unofficial American positions about sexual discrimination to assess the impact of the U.S. influence. Finally, we conclude with a qualitative analysis of reliable sources from the Bulgarian media. Keywords: gender, policy, Bulgaria, United States, rights

Driven towards the exit: As Bulgarian media is bought up by those with ties to the government, journalists are being forced out of the industry

Driven towards the exit: As Bulgarian media is bought up by those with ties to the government, journalists are being forced out of the industry

Reception image of Russia in Bulgarian media

Reception image of Russia in Bulgarian media

BETWEEN NATIONALISM AND EUROPEANISM: REPRESENTATIONS OF CHINA’S BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE IN BULGARIAN MEDIA, 2013-2018

2013 China put forward the BRI – Belt and Road Initiative, part of its focus was to intensify investment in the countries along the Belt and Road including Bulgaria. Meanwhile Bulgaria was seeking for new foreign investment. The China’s initiative did not receive any reflection in Bulgarian media during the first four years. In 2017, the first Belt and Road forum was held in Beijing. Then during the period 2017-2018, reports on the BRI started to emerge in Bulgarian media and its coverage was polarised. The papers used techniques from framing theories to present how the initiative was presented differently in selected media reports from the online newspapers Trud, Ataka, Capital and Club ’Z’. Furthermore, the research explored the reasons behind the difference from the perspectives of nationalism and Europeanism. The paper argues that the pro-European media tend to see China’s initiative as a risk, while the nationalist media tend to see the BRI as an opportunity. The opportunity lies in the economic benefit from the short-term effect, while the risk is inferred from the political influence from the long-term run. From the viewpoint of political psychology, there was lack of familiarity and intensive engagement with China, which made the BRI perceived as a risk. Overall, the paper analyses bias in the Bulgarian media through the example of China’s BRI.

Hybrid Threats in Bulgarian Media

Hybrid Threats in Bulgarian Media

International Conference “Balkan Dialogue – 2019”

This article describes the international Balkan Dialogue – 2019 conference held in Sofia (Bulgaria) from April 15 to 20, 2019. An event organized by the the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund, it continued the series of thematic conferences previously held in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The conference consisted of several round tables and discussions dedicated to the role of Russian media in public opinion formation in the Balkans; Russia’s image in Bulgarian media; issues of regional security; and economic and energy cooperation between Russia and the Balkans. The key speakers at the conference were representatives from the academic and business communities, the media and public figures from Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Turkey. At the end of the event its participants (all under the age of 35) – researchers, journalists, leaders of youth associations and representatives from government agencies – presented group projects analyzing the political, economic and humanitarian presence of Russia, the USA, China and the European Union in the Balkans.

Борба с фалшивите новини с инструментариума на закона и на саморегулацията – българският случай

The paper discusses the possibilities of countering fake news in Bulgarian media with the instruments of media law, regulation, self-regulation and co-regulation. The study has reached the following important conclusions: 1. The laws are inadequate to the new challenge. There are temptations to fight it through the Criminal Code or a special law that can turn the prosecution service into a repressive media supervisor. 2. The State can contribute to curbing disinformation in the media by highlighting their ownership and funding. 3. The ethical codes oblige journalists to be responsible to society, but self-regulation is de-legitimized by the division in the guild. The solution lies in the development of co-regulation: the state stimulates the media by setting a condition for advertising in them: that they should agree on one code and that their ethics committee should be able to penalize them financially for fake news.

Практики за разкриване и противодействие на фалшиви новини – българският опит

Careful and thorough fact-checking is a main tool for counteracting fake news, alternative facts and the context created in the Post-Truth Era. This paper examines the contemporary fact-checking mechanisms in the Bulgarian media environment. The methods applied are data analysis, interviews with proffessional journalists, a survey among media content users, and a case study. The research ws cnducted within the framework of the DCOST Project 01/10 – 04.07.2017 (project leader Prof. Lilia Raycheva), supported by the National Scientific Fund of Bulgaria, and developed within the Europpean Commission‘s Action IS 1404: Evolution of Reading in the Age of Digitization (E-READ).

Метафорические модели коррупции в русском и болгарском медиадискурсе (на материале публикаций СМИ ЗА 2008-2017 гг.)

The article reveals and systematizes ways of metaphorical comprehension of the phenomenon of corruption outside the legal discourse based on the publications of Russian and Bulgarian media in the period from 2008 to 2017. The method of comparative analysis determines the field of coincidence of metaphorical models of political interdiscourse, which demonstrate the similarity of conceptualization of political and social reality. The article defines metaphorical models that are dominant for each of the related languages. It is concluded that formulating the official definition of corruption and state anti-corruption strategy, it is necessary to rely on national features of perception of corruption as a social phenomenon.

Secrets, Lies, and Journalist-Spies

The subject of this article is the issue of journalist-spies in the Bulgarian media before and after the fall of communism in 1989. The focus is on the perceptions of Bulgarian journalists on the role alleged secret service collaborators played, and continue to play, in the postcommunist society and media landscape. Role perceptions are explored through semi-structured interviews with practicing journalists from the capital city, Sofia. The findings suggest that Bulgarian journalists continue to be concerned with, and affected by, the influence of former communist spies on the Bulgarian media, a controversy that has largely been ignored by media scholars.

The Bulgarian “Nuclear Referendum” of 2013 and the independence of the Bulgarian media

This article analyses the media coverage of the 2013 Bulgarian “nuclear” referendum. We investigate the balance between Yes and No arguments on the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant, nuclear energy in general, and conducting a referendum on the nuclear issue. We also examine the quality of the reasons given and the frequency of government and ruling party sources. We find that the newspapers under examination voiced a diversity of viewpoints and sources. In light of recent assessments of the Bulgarian media, bias in media coverage of the referendum was not significant.

Book Review: Advertising, Sex, and Post-socialism: Women, Media, and Femininity in the Balkans, by Elza Ibroscheva

Advertising, Sex, and Post-socialism: Women, Media, and Femininity in the Balkans. Elza Ibroscheva. Plymouth, UK: Lexington Books, 2013. 174 pp. $65.00 hbk.If you saw an advertisement of a woman stripping from her professional, business attire down to her bare chest, what would you predict was the purpose of the advertisement? To sell lingerie? Perhaps to promote a pay-per-view film? But what if the woman was a politician trying to secure your vote? For the Bulgarian audience, this is not difficult to imagine because this was a reality detailed by Elza Ibroscheva in Advertising, Sex, and Post-socialism.Ibroscheva is an associate professor and the director of graduate studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and she has published several articles on the por- trayal of women in the Bulgarian media. In her book, Ibroscheva examines the devel- opment of advertising and subsequent mass consumption in the Balkan region, with special attention paid to Bulgaria, and the effect advertising has had on cultural per- ceptions of sex and gender. She argues that media advertising is a powerful cultural dictator that effectively shapes gender identities and reinforces gender hierarchies, which, in the Balkan region, allows for the sexualization and commodification of women. Her case is detailed in five chapters: Sex? Please We Are Socialist; Advertising and the Economy; Liberating Women; Of Vodka, Watermelons, and Other Sexy Fruit; and Sex and Politics.Sex? Please We Are Socialist provides the reader with a comprehensive under- standing of socialist life during the Soviet era and how the media's function was to promote socialist ideals. Ibroscheva educates the reader on gender roles during the socialist regime by effortlessly weaving together concrete examples from the Balkan magazines Zhenata Dnes, Lada, and Bhozur. She describes how the party claimed gender equality, while forcing women into two archetypes: worker and mother. Because of this, women were portrayed in the media through this party-driven socialist context only and physically represented with a practical, functional appearance. Thus femininity, fashion, and sexuality were widely absent in socialist media.In Advertising and the Economy, Ibroscheva reveals how advertising functioned in socialist society by analyzing three different major newspapers pub- lished over four decades. Essentially, socialist advertising existed as a means of culti- vating culture and driving practical consumption. ideologues recognized the need for consumption, but only promoted the consumption of necessities (in contrast to developing desire). To make clear this distinction, Western advertising was demon- ized in these newspapers because its sole goal was to improve sales for companies, drive competition, and promote excessive consumption.These earlier chapters may be considered the foundation for the argument Ibroscheva presents in Liberating Women. The marketing of femininity during the Balkans' transitional period from socialism to post-socialism (late 1970s to early 1990s) effectively shaped women's social, economic, and political positioning in society, which is still in effect today. This chapter examines multiple publications from the Balkan region, focusing on the media's depiction of gender and the growth of a budding capitalist market. During the transitional period, the public became increasingly aware of the variety of consumer choices their Western counterparts enjoyed and, as an act of rebellion, began to mass consume themselves through black markets. With women, this rebellion manifested itself as the process of consuming to enhance femininity, a stark contrast to functional consuming habits of previous gen- erations of women. The media adjusted to these changes by also featuring more feminine women in their articles and discussing the topics of beauty and fashion. This trend was seen as progressive as it gave women agency over their sexuality; however, the media's prolific promotion of femininity enforced the significance of physical beauty, essentially subscribing to traditional patriarchal conventions. …