How many Times were Diplomatic Relations between Russia and Bulgaria Severed
If we look at history, there are not many cases in which relations between Bulgaria and Russia at the state level were as bad as they are at the moment.
Bad Meets Evil on Bulgaria's Media Market
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To slightly misquote Orhan Pamuk, being born in Bulgaria could be bliss, but first you have to survive. Especially if you are a journalist. And a (relatively) honest one.
Believe me, nothing could describe better the predicament of the Bulgarian journalist at the moment.
Yesterday I met a friend of mine, one of the best investigative journalists in Bulgaria. She had just quit her job in the wake of WAZ withdrawal from Bulgaria's market. According to her this spells the end of free speech in the country. She faced two choices: joining the media that support Prime Minister Boyko Borisov or the media that back his arch-enemy Aleksei Petrov.
This is actually the dilemma that those writing for Bulgarian-language media are facing now in the heat of the pre-election race.
The monopoly on the media market that loomed as the biggest threat for free speech in Bulgaria a few months ago is already a fact. But it seems to be a two-headed monster.
There are two centers around which the other media line up as loyal satellites – they are epitomized by Galeria weekly and Weekend weekly, mouthpieces of Petrov and Borisov respectively.
Sure, there is no such thing as a monopoly of information, but the purchase of a large number of titles by media mogul Irena Krasteva and the recent squabbles over ownership of the WAZ assets in Bulgaria – the first ever monopolist on the local media market, dating back to the 90s - have certainly left a bitter taste in the mouth of the audience.
What is more troubling is that according to insiders even serious newspapers from the mainstream will join the pre-election swirl of the satellites around those two hubs.
Obviously in Bulgaria shady figures can afford to buy back shares in large numbers or artificially prop up loss-making titles not because this is economically profitable. They are tempted by the prospect of using the media for money laundering or for promoting other economic activities from public tenders, public works, mobile telephony, energy, tourism, etc. The investments are made with the sole goal of turning the media into a tool for communication or pressure.
Feeling financially and emotionally insecure, the journalists in the purchased titles agree to conform and yield to self-censorship. Thus the collusion between political authorities, organized crime and the monopolist is often with the complicity of the (until recently pretty honest) journalists themselves.
The monopolist and the authorities live in a mutually benefitting symbiosis, which poisons the media market and hurts the interests of society.
Isn't this status quo too dangerous for a country with such an unstable democracy and civil society as Bulgaria?
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