Independent online media are the symbol of the 21st century, Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has declared upon receiving the "Personality in the News" 2011 award as voted by the readers of Novinite.bg, the Bulgarian-language service of Novinite.com.

"Independent online media are the symbol of the 21 st century, and that is thanks to the fact that we have an active civil society, we have young people who seek information, take stands, and fight for their causes and positions. And you are to be thanked for that, too," President Plevneliev told the team of Novinite.bg and Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency).

He received his award as "Personality in the News" 2011 in Politics – as voted by the readers of Novinite.bg – at the Presidency in Sofia from the Novinite team.

The readers of the Bulgarian-language news site Novinite.bg selected him as the winner in the independent online voting campaign in December 2011 and January 2012. This was the first ever annual "Personalities in the News" poll for Novinite.bg, and it ran parallel to the 11th annual "Personalities in the News" vote at Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency), the largest Bulgarian English-language media.

Upon receiving his award, Bulgarian President Plevneliev left his hand print for the Bulgarian "Gallery of Fame" - an initiative of Novinite.com and Novinite.bg to collect the hand prints of all deserving individuals selected as "Personality in the News" by you, our readers.

The winners in the other categories of the annual polls of Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) and Novinite.bg were awarded at a special ceremony at the Sheraton Sofia Hotel Balkan on Tuesday, February 7.

Bulgaria's new President Rosen Plevneliev and former EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva have been selected as the 2011 "Personality in the News" in Politics by the readers of Novinite.bg and Novinite.com respectively in the annual end-of-the-year polls.

Deloitte Bulgaria Chairman Vasko Raychev and M-Tel CEO Andreas Maierhofer have been picked as Bulgaria's "Personality in the News" in the "Business" and "Expats" categories respectively by the readers of Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency).

More than 9 500 readers from around the world of voted in the 11th annual poll of Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) in December 2011 and January 2012, picking as Bulgaria's top personalities ex EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, Deloitte Bulgaria Chairman Vasko Raychev, and M-Tel CEO Andreas Maierhofer.

Over 3 600 readers voted in the first annual "Personality in the News" poll of Novinite.bg in December 2011 and January 2012.

The winner in the Novinite.bg vote for 2011 "Personality in the News", Bulgaria's new President Rosen Plevneliev, who was unable to attend Tuesday's ceremony, is going to receive his award from the Novinite.bg and Novinite.com team at the Bulgarian Presidency on Thursday, February 9, 2012.

The winners in Bulgaria's 2011 "Personality in the News" polls of Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) and Novinite.bg were selected by our readers from Bulgaria and around the world between December 6, 2011, and January 15, 2012.

Previous winners of Bulgaria's "Personality in the News" titles include UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, former Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, Bulgarian virtuoso Teodosiy Spasov, CNN anchor Ralitsa Vassileva, to name but a few. The 2010 title was grabbed by Bulgarian EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva.

Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) is the largest Bulgarian English-language media, offering real time coverage and in-depth interviews and commentaries on Bulgarian and global events and developments. It was founded on March 11, 2001, by Bulgarian journalist, businessman, and PR expert Maxim Behar.

The issue of The Sofia Morning News, Novinite.com's online daily, came out on June 1, 2001; The Sofia Weekly was added to the media portfolio later. As of January 2011, the website of Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) already boasts over 21 000 unique daily visits on average.

The Bulgarian-language news website was started on October 22, 2011, in order to offer the quality of Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) to Bulgarian-language readers, and already features over 5000 news articles, dozens of interviews, commentaries, and photos, and more than 4 000 unique daily visits on average.

The Novinite Daily was started by Novinite.bg as a free Bulgarian-language online daily on February 1, 2012.

PHOTO STORY of the 2011 Personalities in the News award ceremony of Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) and Novinite.bg VIEW HERE

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