Bulgarian Media Watchdog Cautions about Irregularities in Election Advertising

Bulgaria's Council for Electronic Media (CEM) has warned about cases of overt campaigning in news bulletins which is in gross violation of election campaigning rules.

According to a report on the media coverage of the first ten days of the election campaign, this means of rallying popular support flouts legal regulations as well as good European practices and recommendations.

CEM concludes that, as a rule, broadcast election advertising is aired separate from the remaining television content.

However, CEM's report states, there are exceptions which can be misleading to viewers and listeners.

The media watchdog registers a substantial prevalence of materials advertising for the local vote over advertisements related to the presidential vote, both of which will be held on October 23.

The findings indicate a preference for informational genres, with an emerging, yet negligible use of discussion forums for election advertising.

CEM Chair Georgi Lozanov told Dnevnik daily on Tuesday that the alert had been issued over the programs of major private radio stations and TV channels.

He went on to specify that CEM's warning did not target concrete violations but rather a trend for, or a risk of, mixing paid-for election ads into news bulletins.

"They must be aired in a separate election slot with an explicit warning to the audience that what they are about to see/hear is paid-for political propaganda", Lozanov declared.