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.

The Commercial Fourth Estate in the 2014–2019 Election Campaigns

The paper presents results of media monitoring during the election campaigns held in Bulgaria between 2014 and 2019 – after the adoption of the new Electoral Code in 2014 until the last local elections in 2019. The main research question is to what extent the media as mediators in the election campaigns know, respect and comply with the legal regulations concerning their activities during such campaigns. The results outline the models of legal socialization of the Fourth Estate in the election campaigns. They also show patterns of compliance and violation of the legal framework. In addition, they reflect the way in which the media work to change the regulations in question. The research sample included between 117 and 180 media service providers in various election campaigns. There were representatives of all media subfields – traditional media, new media, yellow media, brown media, Prokopiev’s media, Peevski’s media, as well as Russian and American “propaganda media”. The period of research includes almost two full election cycles ‒ two parliamentary elections, two European elections, two local elections, and one presidential election which was held after the clear definition of the legal framework for media in the 2014 Electoral Code. No changes were made to this framework during the study and prior to the publication of this paper. This leads to conclusions regarding the electoral legislation and the regulation of the media system in the electoral process.

Trust as a Determinant of Success in Public Diplomacy

The article investigates the concept of trust as a factor for success in public diplomacy initiatives. It explores the field through the theoretical frame of persuasive communication. First, the evolution and connotations of the term trust are examined through a broad theoretical review. Subsequently, the applications and the meaning of the phenomenon in the field of public diplomacy are analyzed. The article probes into an academic debate which has been mostly neglected by the Bulgarian scientific community. It relates to increasing the effectiveness of diplomatic actions in the public sphere by strengthening the trust in the legitimate communicator. The presented theoretical perspectives can be relevant to researchers and practitioners alike.

Efficiency of PR in Terms of Sales. Advertorials

The current text focuses on the need to reconsider the understanding of the efficiency of PR activities and to include the impact on sales in it. It is considered that the current situation in the publicity sphere worldwide is very dynamic and specific, and therefore this development enlarges the opportunities. Bearing in mind more direct contact, the efficiency in terms of sales should not be neglected. In this situation, the understanding and the role of advertorials as a communication tool can be reconsidered as well.

Information Geopolitics and Political Propaganda in the Mass Media of the Russian Federation

Information is considered one of the main factors of the current geopolitical dynamics. The information paradigm of geopolitics defines the canons of conquest and control of a global information space, as well as the nature of the relationship between geopolitical actors. It covers a range of issues related to geographic information policy, which includes the activities aimed at increasing the power of State information, including in the media. Helping people understand the changing world order has become the main goal of mass media. In an emerging global information field, the media no longer divide events into domestic and foreign ones. Russia’s propaganda offensive is a carefully prepared strategy. The country built an array of soft power instruments and transformed them into effective weapons in a new information war with the West. Initially intended as a tool to enhance Russia’s soft power, it quickly developed into one of the main instruments of Russia’s new imperialism. The minimum task may be the integration of part of the post-Soviet space, whereas the maximum task is to unite civilizations into a single Eurasian continental block in order to restore civilization balance

The Image of Journalism and the Press on the Pages of Mir Newspaper (1919–1944): Results of a Quantitative Content Analysis

The article presents the main results of a quantitative content analysis of Mir newspaper for the period 1919‒1944. A total of 151 articles were analyzed. The study aims to shed light on how the periodical, defined as the Bulgarian Times (a quality bourgeois newspaper), presents five main thematic areas in order to provide a clearer picture of the Bulgarian press and journalistic culture during the period under review.

Interaction Between Media Culture and Legal Culture and Their Impact on the Media Regulation System in Bulgaria

The article discusses the democratic changes in the Bulgarian society and the new regulatory system from the perspective of media and legal cultures. The article analyzes legal phenomena as such, as well as the social environment in which they have emerged and developed during the years of democratic transition. Law is a social regulator and has to serve the public interest. In Bulgaria, however, it has always been subject to the political will of the majorities and could not fulfill its function to provide the necessary basis for the establishment of democratic regulatory culture, management culture and culture of independence within the media.

The Image of Media and Journalism on the Pages of the Bulgarian Journalist Periodical (1959–1996): Results of а Quantitative Content Analysis

This paper presents and analyzes the results of a quantitative content analysis of the periodical called Bulgarian Journalist ‒ Journalism and Society. The main research topic is the role of journalism and media in Bulgaria. Based on publications on the topic, it aims to “bring to light”, as far as possible, journalistic, political and public reflections on the role and place of media and journalism in Bulgarian society during the communist regime and the first years of democratic transformation. The main focus is on five research questions, on the basis of which the periodical is monitored and analyzed. The conclusions drawn at the end have an important research significance.

Popular Culture, Gender and State Socialism: Zhenata dnes Magazine

This article deals with the discourse of popular culture during the state socialism in Bulgaria and especially with the media aimed at female audiences. The Zhenata dnes (The Woman of Today) magazine is a starting point for the topic of what are the concepts of gender within socialism and are they changing. During the Cold War, there was a widespread belief that media were a direct reflection of narrow ideological norms. However, the example of Zhenata dnes clearly outlines the permeability and flexibility of topics related to the emancipation of women. The magazine openly publishes letters from readers, as well as analyses criticizing the government for the unhappy fate of women. Dissent, feminism and Western themes. The magazine was disliked and warned in the period 1966‒1980 that it had gone beyond the ideologically acceptable limits, but nevertheless it still exists. How did popular media targeting women create their image in the society of that time? How did the government want to build their image and how is it achieved in the magazine, thanks to the progressive positions of its editors and authors?

Satire or Fake News – A Hard-to-Spot Difference

The article presents the results of an empirical study based on data from a written exam among 85 second-year students of Journalism at the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication of the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia. The study aims to illustrate the approaches and strategies used by students in dealing with a specific media message and, particularly, the possibility of satirical news-like texts to be perceived as fake news. Nearly 70% of the students defined a publication on a website called “No! News” as fake news, even though it is a well-known satirical website. The article discusses the students’ views on the concept of fake news, as well as differences between satire and fake news by making comparisons with existing research on the subject.