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On September 2, 2020, Bulgarian journalist Dimitar Kenarov went to the center of the Bulgarian capital Sofia to report on an anti-government protest.
He was filming a largely peaceful demonstration calling for the resignation of the then Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s government. At that time, several people began to throw projectiles at the police, and the police responded with pepper spray and batons.
In the ensuing violence, Kenarov, who was wearing a gas mask marked “Press”, was yanked to the ground by the police, kicked him in the face repeatedly, and put on handcuffs, even though he insisted that he was a journalist and Show them his key card.
He was eventually taken to the police station and released a few hours later.
In the following weeks, the Ministry of the Interior denied that Knarov was detained, despite the footage of his detention and the medical certificate that he was beaten.
When he tried to bring the case to court, the prosecution shelved the proceedings, and the Ministry of the Interior asked the National Revenue Agency to review his taxes and social security payments.
This incident has aroused international condemnation from organizations including Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who are preparing for their Latest Press Freedom Index Released in April.
Bulgaria ranks 112th in the world and third from the bottom among European countries, after Russia (150th) and Belarus (158th).
According to journalists and academics interviewed by Al Jazeera, Bulgaria’s freedom of the press has fallen sharply in the past two decades, not only because the country is experiencing a democratic regression, but also because the media is struggling with increasing corruption and financial difficulties.
However, the ongoing political changes are expected to improve the situation in the near future.
“The EU has increased corruption”
When the RSF began publishing its press freedom index in 2002, Bulgaria, then a candidate for an EU member state, ranked 38th.
Five years later, when it joined the European Union, it dropped to 51st. The downward trend continues, and 10 years after joining the European Union, the country ranks 109th.
Bulgaria is not the only EU member state struggling with freedom of the press. Other Eastern European countries that joined in the 2000s also face similar challenges.
RSF Balkans head Pavol Szalai told Al Jazeera that the freedom of the press in Bulgaria is affected by the regressive trend that other Eastern European countries are suffering, but it is also affected by more specific factors.
He said: “Unlike other EU countries (such as Hungary and Poland) that are not doing well but are ranked higher, in Bulgaria, we often observe personal attacks on journalists.”
At the same time, the space for independent media is shrinking, and the judiciary is prosecuting journalists rather than protecting them.
However, according to Kenarov, violence against media professionals is not widespread in Bulgaria.
“I can’t say that they played more in Bulgaria than in other places [European] Country,” he said, adding that he considers the assaults led by his own police to be an exception.
He believes that those in power are weaponizing state institutions to combat critics.
Central and local authorities can control the media by allocating national advertising funds to reduce censorship of their work.
After joining the European Union, Bulgaria, like other new members, has received a lot of funds to help its economic development.
Some of the national advertisements allocated to the EU’s development plan, given the relatively small advertising market of 7 million in the country, provide an important source of income for large and small media.
“The European Union has greatly exacerbated corruption in Bulgaria,” Knarov said. “By donating this uncontrolled fund to the Bulgarian government, in all sectors, not just the media, they created Borisov and helped him build his client network.”
“Media Monopoly”
in Borisov’s three terms Since becoming prime minister in 2009, Bulgaria has witnessed the sale of major national media to businessmen close to him.
In 2019, businessmen Kiril Domuschiev and Georgi Domuschiev acquired Nova TV, one of the three national TV channels.
Subsequently, several investigative reporters hired by the TV station terminated their contracts.
After Borisov stepped down in May, local media reported that between 2017 and 2021, his cabinet spent more than US$6 million in EU funds on media advertising, of which the largest part-US$1.3 million-went to Nova TV.
Borisov has also been accused of evading investigations into corruption. Media mogul Delyan Peevski (Delyan Peevski) is a former member of the Rights and Freedom Movement.
During Borisov’s three terms as prime minister since 2009, Bulgaria has witnessed the sale of major national media to businessmen close to him [File: Ludovic Marin/Pool via Reuters]
The US Treasury Department recently sanctioned Peevski under the Global Magnitsky Act.
The US allegations against Peevski include that he “negotiated with politicians and provided them with political support and active media coverage in exchange for protection from criminal investigations.”
“A group of oligarchs, mainly Peevski […] Established a media monopoly,” Venelina Popova, an investigative reporter who has worked for Bulgarian National Radio for 30 years, told Al Jazeera.
“The major media have gone through different business owners, and most of them aim to maintain a close relationship with those in power, so as to avoid problems and charge advertising fees.”
It is believed that Peevski owns up to 80% of the print media distribution market and is accused of using the media he owns to slander opponents and critics.
Popova said that last year, after investigating Peyevsky’s donation to public hospitals at the beginning of the pandemic, she was called a “promoter” and “pawn” by the media. The Bulgarian Chapter of the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) issued a statement in support of her.
2008 financial crisis
The negative global trends in the industry have also affected the Bulgarian media landscape.
According to Martin Marinos, a media scholar and assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University, the tabloidization of the Bulgarian media began in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with the development of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and German Entry of foreign media companies such as WAZ.
He said: “Although these companies talk about democracy and civilization, they have turned the media into tabloids and are indifferent to journalism.”
This corporate acquisition later paved the way for Bulgarian oligarchs to acquire media, especially after the outflow of foreign companies after the 2008 financial crisis.
Marinos explained that the impact is particularly serious, and the media and journalists are more susceptible to financial pressure.
In the 2010s, media workers shared stories of low wages and repeated unemployment.
Marinos said that in addition to substantial deregulation and lack of control by state institutions, the crisis has also enabled some large companies to control the media market.
“When large companies and the media merge like this, things can’t go smoothly,” he said.
Marinos cited an example from his field trip on TV7, which was associated with Tsvetan Vasilev, the former chairman of the board of directors of the now bankrupt Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB): “I visited TV7 [in 2016]. Half of the building is TV7 and the other half is [CCB] bank. When you walk down the corridor, you will pass by people you don’t know, whether they are reporters or bankers. “
The Internet and social media, as well as the influence of technology giants on the advertising market, have also changed the landscape.
Currently, about 60% of Bulgaria’s online advertising revenue goes to Facebook and Google.
“[There was] Negative changes in media business models. The role of print media has declined significantly, other types of media have lost a lot of revenue, and in general, journalism has lost a lot of space for social media,” Ivan Radev, a board member of the Bulgarian branch of AEJ, told Al Jazeera.
This destroyed the smaller media organizations.
He said that the journalists’ work is again insecure and many people have withdrawn from the industry.
Bulgaria has the lowest number of journalists per capita in the European Union, and is believed to have only 3,000 media workers in total.
‘There is no quick and easy solution’
Despite the challenges, the reporters interviewed by Al Jazeera expressed optimism about the future.
Most of their hopes are related to Borisov’s ouster in May, because his GERB party and his coalition partners did not get enough votes in the April elections to form a government.
“There is no quick and easy solution because the problem [with press freedom] It’s multi-layered,” said Radoff. “But at least this political shift is seen as a positive thing, because people increasingly think that the country is captured. “
In his view, Bulgaria’s journalism will benefit from judicial reforms, which will increase accountability to those who misuse public funds.
He added that politicians should change their attitude towards more respect for the independence of the media.
Knarov also takes a positive attitude towards the recent political developments in Bulgaria.
He said that after the interim government succeeded Borisov, the Ministry of the Interior withdrew its tax audit requirements and began to cooperate on his case.
In his view, judicial reforms will improve Bulgaria’s freedom of the press—and the EU’s greater control over how EU funds are used.
“When we Bulgarians entered the European Union, our hope was not money, but control of money. We see the European Union as an institution that can control our corrupt institutions,” he said.
Although domestic politics has played an important role in the deterioration of Bulgarian press freedom, the Bulgarian media landscape has also been affected by negative global trends in the industry [File: Denislav Stoychev/NurPhoto via Getty Images]
For Popova, Bulgarian journalists have a role to play. There needs to be greater solidarity and commitment to ethical standards.
“In Bulgaria, we need a strong syndicate. [We do not have] A syndicate that can protect the rights of journalists. The Bulgarian Press Union is still a post-communist organization in name only,” she said.
Marinos believes that state agencies must take action to regulate the media market and prevent media companies from being concentrated in the hands of a few large companies.
He also believes that increasing the budget of public media is a key step in making them more open to different opinions and more representative of Bulgarian society.
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