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REPORT Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung MEDIA MONITORING LABORATORY February 2015 Media under their own momentum: www.fmd.bg The deficient will to change www.kas.de Foundation Media Democracy (FMD) and KAS. In summary, the main findings, by the Media Program South East Europe of areas of monitoring, include: the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) present the joint annual report on the MEDIA DISCOURSE state of the Bulgarian media environment in 2014. The study summarises the trends Among the most striking images in the coverage of socio-political constructed by Bulgarian media in 2014 was developments in the country. During the the presentation of patriotism as the monitored period dynamic processes sanctuary of identity. Among the most unfolded – European Parliament elections watched television events during the year and early elections to the National turned to be the Klitschko-Pulev boxing Assembly took place, three governments match. The event inflamed social networks, changed in the country’s governance. morning shows, commentary journalism. It was presented not simply as boxing, but as The unstable political situation has also an occasion for national euphoria. Such affected the media environment, in which a discourse fitted into the more general trend number of important problems have failed of nourishing patriotic passions which to find a solution. During the year, self- through the stadium language, but also regulation was virtually blocked. A vast through the media language, are easily majority of the media continued operating mobilised into street and political forms of at a loss. For many of them the problem symbolic and physical violence against with the ownership clarification remained others (Roma, refugees, the sexually and unresolved. In this context, the corruption ideologically different). At the same time, and the effects of external factors on the by virtue of the conflict between the media – political, economic and different stories, the opposite trend was administrative – remained an integral part also manifested in the media field – the of the Bulgarian media landscape. distancing and withdrawal from the neurotic nationalism. The analyses in this report have been prepared by the team of the Media 2014 was also the year of the return of the Monitoring Laboratory to the FMD (Nikoleta theme of the great enemy and the diversity Daskalova, Gergana Kutseva, Silvia Petrova, of its media transformations. In line with Marina Kirova, Bogdana Dencheva, Eli the common trends in the western media, Aleksandrova, Maya Tsaneva, Vladimir Russia and the Islamic State (and through Kisimdarov, Liliya Lateva and Tanya it, the Islam, too, as the image of the Dimova). The team leader is Orlin Spasov. Different) were most frequently recognised This year, too, the experts Georgi Lozanov as the perfectly different, big enemy. The and Todor P. Todorov were invited to share tension that this theme provoked fed many their appraisal of the current developments micro-wars and confrontations between in the media environment. Part of the media, journalists and speakers of different monitoring is based on quantitative and communities. qualitative data prepared by Market Links Agency for the joint analysis of FMD and 2 Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung NATIONAL TV CHANNELS AND the possibilities for public scrutiny and DAILIES correction of the political elites’ actions. MEDIA MONITORING LABORATORY The data on the media coverage of political After the informationally euphoric 2013, actors in national TV channels and dailies 2014 decreased the political action February 2015 prepared by the Market Links agency emotional strength to a great extent. The illustrate the most important trends in the year passed as a kind of completion of www.fmd.bg media-politics relations. Boyko Borisov 2013. The two election campaigns were www.kas.de continues to have the leading media bland for the most part and without presence in 2014, too. His advantage is memorable debates. The lively civil significant (3,908 references to 2,176 for discussions remained developed mainly on the second in the ranking, Rosen Facebook. The personality clash between Plevneliev). Borisov the most frequently Borisov and Stanishev, central to the expresses attitudes to key issues on Bulgarian publicity, which fed the media for country’s agenda, as well. In 2014, he did several years in a row with stories of the not need a comeback in the media; he only type “the battle between good and evil”, came back to power. dropped. Without his main opponent, Borisov himself shrank as a symbol and Among the parties and institutions, Citizens switched to a more businesslike public for European Development of Bulgaria image and to more pragmatic political (Grazhdani za evropeysko razvitie na actions. Bulgaria, abbreviated GERB) has a leading position in the expression of attitude, TELEVISION POLITICAL PROJECTS followed by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (Bulgarska sotsialisticheska partiya, BSP). The past year was symptomatic of the state GERB is also the party the most frequently of the television political projects. They mentioned both in the press and television. relate to leadership-type parties such as Thus the organisation is now strongly Bulgaria Without Censorship (Bulgaria bez dominating Bulgarian media discourse. At tsenzura, BBT), Ataka, The National Front the same time, the attitude towards GERB is for the Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB), whose different in different media. Overall, leaders perform active television activities, however, the media have warmed their owing to which the parties win attitude towards the party, compared to parliamentary quotas. The common 2013, and in 2014 it is mostly neutral now. genealogy of such public projects is complemented by similarities in the The data also show that the media attitudes speaking of the respective leaders: it is towards Boyko Borisov, Rosen Plevneliev, aggressive, tending to go into the hostile Mihail Mikov and Lyutvi Mestan are speech registers, with Siderov (Ataka) and improving in 2014, while the attitude Simeonov (NFSB) constructing an “enemy” towards Sergey Stanishev and Nikolay in the plan of the nationalism, and Barekov Barekov is deteriorating. The attitudes (BBT) – in the plan of the socio-political towards Volen Siderov remain negative. criticism. In 2014 it became clear that there are serious grounds to diagnose the decline In 2014, too, some media (both electronic of this kind of public projects. The and print) again abruptly changed their emblematic example of the TV7’s failure political orientations, choosing the and the conflicting relationships between opportunism to the responsible criticism of that television and the BBT party delivered abuses of power. by it clearly demonstrated the risk that a television takes when it deletes the borders Bulgarian National Television is among the between politics and journalism. Such most critical media of the three major inherently contradictory formats are now parties and the different governments. more or less doomed to marginality and Thus, it takes a leading position as regards their survival depends on coalition and para-coalition compromises that often 3 Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung threaten them with the collapse of their own Borisov. In the online media headlines, the ideologies. Furthermore, in 2014, the case largest was the presence of the persons MEDIA MONITORING with TV7 made it more recognisable to from the BSP. The formation attracted the LABORATORY viewers the nature of the television policy media interest primarily in the context of and the danger that they can easily fall internal instability and the election of a new February 2015 victims to mythological manipulations. Chairman of the party. As actors reflected in the polemical light (spokespersons or www.fmd.bg RADIO objects of evaluative attitude) emerged www.kas.de Boyko Borisov (GERB), President Rosen Some of the most important developments Plevneliev, Sergey Stanishev (BSP) and in the radio sector in 2014 refer to the Lyutvi Mestan (DPS). The Member of Bulgarian National Radio (BNR). The Parliament from the DPS Delyan Peevski discontinuation of the commentary and banker Tsvetan Vasilev were also programme “Deconstruction” on BNR in among the central objects of evaluation. September, on the eve of the campaign for the early parliamentary elections, has An apparent trend during the year was the become a hot case. It provoked polemic continuing politicisation of online news, public reactions and raised controversial particularly pronounced in the previous comments both on the political positions of 2013. The unstable political landscape led to the programme presenter Petar Volgin and steady instrumentalisation of the media for on the interventions of the management of the purposes of the party campaigning and the radio. Another important episode is propaganda. Throughout 2014, the politics connected with the appointment of Slavi coverage often passed through the speech Binev as the Chairman of the Parliamentary of hate. Committee on Culture and Media. The BNR did not hesitate to express disagreement A new phenomenon during the year was the with the disputed appointment. The third evaluative media framing of the image of key moment is the resumption of the Russia in the context of the Russia-Ukraine journalist association “Svobodno slovo” conflict, the relations with the EU and the (“free speech”). The association, in which a South Stream energy project. While the number of radio journalists are members, central news discourse

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