THE LONG TRANSITION: PLURALISM, THE MARKET AND THE BULGARIAN MEDIA 20 YEARS AFTER COMMUNISM by Velina Nacheva A thesis submitted to The Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Journalism School of Journalism and Communication Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario December 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47531-7 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47531-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada Abstract The mass media in Bulgaria have experienced a dramatic change in the aftermath of the overthrow of the communist regimes across Eastern Europe post-1989. Amidst a societal shift from totalitarianism to democracy, the media themselves embarked on a democratization project, reshaped their structure and recast their creed. A decade after the release from the party ideology, the media succumbed to a new master: the market and new editorial constraints. Today, 20 years later, as the political and economic transition of the country has ended, the functioning of the media in an open market has brought about a new set of challenges. These challenges, such as self- censorship, economic and political interference are addressed in this research within the context of the 2008 press landscape. This thesis uses media content analysis and interviews with journalists and scholars to uncover these issues in Bulgarian media. The main concept in this research is the role that the media should play in enhancing civil society and devising the processes of democratization in a fledgling democracy. I Acknowledgements This research would not have become a reality without the ongoing encouragement and outstanding support from my supervisor and mentor, Professor Kirsten Kozolanka. My deepest appreciation goes to Professor Kozolanka for her helpful suggestions, devoted interest and great insights. My cordial gratitude goes to all the professors in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton, whose scholarship and numerous discussions have been a great source of inspiration for me in this endeavour. I am sincerely grateful to the Carleton's Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research for providing the financial assistance that enabled me to complete this project. I earnestly thank my wonderful friends and housemates for their friendship and care, and my landlady for giving me a home away from home. I am also thankful to the many individuals I encountered along the way whose words have challenged some of my assumptions and have inspired alternatives. I also want to thank the journalists and media analysts who took their time and shared their experiences with me. Above all, I owe my most heartfelt gratefulness to my incredibly fantastic and one-of-a- kind parents, Rossen and Jana, who have always believed in me and in the completion of this project, for their endless support, encouragement, perseverance, patience, and upon whose love I am completely dependent and have always warmly cherished. Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to my most beloved D. John, who has not only provided invaluable help throughout but whose unconditional love, support and dedication I am truly honoured and blessed to have. This research stems from the love of truth-seeking and journalism. 11 Table of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Table of Contents Hi List of Newspapers v List of Acronyms of Parties vi Chapter One The juggernaut of media democratization Overview Background Conceptual framework Chapter summary Research questions and methodology Limitations of research and contribution Chapter Two The post-perestroika era 24 The totalitarian legacy Political polarization The socioeconomic framework Annals of the transition The media upheaval Establishing the marketplace of ideas 24 Chassa (Hours) of modern journalism Trud: the family tribune Chapter Three Media revolution and media growth: 20 years later 53 In media we distrust Hush little baby, don't say a word Too many cooks in the kitchen The power of advertising Tabloidization compounds the information deficit in Advertising: he who pays the piper calls the tune Ownership shackles and editorial embargoes Chapter Four The media's "ostrich" approach 88 The populist context Results of content analysis Results of qualitative analysis The absence of the black sheep Circus stunts in the public discourse Does the public have the right to know? The favouritization-absence dichotomy Conclusion Chapter Five The media and democracy locked in a euro-transition 122 Corruption, corruption, corruption Lost in restrictions In the interest of owners Freedom of speech vs freedom to speak Code of ethics and professionalization Conclusion References 147 IV List of Newspapers Dnevnik (Agenda) daily is a leader in the business segment offering objective and reliable information. It is a national daily from the quality press niche with a circulation of 12,000. Express daily was launched in 2007 and is part of a consortium of media owned by one conglomerate. It is business oriented and tries to provide non-partisan information. It has modern style and visually attractive layout. Kapital (Capital) weekly is the leader of the quality press publications. It features right- wing business orientation. It is the preferred medium of the business decision-makers. It has modern style and objective information. Klassa (Class) is a business-oriented daily that was launched in 2007. It offers serious reading, analyses and objective information. Its ownership is linked to the media tycoon Krassimir Gergov. Standart (Standard) is published by the country's third largest press group. With a circulation of 53,000, Standart has the most modern, up-to-date online version among the dailies in the country. It publishes online in English, too. Telegraf (Telegraph) national daily is constantly growing in popularity. It is a mass- oriented newspaper with a predominance of light news and entertainment. It is one of the few publications with an increasing circulation. Trud is published by the Bulgarian subsidiary of the German conglomerate Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ). Trud is the newspaper with the longest lifespan in the Bulgarian press market. Today, it is the leading newspaper with a circulation that amounts to more than 100,000 copies. Media analysts call it a hybrid between serious and tabloid content as it often mixes serious news investigations and interviews and scandalous items and infotainment. 24 Chassa (24 Hours) is part of the family of WAZ publications in Bulgaria. It is the biggest rival to Trud. 24 Chassa is often described by media analysts as a broadloid because of its editorial approach to publish serious analyses and interviews, investigative reports and sensational interviews alongside on its pages. It is the first modern newspaper in Bulgaria. 24 Chassa does not feature specific leaning because it has shifted its editorial policy. It has a circulation of 84,000. Weekend weekly is a tabloid newspaper with the highest circulation at the press market (236,000). Weekend has achieved a stellar reputation in the past two years publishing investigative reports about the political and economic elites in the country. v List of Acronyms of Parties ATAKA -- ATAKA (Attack) Party BSP Bulgarian Socialist Party (formerly the Bulgarian Communist Party) CBPU Coalition Bulgarian Popular Union DSB Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria GERB Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria MRF Movement for Rights and Freedoms NMSII National Movement for Simeon II UDF Union of Democratic Forces UtDF United Democratic Forces VI Chapter 1 The juggernaut of media democratization Introduction Since the launch of the democracy venture almost two decades ago, 2008 has proved to be the most memorable year so far in the history of post-communist journalism in Bulgaria. The debate about free speech and the media's role in a democratic society has been reinvigorated since the emergence of a possible comeback of communist-style practices, the long-awaited public release of the dossiers on journalist-spies, the closure of a newspaper publication by a minister,1 and lastly, Gallery-gate—an operation conducted by Bulgaria's FBI to spy on journalists and MPs. This debate rekindled my interest in examining the complicated media labyrinth and in paving the way for future explorations of independent media, especially as I had walked away four years ago from a career as a journalist in Bulgaria.