Medialer Komfort? – Zu den „sündhaften“ Beziehungen der Medien zur Macht im heutigen Bulgarien
Medial Comfort ? – On the ‘Sinful’ Relations between Media and Power in Present Bulgaria

Summary/Abstract: According to the rankings of ‘freedom of the press’ the Bulgarian media are not considered to be free. Their dependence on politics and the economy has increased sharply over the last years. Some Bulgarian media scientists put these results in question, however, because they are based on criteria which can only seemingly be measured objectively everywhere and be applied to all countries. The reason for the steady decline of Bulgaria on the scale of freedom of press can hardly be related to specific political, economic or other factors, and likewise not to topical scandals, attitudes or covered contents. Rather, the reason has to be sought in the structure of the public itself, in the quality of the system in which no border between serious and ‘yellow’ journalism can be discerned. This initial situation has produced relations between the media and political power that have meanwhile turned ‘sinful’. It is a public secret that the Bulgarian media create optimal conditions for hired journalism: One does not even make the effort to hide self-censorship or the price for certain (non)-publications. For the description of such practices the term ‘medial comfort’ has become proverbial in public. It denotes primarily the comfortable environment which the media create for political actions. But the reverse perspective appears to be just as relevant, as the politicians grant the same ‘comfortable’ favors to the media by ‘flirting’ with them and serving the tastes of the masses. Based on interviews with journalists and a comprehensive media analysis the paper deals with the concept of ‘freedom of the media’ in a country which has no pertinent traditions.

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