Regional news coverage in Bulgaria’s national radio and television programmes is geographically uneven, with Sofia and the major regional centres dominating the news flow while some areas receive little or no coverage, according to a focused monitoring report adopted by the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) on Thursday.
The report found that the regions of Razgrad, Targovishte, Silistra, Dobrich, Pernik and Kardzhali had only a small number of reports or were entirely absent from the news flow of some programmes.
Regional stories accounted for between one quarter and one third of the content monitored, but crime, disasters, accidents and other negative events predominated.
“This study shows how regional topics develop in electronic media – how they emerge and what sources they originate from,” CEM Chair Gabriela Naplatanova said. She added that some regions were becoming “news deserts” because they did not have a regular presence on the media agenda.
The monitoring covered 11 nationally distributed radio and television services, including BNT 1, BNT 2, the Horizont and Hristo Botev channels of the Bulgarian National Radio, as well as bTV, Nova TV, Nova News, Bulgaria ON AIR, Euronews Bulgaria, Eurocom and Darik Radio Bulgaria. It was conducted on three non-consecutive weekdays in June, July and September.
The report found that crime was the largest category of regional news in eight of the programmes monitored, while accidents were among the three leading categories in nine. Political topics ranked among the three most frequently covered categories in five programmes.
Naplatanova said the presence of journalists and correspondents in the regions was a key factor determining the volume and diversity of regional coverage. “Most important are local correspondents and the local community as sources of news,” she said.
CEM member Simona Veleva said the findings showed a clear tendency for regional news to receive national coverage mainly when there were accidents, tragedies or other negative events. She stressed the need for support for quality regional journalism, while saying that any public funding should be based on transparent and objective rules.
The CEM members unanimously approved the report for publication on the regulator’s website.
Naplatanova proposed that such monitoring be conducted at least once a year to track developments.
Sofia, Major Centres Dominate National Media’s Regional News Coverage, Some Areas Are in “News Deserts” – Media Regulator THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-01 13:20:00
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