Bulgarian journalism played a state-building role in the period before Liberation, when the Bulgarian state had not yet been restored, Prof. Zdravka Konstantinova, a lecturer in the History of Bulgarian Journalism at Sofia University’s Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, said at the presentation of the latest issue of LIK magazine on Monday. The November issue of BTA’s magazine for literature, art and culture is dedicated to the 180th anniversary of the publication of the first Bulgarian newspaper, Bulgarski Orel (Bulgarian Eagle), and the development of print media in Bulgaria.
The beginnings of Bulgarian periodical publishing date back to 1842, when Konstantin Fotinov published a trial issue of the magazine Lyuboslovie. The first Bulgarian newspaper, Bulgarski Orel, was published in 1846 by Ivan Bogorov, Prof. Konstantinova recalled. By September 9, 1944, Bulgarian periodical publishing had produced more than 10,000 titles, she said.
The words “Bulgaria” and “new”, along with their derivatives, feature most frequently in publication titles. They were first combined in Nova Bulgaria (New Bulgaria), the last newspaper published by Hristo Botev. According to Prof. Konstantinova, these titles reflect key trends in the development of Bulgarian society: the restoration of the Bulgarian state, efforts to strengthen it and ambitions to modernise it.
Over the years, print publications have covered every sphere of public life, including politics, the economy, culture, literature and science. Editorial offices became centres of civic activity, while the influence of some newspapers was so considerable that competition for control over them became particularly fierce, especially in the party press.
Following Liberation, party newspapers dominated throughout the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century, but were gradually superseded by mass-market and specialised publications. Of the more than 10,000 periodicals, over 6,000 were specialised publications, with literary titles accounting for the largest share, followed by those devoted to economics and finance. Military, women’s, sports and other publications also emerged.
Until the end of World War I, the national question dominated the Bulgarian press. During the interwar period, interest in national identity and things Bulgarian grew, while ideas spanning the political spectrum from the far left to the far right gained circulation. The struggle for freedom of speech continued alongside these developments. Prof. Konstantinova said that one reason periods of greater press freedom were short-lived was that the prevailing political and social situation often took precedence over the legal system.
She also drew attention to the values reflected in the periodicals of the time, saying their emphasis on values rather than profit-seeking. At the same time, she cautioned against idealising the past and raised the question of how much strategic thinking and foresight the Bulgarian press had demonstrated during periods of crisis and extreme confrontation.
Prof. Konstantinova also said that the history of Bulgarian periodical publishing reflects the development of Bulgarian media abroad, including in Europe, North America and South America. She said BTA had fulfilled her prediction of Bulgarian journalism reaching Antarctica, adding that the idea had been mentioned in her 2015 book, Bulgarian Journalism (1842–1944).
Prof. Konstantinova emphasised that even during the period of one-party rule, specialised publications existed covering literature, art, culture, women, children, young people, science and technology. After November 10, 1989, freedom first found expression in the media, but some outlets subsequently failed to modernise and became marginalised, losing the trust of their audiences. Among the problems she identified were media ownership and financing, dependencies, and Bulgaria’s low levels of press freedom according to international assessments.
In her view, media modernisation should go hand in hand with strengthening statehood, consolidating society around shared values and developing a knowledge-based society. She also raised the question of how interaction with artificial intelligence would affect journalism’s human dimension and whether it might lead to its transformation into what she described as post-journalism.
LIK has been freely accessible since January 2024. All issues published since the magazine’s relaunch in 2022 are available for download in electronic format from BTA’s website.

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