Activity Details (ID# 4942)

Activity Synopsis

The general objective of the seminar was to present the current situation in Bulgaria concerning media concentrations and media transparency and to introduce to the participants the experience of several other European countries in this field. Furthermore, the seminar was aimed at discussing the questions raised by the development of new technologies and their impact on media pluralism.

 

The seminar was well organised and well attended. The relevant Council of Europe documents (recommendations and reports) were made available to the participants.
The first Bulgarian speakers presented the current problems of media concentrations in Bulgaria, both in the written press and broadcasting sectors. In the press sector, there has been a trend towards concentration while, at the same time, no specific media related anti-concentration measures are contained in the Bulgarian legal framework. The lack of strong anti-concentration related regulations in the Bulgarian Law on Radio and Television might also jeopardise media pluralism in the near future.

In addition, the lack of transparency of ownership structure in the Bulgarian legal framework raises very serious questions about the proper implementation of anti-concentration mechanisms. Moreover, the seminar showed that there are no comprehensive research and data related to concentrations and transparency of the media industry in Bulgaria. This might become a problem when the legislator begins to develop a policy in this field.
One Council of Europe expert presented the German experience in this field pointing out both the advantages and challenges of the existence of a specialised independent body monitoring concentration trends in that country. The second CoE expert introduced the mechanisms to promote media pluralism in the United Kingdom, France, Italy and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the discussion focused on the challenges faced by European countries in the light of the development of new technologies. The Council of Europe experts presented the current trends in several European countries and the ways in which these issues will have to be addressed by the national legislator. These presentations were complemented by several presentations by Bulgarian experts.
Due to the high level and quality of the speakers, the debates and discussions were focused and fruitful, albeit sometimes short due to the lack of time.
Media coverage was good. An item on the main evening TV news presented the seminar and a live interview was given in the morning programme of the national TV. The press also covered the activity.
Although no written questionnaire was distributed, the overall feed-back from the participants was positive.
Small changes were introduced in the programme which did not have any serious impact on the implementation of the seminar.
The target group was reached, but unfortunately there were no representatives of the Bulgarian Commission for protection of the competition and only one member of the CEM partially attended the seminar.

 

No formal declaration was adopted at the end of the Seminar. The amendment of the broadcasting legislation is under discussion, a process which has been initiated by specialised Bulgarian NGOs. Should this process lead to a formal amending procedure through Parliament, a legislative expertise by Council of Europe experts might be advisable in order to assess the degree of harmonisation of the revised Law with relevant European standards, particularly in the field of media pluralism. 

Members of Parliament, Media professionals from the broadcasting and press sector, member of the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), representatives from specialised media NGOs, academics

 

Dr David Ward, University of Westminster (United Kingdom)
Mr Bernd Malzanini, Director, Commission on Concentration in the Media (KEK), Potsdam (Germany)

 

Mr Mario OETHEIMER, Media Division, DG2