site.btaMaxim Meyer: "Expat Success Stories Are Dramatically Under-reported in Bulgaria"

"The Bulgarian media dramatically under-report the success stories of Bulgarians worldwide," BGlobal Media Ltd. Managing Director Maxim Meyer said during the 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, which opened earlier at the BTA National Press Club in Odesa earlier on Wednesday.

Meyer joined online a panel on "Bulgarians Around the World in the Media".

In his words, part of the media in Bulgaria avoid these topics as they have set themselves other priorities. They have determined that this content is insufficiently salable, he pointed out.

Among the Bulgarians who are readily covered by all media worldwide, the BGlobal Media CEO listed athletes Grigor Dimitrov, Aleksandar Vezenkov and Kiril Despodov and, on rarer occasions, violinist Vasko Vassilev and opera singer Sonya Yoncheva.

"Expat Bulgarians also include fellow journalists who are approached by Bulgarian media, such as Christopher Karadjov, Ivo Ivanov and Simeon Gasparov. We invite to our magazine Ivaylo Haralampiev, who contributes regularly from Spain, Andrey Vladov from England, and Stiliyan Deyanov from Romania. These people are acute and astute observers of their respective regions, which is why our colleagues prefer to collaborate with them," Meyer said, adding that, regrettably, a wider group of Bulgarians worldwide do not attract a sustained interest. 

The speaker sees a niche for a broader presence of expat Bulgarians in the home country's media. "In my view, this will happen as a result of spreading moods among part of the audience who seek a more balanced news feed with fewer stories about crime, rumours and gossip. This is a more composed, more constructive and smarter journalism that will accommodate coverage of progressive Bulgarians both abroad and in Bulgaria," he explained.

He argued that setting up a content aggregator for Bulgarian media worldwide would be useful. He would work for this idea but believes that BTA is far more appropriate to implement it. In his words, such an aggregator would help the dissemination in Bulgaria of news about expats and popularize Bulgarian media in the rest of the world.

BTA is organizing the 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media in Odesa, Bolhrad, and Izmail, Ukraine, from June 18 to June 21, 2024. The event is taking place with the support of Aurubis Bulgaria, A1 Bulgaria, Glavbolgarstroy Holding AD, Euroins Insurance Group, Postbank, SOF Connect, and the 13 Centuries of Bulgaria National Endowment Fund.