site.bta US Ambassador Ries Finds Problem with Media Ownership Transparency in Bulgaria

US Ambassador Ries Finds Problem with Media Ownership Transparency in Bulgaria

Sofia, March 11 (BTA) - In many cases in Bulgaria the citizens
are not informed about who is the owner of a given medium, and
therefore can not draw their conclusions about the objectivity
of what they are listening to or reading, said US Ambassador in
Bulgaria Marcie Ries during a Thursday conference about the
media as an instrument for taking over the State. The event was
initiated by the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD).

The acquisition of various media by a few small groups over the
past decade, who are somehow linking this business with
political interests, limits the variety of statements offered in
both print and electronic media, said the Ambassador. The laws
in Bulgaria are good on paper, however, these laws can work in
practice only if there is an appropriate regulatory framework,
she noted.

The most extensive legal regulation is the one for electronic
media, said Dr. Maria Yordanova, head of CSD's Law Program. She
noted, however, that the real owners of electronic media can not
be always determined, regardless of the publicity and access to
information about this type of media. The weaknesses in
imposing sanctions against print media allow for violations of
the requirement to provide ownership information to remain
unpunished. The restrictions of media ownership by offshore
companies have legal loopholes, Yordanova said. She recommended
that legislative changes are made, which will better guarantee
media independence, along with further developing the legal
framework concerning transparency requirements for all types of
media.

According to media law expert Neli Ognyanova, media financing is
also an important issue, in addition to ownership. She noted
that there are media which at first sight have no connection,
but what they have in common are the huge loans they have taken.
Ognyanova stressed the connection between media and
advertisement. According to her, the legal system should not
allow the same entity to sell advertisements to media and
broadcasting time to advertisers at the same time. Commenting
the issue of transparency, she recommended the creation of a
register of public funds which go towards media - a practice
borrowed from Austria. Ognyanova further noted that double
control must be exercised over media - both on the economic
concentration in the media market and abuse of dominant
position, as well as on the noneconomic means for media
pluralism.