site.btaAccess to Information Is Changing, Council for Electronic Media Acting Chair Says

Attending a discussion over the challenges and problems for regional journalism in Bulgaria on Thursday, Simona Veleva, acting Chair of the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), said that "the architecture of access to information is changing and this is a problem for regional and national media, as well as for their regulation".

"By every action we take and with all our work, we strive to be there for the journalists and to listen to what they have to say, because that gives meaning to the institution [CEM] itself. We are coming out with positions in many occasions. We are very active when threats against journalists are made. We try to express solidarity whenever we can, whenever it is appropriate, whenever we are called upon. And in fact, CEM is the guarantor of independence for journalists and media in Bulgaria, and [it] should be. Even when it [CEM] does not have the mechanisms to do so, it should find those mechanisms", Veleva argued.

She talked about some of the new provisions provided for in the European Media Freedom Act and Digital Services Act. Veleva noted that the Media Freedom Act aims to guarantee the independence of journalists, to support the media and their independence, including at the regional level, and to better protect sources of information, as well as public media. She explained that the Digital Services Act specifies that if there is illegal content, the digital services coordinator must remove that content, as it changes the way information is accessed, she added.

The discussion was opened by Snezhana Todorova, President of the Union of Bulgarian Journalists. It was attended by journalist Assoc. Prof. Orlin Spassov, media expert Nikoleta Daskalova, Council for Electronic Media members Gabriela Naplatanova, Kadrinka Kadrinova and Prolet Velkova, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, among others.