Being a Journalist in Bulgaria: The State of the Profession

Prepared jointly by the Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria (AEJ-Bulgaria) and the Media Democracy Foundation, “Being a Journalist: The State of the Profession” is the first report analyzing the journalistic profession in Bulgaria with the help of media anthropology. The data was collected in February-July 2017 through interviews with 30 journalists coming from different parts of the country and representing all types of media who shared their diverse work experience.

The authors explore in depth the relationship between different social aspects of the journalists’ biographies and their approach to the profession. The study covers topics such as family background and education, early motivation for choosing a profession, labor migration, career development, current state of the working conditions in the media, types of control and quality criteria, and journalists’ free time.

This survey is part of AEJ-Bulgaria’s project “Mediator 2: A Bridge Between Ethical Journalism and the Society”, supported by the America for Bulgaria Foundation.

The full report is available in Bulgarian. Here  is a summary in English.