Media Influence Matrix Country Profile

Bulgaria’s media ecosystem has undergone continual erosion over the past decade, shaped by structural political influence, opaque ownership, concentrated broadcast markets, and chronic underfunding of independent journalism. While Bulgaria formally operates under European Union legal standards, the practical functioning of its media system has long diverged from EU norms. The Media Capture Monitoring Report: Bulgaria 2025 shows that the country has entered a new stage of institutional pressure and political influence. The report documents intensified interference in the governance of the public broadcaster, heavy-handed political rhetoric against critical media, the strategic use of public advertising, and the consolidation of politically aligned media networks.

Regulation and Policy Influence

Bulgaria’s media regulation combines EU-aligned legislation with institutions that are structurally vulnerable to political influence. The legacy MIM analysis already identified weaknesses in regulatory independence, particularly within the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), which oversees broadcasting licensing, supervision, and governance of the public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT).

The 2025 Media Capture Monitoring Report shows that these vulnerabilities have intensified. Political actors exert growing pressure on CEM through public rhetoric, parliamentary scrutiny, and politically framed attacks on regulatory decisions. These pressures influence the selection and dismissal of BNT leadership, undermining editorial autonomy and the stability of public service media.

The governance environment around public broadcasting has become especially fragile. BNT continues to face: politicized appointment cycles, attempts to influence editorial direction, accusations from political leaders seeking to delegitimize unfavorable coverage, and chronic funding instability.

The report notes that this environment creates a systemic risk of partial capture, where political actors shape BNT’s internal governance through both formal and informal means.

In the digital sphere, Bulgaria lacks robust mechanisms for online platform governance. While EU-level legislation (DSA, AVMSD) applies, enforcement capacity is limited. Disinformation and coordinated influence campaigns, some originating domestically, others externally, thrive in this regulatory vacuum, often filling the information space during election cycles and major political events.

Overall, the regulatory system is characterized by formal alignment but functional weakness, allowing political actors to exert influence through governance appointments, public messaging, budgetary levers, and selective regulatory pressure.

Sources:
See Legacy MIM Regulation report: https://journalismresearch.org/2018/11/media-influence-matrix-bulgaria-government-politics-and-regulation/

See Media Capture Monitoring Report: Bulgaria 2025

See Bulgaria in State Media Monitor.

Provenance and Funding

Bulgaria’s funding and ownership landscape has long been marked by opacity, concentration, and political alignment. The 2025 Media Capture Monitoring Report reinforces and expands this picture, showing how financial mechanisms are central to strengthening political control over information.

Large private broadcasters, including bTV Media Group and Nova Broadcasting Group, dominate national audiences. Although owned by international investors, their Bulgarian operations function within a political environment where access, advertising, and regulatory decisions can shape editorial and programming strategies.

Public service media remain financially unstable. BNT’s dependence on state funding exposes it to political leverage, and delays or disputes around budget allocations have become routine. Financial fragility limits its ability to develop independent content, invest in technology, or compete with private broadcasters.

State advertising, especially EU-funded public communication campaigns, plays a major role in sustaining the media market. The 2025 report warns that allocation practices remain opaque and are often influenced by political criteria. Outlets perceived as government-friendly receive disproportionate shares, while critical or independent media are marginalized. This has contributed to a structural alignment between economic survival and political loyalty.

Print media continues to contract, while online outlets face strong market pressure and heavy dependence on advertising intermediaries. Independent digital-born outlets, especially investigative and analytical platforms, rely on grants, memberships, and donor funding. Their sustainability is precarious, yet they remain essential actors in Bulgaria’s shrinking pluralistic space.

Foreign influence also shapes the funding environment, particularly through media entities or networks that propagate narratives aligned with external geopolitical interests. These entities exploit financial vulnerabilities to establish footholds in digital and regional markets.

Overall, the Bulgarian media economy demonstrates the classic characteristics of media capture: a weakened public broadcaster, a commercial sector shaped by opaque ownership and political incentives, and independent journalism surviving in a hostile and underfunded environment.

Technology, Platforms and the Information Environment

The digital public sphere in Bulgaria is highly dynamic, but increasingly distorted by disinformation networks, partisan actors, and foreign influence operations. Social media, particularly Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and messaging platforms, dominates news distribution. The legacy MIM report already identified platform dependence and mis/disinformation as central risks; the 2025 update underscores their expansion.

The 2025 report highlights the scale and sophistication of disinformation ecosystems in Bulgaria, which draw on domestic political actors, proxy media, and external networks linked to foreign strategic interests. These actors exploit algorithmic systems, closed messaging channels, and content-sharing networks to amplify conspiracy narratives, politically divisive content, and anti-democratic messaging.

Public trust in media is among the lowest in the EU, a trend reinforced by: persistent disinformation, politically orchestrated smear campaigns against independent journalists, online harassment targeting specific outlets or reporters, algorithm-driven echo chambers, and the weakening of editorially independent public service broadcasting.

Telecommunications infrastructure is relatively strong, with A1 Bulgaria, Vivacom, and Yettel Bulgaria providing broad coverage. However, the digital divide in rural areas limits access to quality information and increases vulnerability to misinformation.

AI adoption is in early stages but growing. Larger media organizations experiment with automation and analytics, while political actors use AI-driven content strategies to expand influence campaigns. Bulgaria lacks comprehensive policy frameworks addressing AI transparency, media integrity, or synthetic content.

The result is a public sphere marked by deep informational fragmentation, where platform logics and influence networks disproportionately shape visibility, trust, and audience engagement.

See Legacy MIM Technology report: https://journalismresearch.org/2018/08/media-influence-matrix-bulgaria-technology-public-sphere-and-journalism-2/

Key Companies

• bTV Media Group – major national broadcaster with strong audience reach.
• Nova Broadcasting Group – one of the largest and most politically significant media groups.
• BNT – Bulgarian National Television – politically vulnerable public service broadcaster with unstable funding.
• BNR – Bulgarian National Radio – influential public radio with a strong regional network but subject to political pressure.
• A1 Bulgaria, Vivacom, Yettel Bulgaria – dominant telecommunications operators.
• Independent digital investigative outlets – critical but economically fragile actors in a heavily distorted market.