An appeal to support media outlets that disseminate reliable news and information and to make trustworthy journalism a key issue in the campaign for November’s parliamentary elections, was sent by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) upon the visit of its representative Pavol Szalai, the head of RSF’s European Union and Balkans desk. He was one of the speakers in “New Horizons in Journalism” Conference organized by the World Press Institute in Sofia, Bulgaria on 24-25 September. The event, sponsored by America for Bulgaria Foundation and in partnership with the Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria.
While in Sofia, RSF advocated to officials and leading national politicians for concrete measures to encourage reliable reporting and to support independent Bulgarian media outlets. “We have presented strong recommendations and now we ask you to take the actions that are permitted by your position,” Szalai said during a meeting with culture minister Velislav Minekov.
“The right to news and information is experiencing a major crisis in Bulgaria,” Szalai said in his address to the New Horizons in Journalism conference. “We need a crisis exit plan that supports those journalists who produce and disseminate trustworthy information. In a country ravaged by the coronavirus and by corruption in the allocation of European funding, access to reliable coverage of public policy is more than ever in the general interest of both Bulgarians and all Europeans.”
