Migrants mostly feature in politics, crime reports in Bulgarian media |
The Bulgarian media usually mention migrants in stories relating to politics or crime, according to a survey conducted by the Centre for Independent Journalism presented on Thursday. The image of refugees and migrants was studied from April 17 to July 16 in several dailies ("Dnevnik", "24 Chassa", "Sega", "Troud", "Douma", "Monitor", "Novinar" and "Ataka"), radio newscasts (aired on Horizont and Darik) and television newscasts (on Bulgarian National Television, bTV, Nova TV, Evropa, Military TV Channel and SKAT).
The survey studied 556 items, of which 75 mentioned refugees and the rest discussed migrants. Most items, 377, appeared in the newspapers, and 179 featured in the monitored electronic media.
"Sega", "Monitor" and "Ataka" offered the largest number of items on migrants. While factual information predominated by far, three of the monitored media outlets - "Dnevnik", "Douma" and bTV - tended to provide analysis, said Vessela Tabakova, Chair of the Centre for Independent Journalism.
The migrants’ ethnic characteristics appeared in 59 per cent of the stories. In addition, most reports on migrants related to politics (29 per cent), followed by crime (23 per cent). Tabakova commented that a considerable number of items highlighted violations of the law by Bulgarian migrants around the world. She also noted that the attitude to migrants from Western Europe to Bulgaria was not negative. Bulgarian migrants were portrayed either as perpetrators of crimes or as a threat.
The refugees’ ethnic characteristics also appeared in most stories (53 per cent). As with migrants, items relating to politics predominated (48 per cent). In contrast with migrants, refugees were not mentioned in items on crime and featured in stories on international relations, religion and social issues. The items on refugees were mostly neutral (81 per cent) or positive (15 per cent).
The project was implemented with support from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Bulgaria.
