Majority of Bulgarians Don't Believe in Media Independence

As many as 60% percent of Bulgarians don't believe that the media in the country are independent.

The survey of the "Market Links" research and consulting company, ordered by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation shows that only 14% of Bulgarians believe that the media are fully independent in their work. Only 7% of the Sofia residents do so.

Sixty-two percent of Bulgarians say they prefer to get their information from the TV channels, 20% prefer the internet and 4% - the print media.

According to media expert Georgi Lozanov, the results are not surprising and 2013 was the year of hate speech in the media.

"2013 was the year of massive smearing campaigns against political figures and parties", said Orlin Spasov, head of the Media Democracy Foundation, who presented the results of their monitoring report.

At the same time, PM Plamen Oresharski and the government enjoy a relative media comfort. There is hardly any criticism, while some media outright support the government unconditionally.

The only critical voices could be heard in the online media and the social networks, Spasov adds.

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