site.btaBTA Director General: Lies Are Fought with Truth, Support for Professional Journalists, Not Legal Restrictions

Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev commented on the proposed amendments to the Penal Code that would criminalize the dissemination of information about a person’s private life. Speaking at the Annual Meeting of Local Authorities in the Albena resort (on the Black Sea) on Sunday, he stressed that “lies are fought with more truth - by supporting professional journalists and media with editorial standards, not through restrictions, including legal ones, because often the biggest offenders are anonymous or difficult to trace in the global information space, and cannot be punished.”

“That is why the salaries of those working in public media should be at least on par with those of teachers, because from the media people learn about today, just as in schools they learn the lessons of yesterday,” Valchev stated.

He added that private media outlets which follow professional standards and bear editorial responsibility should receive state support, while municipal support programs should be introduced for regional media - following the example of the European Parliament and the European Commission in funding specific projects.

Valchev also stressed the need for systematic state programs to support Bulgarian-language media abroad. BTA organizes the World Meetings of Bulgarian Media for this purpose - the 20th edition was held this year in Sofia, Klisura Monastery, and Varshets, to draw attention to Northwestern Bulgaria, he noted.

“Public figures must tolerate more - including sharp criticism - as is the consistent practice of both the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and Bulgarian courts,” Valchev stated. “For those in public office, like us, the best advice is: if you do not want to be photographed or filmed, do not go there; if you do not want your words heard or published, do not say them,” he added.

He noted that lies about anyone, including fake photos, audio, and videos, now more easily produced through artificial intelligence, should of course continue to be subject to legal accountability — as already provided by current legislation, without the need for amendments.

Valchev emphasized that “BTA is the impartial platform for facts from Bulgarian municipalities — without commentary and always with a clear source of information.” According to him, this has always been the case - as evidenced by a BTA news item from December 9, 1996, reporting the founding decision of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB). “We are gifting NAMRB a copy of that news article, along with photos from the signing of the first agreement between central and local government on December 11, 2001, by then-NAMRB chair Venelin Uzunov and then-prime minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and the first contract between NAMRB and BTA, signed here in Albena on December 19, 2021,” said Valchev.

“The Bulgarian News Agency is more than just a news source for municipalities,” Valchev added. “Thanks to BTA’s national press clubs - as venues for press conferences, discussions, exhibitions, training, and dialogue between media and representatives of business, politics, culture, and sports - more Bulgarians from across the country and abroad are part of our shared national and European conversations.”