site.btaEverybody Says Media Freedom Exists in Bulgaria but Very Few Feel It - National Radio Board Member
Dimitar Abrashev, a member of the Management Board of the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), likened talking about media freedom to talking about air in a room where someone has shut the windows. "Everyone says it’s there, but very few can feel it," said he as he spoke at the opening of a conference titled “The European Media Freedom Act – a framework for independence and pluralism in the European Union", organized by the Council for Electronic Media (CEM).
The European Media Freedom Act comes as a document, but documents do not save freedom – people do, with their principles, with overcoming fear, and with the price they pay, Abrashev added.
He stressed that if there is an institution in this country that knows what it means to pay a price for the truth, it is BNR.
He also said: "BNR has witnessed times that today are conveniently described with words like 'transition', 'reforms', 'democracy'. But we remember the times when our signal was cut, we remember the pressure, we remember those nights when there were only two choices – to stay silent or to remain human, and someone then chose not to remain silent. [...] The European Media Freedom Act is not coming to teach us, but to remind us that truth is not a service, journalism is not about decorum, and freedom is not about comfort but a state of constant unease."
"At BNR we are not perfect and never will be, but there is one thing we have always protected, regardless of the political climate, the stories of the day, outside ambitions, or anyone’s fears – the dignity of the profession. We are a media outlet that cannot be bought with ratings and cannot be replaced with another voice, because we are not simply part of the media landscape – we are its memory and its conscience," Abrashev said.
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