Ruse History Museum Director Highlights Media’s Role in Shaping History

Martin Penev

Prof. Nikolay Nenov, director of the Regional Historical Museum in Ruse, speaking at a BTA-organized conference in Ruse that commemorates a December 1875 decision by the Giurgiu Revolutionary Committee to launch the 1876 April Uprising in Bulgaria, Ruse, on the Danube, December 17, 2025 (BTA Photo/Bisser Todorov)

Ruse, on the Danube,

17.12.2025 15:02

(BTA)

The presence of media has been crucial in shaping public opinion throughout history, not just in reporting events, said Prof. Nikolay Nenov, director of the Regional Historical Museum in Ruse and chair of the 47th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee. He was speaking at a BTA-organized conference in Ruse that commemorates a December 1875 decision by the Giurgiu Revolutionary Committee to launch the 1876 April Uprising in Bulgaria.

The event brought together academics, public officials, diplomats, journalists, and students from Bulgaria and Romania. It is part of a joint initiative of BTA, the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), and Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), called “14 Centuries of Bulgaria in Europe” for commemorating anniversaries in Bulgarian history that are significant for European history through to 2032, when 1,400 years will be marked since the establishment in 632 of the first Bulgarian state in Europe - Old Great Bulgaria.

Nenov highlighted the role of newspapers during the 19th century. “Media at that time was extremely important because it formed opinion, not just reflected events,” he said, citing Hans Christian Andersen’s journey along the Danube in the 1860s, when he learned about Bulgaria from German newspapers despite being in Ottoman territory.

Nenov also presented two new publications: Traces of Heroic Times, a guide to Bulgarian national-liberation sites compiled over four years with the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore, and 100 Artifacts from the Heroic Times, a collection of 100 historical objects from 33 Bulgarian museums connected to national heroes, meant to tell the story of Bulgaria’s struggle for liberation.

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