The workshop was organised by Dr. Christopher Nehring, guest lecturer of the KAS Media Programme South East Europe at the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication of Sofia University.

Yovo Nikolov, editor at “Capital”, explained what role the State Security played in the emergence of organised crime in Bulgaria.

Dr. Christopher Nehring greeted the few admitted guests in the hall and the numerous participants via Zoom.

Maria Dermendzhieva, editor at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and investigator of the Bulgarian State Security’s archives, explained how the security service recruited and manipulated journalists at the Bulgarian National Television.

Prof. Georgi Lozanov, media expert, author and lecturer, explained how the work of the State Security led to various forms of censorship and self-censorship.

How did the infamous Bulgarian State Security Service work against Bulgarian media and journalists? What consequences did the influence of the old Communist regime have on Bulgarian media and what did that mean for Bulgarian society after 1990?  And how can journalists engage with this topic today? These were the discussed questions at the workshop “Bulgarian State Security and the media: How to cover the topic of the totalitarian secret police today“ on 19th of November. The workshop was organised by Dr. Christopher Nehring, guest lecturer of the KAS Media Programme South East Europe at the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication of Sofia University.

The workshop included talks and presentations from experts and journalists, such as Prof. Georgi Lozanov, Maria Dermendzhieva, Yovo Nikolov, Diana Ivanova and of course Dr. Christopher Nehring. On the one hand, the speakers talked about how the Secret Services were created, what their structure and mission was and how they functioned. On the other hand, they presented their own journalistic articles and films on this topic and gave practical advice on how journalists should act in dealing with the topic.

Dr. Christopher Nehring greeted the few admitted guests in the hall and the numerous participants via Zoom. In his introduction, he illustrated the complicated relationship between the State Security Service and the media by explaining how the service worked against Deutsche Welle, for example, during the Cold War. He also gave an example of the State Security's secret PR and press relations with the Bulgarian writer Andrey Gulyashki. Prof. Georgi Lozanov, media expert, author and lecturer, explained how the State Security became a secret guest in almost every private household and how their work led to various forms of censorship and self-censorship. Maria Dermendzhieva, editor at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and investigator of the Bulgarian State Security’s archives, presented her work in the archive and explained how the security service recruited and manipulated journalists at the Bulgarian National Television. Yovo Nikolov, editor at “Capital”, explained what role the State Security played in the emergence of organised crime in Bulgaria. And last but not least, Diana Ivanova, a journalist at Radio Free Europe and an expert on the psychological consequences of totalitarianism, presented her film about the journalist and State Security victim Vladimir Kostov. Following their presentations, there was a lively discussion with questions also from the audience.