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This study provides a glimpse into the cultural history of this popular medium for the period 1944-2016. From the “golden age” of communist era television during which TV was hailed as a main cultural force for education and entertainment and simultaneously taunted as a tool of propaganda, censorship and political control, we will trace the unprecedented “boom” in commercial TV channels at the offset of the transition, with its often questionable quality, leading to the emergence of several serious contenders on the broadcasting scene, both in terms of their financial value and in terms of power over public opinion.

This study provides a glimpse into the cultural history of the popular medium of television for the period 1944-2016. Seeking a more nuanced and more evolved understanding of the role of the television in Bulgaria during socialist and in post-socialist times, this essay argues for a 'situated' reading of these historical developments, theorising that socialist and post-socialist television are indeed defined by disparate, yet equally influential and dynamic, cultural and political processes. From the 'golden age' of communist-era television, during which TV was hailed as a main force for mobilisation, education and entertainment, we will trace the 'boom' in commercial TV channels at the offset of the transition, with its often-questionable quality, leading to the emergence of several serious contenders on the broadcasting scene, both in terms of their financial value and in terms of their power over public opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on a ‘new generation’ of female politicians in Central and Eastern Europe who have emerged in the post-socialist context. These women are found in various countries and their political affiliations and agendas are diverse. However, they share a peculiar penchant for using the mass media to offer provocatively packaged public displays of their bodies in ways that relate to their political careers. These strategies of mediated self-exposure include posing for erotic magazines or using sexualized messages in various other video and print formats. In addition to drawing attention at home and abroad, these sensationalized and sexualized displays of female politicians’ bodies highlight the changing tastes and manners of post-socialist political culture. This article examines emblematic examples of female politicians’ mediated self-exposure and uses them to raise critical questions about the gendered nature of post-socialist political culture as it intersects with commercial media culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a historical analysis of the conceptualization of advertising both as a propaganda tool and as a means of encouraging consumption in socialist Bulgaria. By exploring the public discourse on the function and importance of advertising in the popular media over the last 50 years, it seeks to explore the approach used to define the need for advertising, offering an insight into the complex ways in which socialist ideologies recognized the “inevitable” logic of the market – on one hand, acknowledging the need for consumption and on the other, recognizing the utility of advertising, which promotes and supports this very consumption as it sustains the operation of a commercially viable social system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the role of media in securing the electorate success of Ataka, Bulgaria's ultra-right-wing party, as well as their contribution to the rise of nationalistic tendencies among the Bulgarian electorate. To accomplish this, the study sets two goals: first, to explore the political and socio-cultural environment which has allowed for the growth of ultra-nationalist rhetoric in Bulgaria, and second, to examine how Ataka's media publicity machine, with a specific focus on their new media tactics, have contributed to securing popular support for the virtually unfettered expression of ultra-nationalistic ideas. By conducting a critical analysis of Ataka's use of electronic media, including websites, online forums, and other social networking tools, the study analyzes the importance of electronic media to a right wing party such as Ataka, that catapulted it from complete obscurity into a political force of national importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The secrecy enveloping the past of public figures — journalists, politicians, and business moguls — has been plaguing democratic transition all across the Central and Eastern European region. In Bulgaria, the public has faced at different stages of the transition the uncomfortable moral crisis of reconciling the communist past with the political and cultural presence. In this process, journalists and media professionals play a vital role as critical agencies of discovering and disseminating the facts concerning the secret communist past of public figures. The situation is further complicated when journalists themselves are implicated in collaborating with the communist secret service, while at the same time, serving as prominent voices of dissent and political change. This paper examines the ramifications of these problems for press freedom and self-censorship, when not only journalists but media owners themselves, find their names on the "blacklist" of former secret agents and spies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined the metaphors and language that U.S. media used in their coverage of the 2002 Olympic scandal for the gold medal during the pairs figure skating final. Through a discussion of the historical aspects of the Olympic rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and a qualitative examination of the media coverage of the skating scandal, this paper argued that the ideological confrontation between the East and the West found a clear manifestation in the language in which the scandal was reported in the American media outlets as well as helped to further commercialize and sensationalize the sport of figure skating [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the status of women in politics and mass media in post-Communist Bulgaria. The author women in the country are more present in politics prior to the fall of communism when compared to other European countries. But she notes that depiction of nude women became rampant in Bulgarian newspapers and advertising. She attributes the increased number of women members of parliament (Mps) to former king Simeon Saxecoburgotski who founded the National Movement Simeon Second (NMSS) party that encouraged women to become politicians.