"Media and Language" began as an electronic scientific journal for the study of media language. It was founded by Prof. DSc. Andreana Eftimova. It is registered as an electronic scientific publication with ISSN 2535-0587 at the University Publishing House "St. Kliment Ohridski". The interdisciplinary nature of the journal positions it in the field of humanities and social sciences. Gradually, the journal expands the scope of research, accepting texts dedicated to the functioning of language and semiotic systems in various social spheres - journalism, public relations, advertising, branding, book publishing, politics, art.
Университетско издателство „Св. Климент Охридски“
Rhetoric and Media Representations of the Conflict at the Ivan Vazov National Theatre
Настоящият материал разглежда медийните публикации, посветени на кризата в Народния театър „Иван Вазов“, възникнала вследствие на конфликта между Александър Морфов и Велислава Кръстева. Обект на анализ са жанровите, стилистичните и лексикалните особености на корпус от текстове, публикувани във Frognews.bg и Impressio.dir.bg. Специално внимание се отделя на начина, по който двете медии отразяват конфликта, на реторическите стратегии на основните говорители по темата, както и на трансформацията на наратива в хода на кризата чрез участието на преките и косвени участници в нея.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ана Тодорова-Дамова https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Path Through the Ruins: How Photojournalists Modeled the Famine in Gaza?
The report places the reportage footage of the famine in Palestine in the summer of 2025 in the intertext of the photographic tradition of wars and disasters, raising questions of an ethical and aesthetic nature. Two covers of influential publications – The Economist and Time – are put in focus. The scenes of the suffering Palestinians are examined as a replica of photographic images from post-war Germany.
aestheticizing and objectifying the suffering
Copyright (c) 2025 Йордан Ефтимов https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
How Estonia Is Building the Brand of a Digital Nation in Europe
This publication analyses how Estonia builds a strategic brand as a digital nation through the intersection of science, entrepreneurship, and governmental vision in close collaboration with the private sector. It analyzes initiatives like e-Estonia and the EURAXESS Startup Tour, which foster a culture of collaboration between researchers and startups. At its core is an intercultural approach to communication that enables Estonia to position itself as a model for innovation and technological leadership in Europe. The case illustrates how strategic brand image can serve as a tool for long-term sustainability in a global context.
Copyright (c) 2025 Рая Дренски https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Sports, Power, and Communication: the Image Challenges of Formula 1 in Authoritarian Countries
Formula 1, as a globally recognized sport with millions of viewers, attracts authoritarian states that use hosting races to improve their image through sportswashing. Through case study analysis, this article examines how Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Azerbaijan utilize F1 to divert attention from human rights violations and other issues. The study considers the lack of response from F1 and the FIA as a significant problem that undermines the sport's legitimacy. In conclusion, a communication strategy is proposed to address criticism of the organizations' passivity.
Copyright (c) 2025 Цветелина Джамбазова https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Civic Responsibility as a Value in Contemporary Digital Society
This paper explores the evolving concept of civic responsibility within the framework of contemporary digital society. In an era of rapidly developing technologies, social media, and online communication, civic responsibility takes on new dimensions—both in virtual and real public spheres. The study analyzes expressions of responsible online behavior, including digital ethics, participation in public discourse, data protection, and the fight against disinformation. Emphasis is placed on the need to adapt traditional value systems to new digital realities and to cultivate a digital culture in which civic responsibility serves as a stabilizing moral and social principle. The research combines theoretical analysis with empirical observations based on ongoing social and media developments in both Bulgarian and global contexts.
Copyright (c) 2025 Сергей Тодоров https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Sensational Stories in Social Networks and the Media Agenda (Typology of Viral Content in Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Platforms for 2017)
Viral content coming from social networks is often included in the media agenda setting. This type of content is a source of information that can be shared, investigated, analyzed, tracked over time, and so on. Stories only become viral when they are seen, shared, liked or commented many times, which can range from hundreds to thousands and millions of times. The aim of the study is to distinguish the main categories of content and dominant emotion in a selection of examples in top stories for 2017. As a starting point, we use some key definitions for viral content. We also look at what kind of information the world was searching for in 2017, and we try to establish the link between the desired information and the potential viral content of the web. Exploring what type of content becomes viral on social networks is important because it might help understand what the audience excites most about why this type of content often reaches the media agenda and what its specific features are.
Copyright (c) 2018 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Social Media as a Source of Crisis and as a Crisis Management Tool – Example to Learn From
Today we witness the rapid development of social media, growing number of Internet users worldwide and increasing tendency for dialogue between organizations and their customers. Audience expectations are changing and they increasingly require transparency in communication, open policy, participation in reporting, sharing and dissemination of information, as well as multiple-source reviews. This requires a more serious analysis of modern anti-crisis rules and requirements imposed by social media. This article explores a communication example that illustrates the change in all these processes. The showcase concerns the well-known Domino’s Pizza brand, and is proof that today no organization is protected from reputational threats, regardless of its scale, and social media can become both a source of crisis and a tool to reduce the damage from that crisis.
Copyright (c) 2017 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
e paper discusses the image of the Roma in films from Eastern Europe.
The article attempts to introduce contemporary art vocabulary (120 words) in a neolog­ical way. In short, neologisms are viewed from different perspectives: postmodernist and post-postmodernist, philosophical, psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic, aesthetical, norma­tive, pragmatic and in the visual culture plan. The new words are analysed both according to traditional classifications and also within the non-standard parallels ”linguistics – art criticism – visual culture” and the triad “linguistics – visual culture – architecture”. The material includes lexico-semantic notes on art neologisms: lexico-semantic mini-groups of nouns and adjectives. Different aspects are discussed, such as word-formation, style, punctuation, graphics and context. The author puts forward the idea that neologisms are not alien to intellectualism; in fact, they are a complement to intellectual systems. At the end of the paper, a mini-glossary of the commented neologisms is provided.
Semiopragmatics of Roger Oden in the Context of the Modern Communicative Paradigm
The article follows the evolution of R. Oden’s theoretical views related to the development of semiopragmatics as a scientific discipline exploring the peculiarities of communication. The author outlines his innovative views on the communicative process in a series of studies, the most prominent of which are „De la fiction “ (2000) and „Les Espaces de communication“ (2011). R. Oden examines the communication as a two-way process of text creation in which the producer and the recipient are equal participants. Another key point in semiopragmatic theory is the idea that the context should be regarded as the starting point for analyzing the process of producing meaning. R. Oden’s recent scientific research is related to the introduction of the concept of mental communication space in the study of audiovisual communication through a mobile phone.
Monitoring and Analysis of the Media Representation of the LGBT Community in the Online Newspaper “Dnevnik”
The article presents the content analysis of 188 media texts relevant to the LGBT community published in the online newspaper “Dnevnik” between 2008 and 2012. The publications are categorized by topic in 18 categories. A tendency for the number of materials as well as the topical categories they fall in to increase is observed (e.g., the number of publications related to marriage equality is increasing throughout the 5-year period; articles regarding the possibility for same-sex couples to adopt children started being published in 2012).
Botofascism vs Ordinary Fascism – How Martin Karbovski was Stifled by Facebook
The fight against hate speech in the polarized society is becoming more and more fierce. Attempting to overcome it, social networks are commonly trapped into the role of censor of necessity. Governments are also guilty for this phenomenon – trying to regulate big IT companies, authorities are making them vulnerable to manipulations by social engineers and political puppeteers. May the weapons against hate speech become more dangerous than its deeds? Muting one of the most influential voices in Bulgarian media – Martin Karbovski, answers this awkward question.
Copyright (c) 2019 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Participatory Journalism as a Means of Creating, Distributing and Verifying Fake News
The article aims to outline the role of participatory journalism in news and information sharing.
The Model of South Korean Online Media Ohmynews in Citizen Journalism
The publication introduces the citizen journalism model implemented by South Korean news website OhMyNews (http://www.ohmynews.com), created in 2000, considered to be a pioneer in journalism with the participation of non-professional journalists. The publication explores the new features of journalists, editors, audience, media message and journalism according to OhMyNews. The journalistic model of OhMyNews is analyzed according to the characteristics of the new digital media. The publication traced the development of the media in the social, economic and technological context of South Korea from the late 1990s to the early 21st century.
Copyright (c) 2020 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Corpus Study of the Language of Commentary Journalistic Columns
The proposed method for analyzing discourse through corpus linguistics uses quantitative means primarily to draw the attention to recurrent phenomena of statistical significance. The conclusions lead to linguistic facts analyzed by qualitative methods. According to the study, the language and style of the two leading Volgin and Koritarov are different.
Modern Application and Demonstration of the Ancient Rhetorical Exercises „Encomium“ and „Etopeya“
This report aims to introduce to the audience the practical application of the ancient rhetorical exercises of encomium and ethopeya, which are an important part of a speaker’s training and education, a way to upgrade his personality, to acquire specific and essential qualities that are fundamental for every successful speaker. These rhetorical exercises are of great use to this day in the media and in other spheres of society, which are a practical and creative tool for shaping a orator’s speech, putting it into practice in front of an audience, developing particularly key rhetorical skills, and helping the personality of the speaker to grow up.
A Rhetorical Analysis of the Elevator Pitch
The elevator pitch (also known as elevator speech) is a widely used communication tool in a business context. The elevator pitch is a micropresentation: a short, direct, engaging and approachable speech, specifically adapted to the audience and the situation in which it is delivered. The current article reviews the persuasive characteristics of the elevator speech through the prism of the science of Rhetoric. The text emphasizes the different types of arguments used in an elevator speech, together with the characteristics of nonverbal communication to make an elevator pitch persuasive and effective.
Rhetorical Analysis of David Čеrný’s Art Installation “Entropa: Stereotypes and Barriers to Be Demolished”
The aim of the rhetorical analysis of David Černý’s art installation “Entropa: stereotypes and barriers to be demolished” is to answer the following the questions: What is the rhetorical situation? What is the audience it addresses? Who is the author? What is the purpose of the visual rhetorical message? In what genre can the art installation be placed? What visual images and visual argumentation are used to achieve the purpose? What is the effect and how did the audience respond to Černý’s installation? The specific interdisciplinary scientific field of the relation between rhetoric and neoavantgarde art is the background against which we analyze the creation as well as the setting in which the art installation is perceived and interpreted as visual political rhetorics.
stereotypes and biases in intercultural communication
The Influence of the “Other” in Psychotherapeutic and Medical Practice
Professional interactions in psychotherapy and medicine are an important healing tool with a number of elements and particularities. The realtionship between the patient and the therapist is a structured relationship where a working alliance is built. The purpose of this paper is to present some of the characteristics of the impact on the other in the psychotherapeutic and medical communication. It is focesed on the methods of possible manipulation, which can take place on conscious and unconscious level. The manipulativeness of the approach is based on the influence of characteristics such as appearance, non-verbal behavior, tone of voice, sound of speech, etc. It is associated with certain suggestions for goodwill, security, privacy, community, authority, autonomy and more.
The Parliamentary Debate – A Critical Look at the Practice (2009-2019)
The parliamentary government is a form of governance of a state, a political regime and a „big public debate stage“. The article presents the activities of the National Assembly during the period 2009-2019 as a political regime and a debate stage. It represents a critical analysis of the constitutional and political functions of the Bulgarian Parliament. Negative trends in parliamentary procedures are presented through the implementation of legislative, constitutive and control functions. There is a refusal or avoidance of parliamentary debate between the parliamentary majority and the parliamentary opposition.
Television PR and Behavior in Front of the Camera – Audiovisual Strategies, Practices, Skills
Several theoretical fields are elaborated in the study – television, TV PR, behaviour in front of the camera, comparative audiovisual theory. Indicators for assessment of media practices related the behavior in front of the camera and TV PR are developed. A general classification of TV PR is established.
Trainings for the Development of Prosocial Communication Among Professionals
Prosocial communication defined as interaction during which the aim is to protect the dignity of the other person even in cases of conflict and to act prosocially falls into the focus of the current material. It presents the definitions of prosocial behavior and prosocial communication and the attempts to operationalize prosocial communication. Alongside this theoretical overview the material discusses ideas and approaches to training of professionals, in this case medical staff, in communication skills and prosociality. The training methods are based on the principles of experiential learning.
Dispositional and argumentative aspects of primacy and recency effects: a return to classical rhetoric
The goal of this article is to examine and present the rhetorical applications of two important processes affecting human communication – the primacy effect and the recency effect. They are determined by two major factors – the time period by which are separated the messages, and the time that has the audience to make decision and/or to judge upon the orator’s claim. Different models are proposed for intensification of these effects by expanding or reducing the length of the speech on three main levels – the order of delivering the speeches, the order of presenting the information, and the structure of the argument.
Expressing Humor in Audiovisual Translation From Bulgarian Into Russian
The study considers the humour recreation for audiovisual translation of movies and TV series from Bulgarian into Russian. Translating humour in audiovisual content is a real challenge since while there are obvious linguistic similarities, the speech usage of the target audiences, the visual content perception, and the cultural background are different. Studying the translation of comical content in cognate languages should consider the cultural context and ensure an identical visual content perception by the target audience.
Locus of Control in Bulgarian Culture and its Communicative Expression in Colloquial Speech
Locus of control is a psychological term used to describe the extent to which individuals believe they can control their own destiny. Although in the academic literature it is studied mainly in relation to personalities, the locus of control is embedded in culture and is acquired by individuals through upbringing, education and the role of the media. An own empirical study shows that there is a serious discrepancy between the consciously declared locus of control by the respondents and the actual beliefs of the Bulgarians. The openly stated locus of control varies from strong and moderate internal to mixed locus of control. However, a number of practices in the Bulgarian colloquial speech points to the conclusion that there is an external locus of control of which most of the Bulgarians are unaware.
Copyright (c) 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The article examines the political discourse of Wilson’s Peace in the „Bulgarian Times”, as „Mir” newspaper is called. The method of content analysis was used, and the period under study is from the signing of the armistice in 1918 to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. If Wilson’s peace is a „semiotic figure“ by Lotman’s definition, the question arises why he failed to translate it into comprehensible language of the negotiating table its draft post-war order. One of the problems I find on the pages of the “Mir” newspaper is the lack of deciphering codes, as Europe and America meant war and peace in different ways. For Wilson, as well as for the Mir newspaper, there is a good war and a good peace. The Bulgarian tragedy by Neuilly led to a discrepancy in the meanings of words that are of different order – words from the old and words from the new world order.
The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Public Diplomacy
One of the key debates in the field of public diplomacy in recent years relates to the positioning of non-governmental organizations within the existing paradigm. Most authors defend one of two completely opposite points of view. For some researchers the NGOs are in a position to participate equally and defend policies on their own, while others support their conceptualization as a tool for communication with a particular audience segment. The present research aims to present the two theoretical viewpoints in detail as well as the points of collision between them. Subsequently, possible directions for future empirical research are outlined, which could define the role of the NGOs in contemporary public diplomacy in a clearer manner. The present article is part of the project “Dimensions and Transformations of the Digital Public Diplomacy: Defining the Field, Communication Channels, Stakeholders and Measuring Effectiveness”, financed by the National programme “Young Scholars and Postdoctoral Students” 2021.
How Psychology Can Help to Solve the Problem of Fake News
The worldwide proliferation of online fake news has attracted considerable scientific attention. Apart from this specific interest in the topic, the determination of many social actors to create mechanisms in order to limit disinformation on the Internet is also quite noticeable. The major social networks are trying to impose adequate regulations within their own platforms in an appropriate and effective way, different countries and international political unions are considering and developing legislative measures against fake news, computer algorithms are being created to recognize false content. However, all these efforts will not bring the intended result if the implemented approach is fundamentally flawed. This article is an attempt to demonstrate how contemporary achievements of psychology and cognitive sciences can inform basically almost all measures against fake news. The current scientific understanding of human behavior could be very helpful in combating online disinformation, if only the planned actions and restrictions are consistent with it.
Lexical Quantitative Content Analysis in Comparison with Other Methods of Studying the Language of Print Media
The article looks at different analyses of media content. The quantitative content analysis is a necessary first step in the research of any media flow. This type of analysis provides a technique for objectively pointing out themes and thematic lines in a particular medium. Lexical quantitative content analysis is defined as both analyzing and measuring words. It has two distinct paradigms: the leading words method and the keyword method. The text provides definitions for the terms “textual image of the word” and “lingual image of the world”. The methods explore are presented in a way that accommodates their application.
quantitative lexical textual image of the world
Copyright (c) 2022 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The article deals with the main points of the information warfare between Russia and Ukraine related to Mariupol. Which side in the conflict is supported by the inhabitants of the city? Who is to be blamed for the death of civilians and destruction in Mariupol? To what extent the statements of the warring countries are consistent with the truth? The light is shed on the information coverage of four concrete events during the siege of Mariupol: the destruction of the Maternity Yard №3; the destruction of the theater; the fate of the civilians in Azovstal and the blocking of the ship “Tzarevna” in the port.
Metadata, communication and understanding in digital marketing communication
The study of digital marketing communications on the Web is inseparable from the study of the ways metadata with which the web content of these communications is or should be described. This article presents the aspects of digital marketing communication and understanding in the interactive, interconnected on the levels of text and metadata, hypermedia environment of the Web. The article argues that the texts of digital marketing communications on the Web should be perceived (and created) both as a collective action and together and from the point of view of their function as digital objects.
Full transparency or control release of information as a dilemma of the contemporary PR crisis
The use of the control release of information in today’s informational 21st century is a fact and some would say it is really a problem, if it is not used properly and only in particular spheres and under specific circumstances. Others would say that it serves as a weapon or a tool for achieving a communication purpose with certain risks. The most important in the case is that the use of such actions would show a certain actions, which were evolving in the past and that was never on the spotlight. And not only. The use of the tactics such as the control release of information is risky and could have huge and could have very heavy consequences for the communication. The control release of information is a process, used by the PR specialists to tell a certain information in a particular moment of time. The release of this information in most cases is aiming to deceive the public – it can be totally untrue, untrue and later on refuted by the PR, partially true or totally true. In the last two cases the reason is to study the public reaction for e specific intention of institution, agency, government, non government organisation. If there is no negative public reaction for the intention of the institution or organisation after the release of the information „the negative feedback“ in the communication is minimal. The control release of information is a tool in today’s PR crisis, which can be applied in different communicational situations and with different purposes. This is a tactics, that is meant to be used in the moments of crisis for the public organisation and to check in most cases anonymously and not directly connected with the organisation the public reaction for an intention of the organisation or to publish decieving information, which aims to distract the attention in another direction. It takes resourcefulness judging the right moment to apply the tactics. The risks for the organisation are not so big, because it can hardly be proved that is used. The reason is that are using media and the right of protect the source of information without discovering the name. In this case is very difficult to know who is the real source in information.
Copyright (c) 2022 Сергей Тодоров https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The article „Is there a Text Image of the World“ will present the most important opinions in Poland on the interdependence of the Linguistic Image of the World and the Text Image of the World. He will try to answer the title question on the basis of empirical examples. Establishing a Text Picture of the World is also a kind of discourse research. The text proposes to refer to the lexicographic tradition (creating thematic dictionaries) and to the quantitative lexical analysis of the content. The empirical material used in the article consists of three text corpora of 250,000 words each. They collect texts taken from youth magazines of the 1990s. The views presented in the article are in opposition to the findings of the Lublin school of ethnolinguistics.
Forms of Multimedia Journalism: Bulgarian National Radio in Virtual Space
The article aims to make a short theoretical overview of the concept of „multimedia journalism“, going through the reasons for its emergence, definitions and its development. The transformation with the advent of the Internet changes not only the forms of representation and construction of media content, but also the role of journalists and the audience. These processes are also discussed and described in the article. By means of the multimedia forms of journalism mentioned in the theoretical part of the research, an analysis of the presentation of the Bulgarian National Radio in a virtual environment is made. At the end of the article, the conclusions of the analysis are synthesized and recommendations are formulated based on the collected scientific knowledge to improve the presentation of the Bulgarian public radio on the Internet.
Copyright (c) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Brand Linguistics as a Holistic Perspective in the Study of Brand Communication
The text discusses the need to introduce a «new» scientific discipline – brand linguistics, which integrates theoretical frameworks and research methods of language-related disciplines such as psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and semiotics, in order to outline a new interdisciplinary perspective of brand management. Based on B. Schmitt’s model, important problems in the branding process are posed in order to prove that brand linguistics offers a holistic approach to their study.
Traditional Communication Models and New Technologies in PR Communication
The entry of digitization into the life of modern society has led to global changes in the economic and socio-communicative spheres. The new dynamic information environment requires the application of special communication skills, as well as new forms of social interaction between organizations and target audiences to achieve high levels of engagement and effectiveness in communication. For a better understanding of the transformation in communication, it is necessary to trace different communication models that are used for a thorough study of the communication process in the field of public relations. It is also important to outline the influence of digitalization to define an integrated environment that implies a dialogic approach and a new type of management of communication processes. The purpose of the publication is to make a comparison between the classical approaches to the study of mass communication and the implementation of new technologies in PR communication, which requires the application of new methods of research and analysis of digital communications, as well as new ways of reaching target groups in social platforms.
Rhetorical Tools in Multimodal Copywriting Texts
The article is focused on two main aspects of copywriting texts – multimodality and rhetoric in order to outline the theoretical framework of these concepts and demonstrate their role as a tool for creating effective communicative messages. The analysis provided grounds for the following conclusions: The communicative effectiveness of multimodal copywriting texts directly depends on the correct combination of rhetorical tools with the other components of the multimodal text; taking into account the characteristics of the audience; the achievement of synchronicity between expressiveness and comprehensibility, between informativeness and emotionality within the text. The rhetorical tools commented in the article, combined with a methodological approach that takes into account the multimodal nature of copywriting texts, can draw guidelines for creating effective communicative models applicable in all spheres of modern communication.
Artificial Intelligence and Chatbots in Copywriting – from Revolution in Communication to Folklorization of Digital Postmodernity
Artificial intelligence nowadays has transformed the main characteristics of mass and interpersonal communication. Chat GPT is both a channel of communication and an equal participant in the communication process. In such a way, a correction has been made in the classical models of communication, such as the models of Schramm or Shannon-Weaver, where the sender, the receiver and the channel are separate elements in the communication process. The fact that Chat GPT can be both the sender and the channel of the message predetermines its significant role in communication. In addition to the numerous advantages of the artificial intelligence, the paper also examines some serious challenges that modern civilization has faced, such as the questions of the development of cognitive abilities, talents and skills of individuals in the presence of chatbots, the interrelations between technology and psychological well-being of human beings, and the need for legal and ethical regulation of the use of Chat GPT. Artificial intelligence has also marked a new era in the digital storytelling. Its ability to store, retrieve and continuously process incoming information, as well as to remember every interaction with users, brings mass communication to a new, different level, where digital interaction and digital storytelling are anonymized, depersonalized and subject to a specific folklorization.
Imaging Roles of Public Relations (PR) Texts in the Proprietary Media of the Corporate Brands
The article considers the contribution of the proprietary media in the communication policy of business organizations. The aim of the study is to identify the general imaging functions of the different PR texts, published on the online platforms of the companies. The research is based on the hypothesis of the interaction between the individual contents and the dominant role of the PR texts in the narrative about the advantages of the corporate brands, competing for consumer’s attention in the digital communication environment. In order to achieve the research objective, the case study method was applied.
Populist Narratives About Migration in Bulgaria: The “Refugee Crisis”
Migration is a highly politicized phenomenon. It is one of the favourite topics of populists who create crises with their narratives about it. The Bulgarian case is particularly interesting. A country of immigrants, with an acute demographic problem, whose politicians (re)discover immigrants and turn them into the most convenient “other”. The lack of experience with „visible“ immigrant communities and the (mis)presentation of immigration processes as a national catastrophe in the poorest of the EU member states, against the background of dominant populist discourses, lead to negative public attitudes towards asylum seekers. Political anti-immigrant discourse is translated into policies or lack thereof, which in both cases creates a crisis.
“Refinement” and “Scraping” for Political and Media Use
The research examines the most commonly used words in political communication during two historical periods of the country’s development: the totalitarian and post-totalitarian eras. The infiltration of the lexemes „improvement“ and „eradication“ into the media discourse is traced to investigate their establishment in the journalistic vocabulary and their transformation into lexical dominants and emblems of public communication in both periods. The reasons for the journalistic assimilation of representative specimens from political lexicon vary. In the totalitarian state, the media unquestioningly reproduce the ideological concepts and linguistic clichés of the authorities and actively participate in state propaganda. In the post-totalitarian period, within the framework of a free media discourse, journalists adopt the words generated by mediatized political behavior and communication according to tabloid standards. The media coverage and overexposure of modern political vocabulary in both periods indicate the dominant role of power discourse in public communication.
The “TV Disaster Marathon” Genre. The War in Ukraine and the Battle of Televisions
The article examines television marathons in the coverage of extraordinary events, focusing on the war in Ukraine. According to Daniel Dayan and Elihu Katz, media events are „high festivals of mass communication“, and television marathons stand out as a genre of media communication. In recent years, the so-called conflict-oriented media events that have their own specifics. Televisions are increasingly broadcasting emergency broadcasts during disasters, terrorist threats or war. A comparative analysis is made of the media coverage of the war in Ukraine on its first day between the three national televisions – BNT, BTV and Nova TV. The conclusion is that in such events that disrupt the daily routine, the media enter into a sharp competition for viewers, use a wide range of genre and rhetorical techniques to attract attention, but the meaning of what is happening is set by the same experts with the same or similar arguments.
Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The article examines how people interact with those who are politically different and pose a „threat“ to their beliefs and positions. Before delving into the phenomenon of political stigmatization, a review of contemporary theories on the construction of political affiliation is conducted, particularly focusing on the Big Five theory. An attempt has been made to demonstrate that political affiliation is not solely the result of rational reasoning. Therefore, hatred towards the Other could not be considered a manifestation of human intelligence. The article also explores the relationship between personality and political beliefs and ideologies. Furthermore, a distinction is drawn between general stigmatization and political stigmatization.
The Role of Social Media in the Formation of Political Image: An Analysis of the Facebook Profiles of Boyko Borisov, Slavi Trifonov and Kiril Petkov in 2021.
Nowadays, social media plays an increasingly important role in public and political life and has become an important channel of communication between politicians and citizens. In this context, this article will explore the role of social media in building political image, focusing on the profiles of leading politicians in Bulgaria in 2021. The article will consider the winners of the three rounds of the 2021 parliamentary elections and analyze the Facebook profiles of the respective party leaders. For the analysis of their activity on Facebook, the number of posts, their topic, their volume, as well as whether they include a photo, video, or link to an external post and whether they use a hashtag will be considered. Reactions, comments, and shares of the posts were also tracked to account for audience engagement with the posts. The research can provide useful information about the use of social media in political communication.
Political Communication – Between Regulated Media and Unregulated Platforms
Traditional media have long been the Holy of Holies of political communication. They are in competition with new media. New media are shaping the way we communicate and perceive reality. This means that we have a new modus operandi for media and political behaviour and a social change of enormous magnitude, comparable to the upheaval caused by Gutenberg’s printing press. The article comments on the media transformation as one of the main reasons for changing political communication.
Football Metaphors in Bulgarian Political Discourse
According to the theory of cognitive linguistics, metaphors shape not just our communication, but also the way we think, act in our everyday life, and even vote. The aim of this article is to describe the manipulative usage of football metaphors in Bulgarian political discourse. The object of cognitive discourse analysis are political texts published in Bulgarian newspapers and on the Internet in the last 10 years. Bulgarian politicians and journalists often use metaphors and figurative language not only to amuse their audiences but also to influence the unconscious mind of the people.
The Research on Consumer Attitudes Towards Influencers and Their Collaboration With Brands in Bulgaria
The research aims to examine consumer attitudes towards influencers and their collaborations with brands in Bulgaria. It was conducted online during the period December 2020 – January 2021. A total of 304 respondents completed a questionnaire with 18 closed and open-ended questions. The primary objective is to determine whether there is a presence of pseudo-influence in Bulgaria, driven purely by profitability, or if there is an evolving influencer culture. Additionally, the study seeks to answer whether Bulgaria genuinely has influencers or if it follows a Western model of product and service consumption behavior.
The Slogan as an integral part of the visual propaganda during socialism in Bulgaria
During socialism in Bulgaria visual propaganda has been widely used in order to convince the population of the right political track of the BCP, to educate it in the socialist ideals and to reach the plan’s goals. The forms of the visual propaganda or nagledna agitatsiya as it was known at the time are various and the slogan plays a central part in their content. The aim of the text is to analyze some of the most frequently used forms of visual propaganda, to outline their characteristics and the central role of the slogan in their content creation. The methodology uses content analysis, as well as comparative analysis. Several suggestions for author’s definitions and classification are made, which could be a basis for future studies.
The impact of the Transmedia of social causes continues to be an increasingly common communication practice. The reason for this type of communication is that it is highly effective, reaches a wider audience and plays a key role in the company’s identity – factors that benefit the organization’s ultimate mission – to make an impact with its social cause, to change attitudes and attract a larger audience. This presentation will explore the phenomenon of transmedia, trace its emergence, its academic determinants, and the conjectures associated with it. The different types of transmedia communications will also be analyzed.
The Short Witticisms Of The Classic Bulgarian On Facebook – Establishing The Genre And Reviewing Its Linguistic Features
The text examines the emergence of a type of humorous genre in Facebook, unknown until a few years ago, shaping new speech constructions in the virtual medium, a new manner of verbal expression. In many cases, these verbal forms are part of memes with a particular, almost normative textual component. It is this normativity of it that conditions verbal opuses as a new media and folk genre. The short prose fragments are conveniently called “ganiographs” because they ridicule the new incarnations of the contemporary Bai Ganyo, referred to by the members of the humor and entertainment groups as the “classic Bulgarian” or “the Classic.” The original authorship of these witticisms subsequently becomes difficult to trace in the many republications, until it is eventually lost and so many of them become a kind of virtual folklore – they become folklorized. Their emergence is seen in two ways – as text within the meme and as text detached from the meme’s dissolution. Because of their field of emergence and development, ganiographs belong simultaneously to contemporary folkloristics and to media language. Although they are originally short forms, they can also evolve to more voluminous narrative wholes, almost to the level of the short story. The cultural and semantic shape of the etudes for the classical Bulgarian are examined, as well as their narrative projections, but the bulk of the development explores the linguistic aspects of these newly emerging verbal constructions – their grammatical, lexical and stylistic aspects are analysed in comparative detail. At the end, the relation of the verbal genre to the image is presented, its possible liberation from its syncretic inseparability from the visual is discussed, and extensive appendices are added.
The Communication of Gen Z: Information Seeking and Interaction in the Artificial Intelligence Era in Higher Education
Today, people are favouring screens than genuine communication with one another which is crucial during global crises. This issue is particularly relevant in higher education, where Generation Z is currently being educated, and the focus is on capturing their attention, trust, and engagement. This analysis takes a multifaceted approach to understanding the human factors involved in seeking and utilizing information, especially in an environment that is increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence. It examines information behavior in higher education and the impact of artificial intelligence on information search and knowledge processing.
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Cultural Perceptions in Bulgarian Educational Institutions: Primary and Secondary Schools
The perception of the ethnic minorities in Bulgaria is generally negative. The reasons for this are found in insufficient awareness and the impact of the media discourse. There is a critical public need to discuss the topic of the multicultural classroom and a growing need to explore the issue of pedagogical multicultural attitudes and cross-cultural competence. The research analyses results from an own empirical study on the topic conducted in 2023 in several cities in the country in primary and secondary schools.
Observations on aspects of online consumer behavior
In a period of less than a decade, technological leaps provide more and more methods of communication, and in addition to a quantitative increase, qualities such as the speed of messages, the volume of information, means and mechanisms, and others, also follow rapid development. And yet, users are losing the basic hygiene of communication. Behaviors that ensure safe, respectful and effective interactions in the digital environment are somehow becoming rare, especially between users who have different opinions. The article offered to your attention looks at the problems of communication in society and more precisely in digital communication, as the main focus will be on modern trends in the behavior of the public when consuming online platforms.
Today, we create more content than ever, driven by technology that makes it easy to produce and share images, videos, and text. With this surge in content creation, society is overwhelmed by information, from essential news to trivial updates. This overload diminishes our ability to focus, think critically, and discern valuable content from noise. Now, with “me-media,” everyone creates and consumes content, often without clear purpose, leading to a content glut. Businesses struggle to stand out, as quantity eclipses quality. This overproduction of content makes it difficult for people to distinguish between meaningful and shallow information. Content creators often produce “filler” with little real value. In today’s attention economy, even high-quality content struggles to be noticed. For marketers, content is a powerful tool, but they face new challenges. Companies must offer education, inspiration, and engagement to capture attention. In this crowded space, well-told stories across multiple formats remain essential for connecting with audiences.
Лингва франка – концептуализация и процеси на развитие
Статията е насочена както към проследяване етимологията и изясняване на понятието лингва франка, така и към разграничаването на феномена от контактните езици. Въвежда се понятието АЛФ (английски език като лингва франка) и се дискутират причините за превръщането на английския в първата глобална лингва франка – какви са условията необходими за приемането на един език като международно средство за общуване и съществуват ли характеристики, присъщи на такъв общ език?Обсъжда се също факта, че съществуват разлики между нормативния английски език и АЛФ, като вниманието се фокусира върху английския като международно онлайн средство за комуникация.
Risks for Children on the Internet: The “Brain Rot” Phenomenon
The transformations that high technologies offer us today generate many questions about the existence and development of humanity in the future. As a top priority for any society, children are exposed to risks not only due to unequal social status, but also due to the lightning-fast entry of artificial intelligence into our lives. The article aims to open the door to another reading of the risks in young people – not physical and social inequalities, but the undermining of the child’s mental development, caused by the strong influence of the virtual network. The results reinforce our opinion that the excessive stay of children in front of screens suggests the development of the now-famous term “brain rot”.
Features of the Ending of Bulgarian News Texts on the Internet
The features of news texts on the Internet have long been a research subject. They change in response to dynamic processes in society and language. The proposed study presents the contemporary appearance of the ending of Bulgarian news texts on the Internet – especially its syntactic, textual-linguistic and architectonic characteristics. It highlights some departures from the recommendations for shaping the ending of a media news item and in addition presents interesting trends.
Manipulative Use of Present Tense in the Headlines about Famous People in the Online Tabloid Bulgaria Today
The use of present tense in the headlines about famous people in the online tabloid Bulgaria Today makes difficult to determine the temporal orientation of the verb action before reading the main text. In the analysed texts, various uses of non-actual present tense are observed in connection with making the text more attractive, encouraging the reader to read the full article, and portraying a negative image of the celebrities who are mentioned in the material. The manipulative effect is achieved through the use of the present tense instead of the future tense, the use of expressive verbs in the present tense, the use of verb forms that can be interpreted as either present or past tense, the use of aggressive vocabulary, and the use of a colon followed by a commentary section.
Cinema as a Cultural Ambassador in Bulgaria: A Statistical Overview of Movie Theaters (01.01.2015 – 28.10.2024)
The article examines statistical data regarding the countries whose productions are most frequently screened in Bulgarian commercial cinemas. The data covers the period between January 1, 2015, and October 28, 2024. The information excludes movies shown at film festivals and those featured in boutique cinemas in the country. The data provided by the National Film Center includes: the film’s title, country of origin, co-producing country, number of viewers, and premiere date. Since the film’s title and premiere date are irrelevant to the current research, this information was filtered. However, continent, official religion, and political union have been extrapolated.
The article examines specific highlights in the mediatization of one of the phenomena of urban culture—the street art. The research perspective focuses on the media projections of street art in the dynamic era of digital technologies and the relentless invasion of artificial intelligence into every sphere of socio-economic life. The study object encompasses the identifications of street art within the Bulgarian media space and its roles in the development of contemporary cities. The research subject includes publications in specialized websites and culture and art sections that have tracked the transformations of street art over the past ten years.
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The article examines space as a fluid category of interaction between author and audience, in whose inner dimension the self-portrait becomes a focus of self-knowledge and self-disclosure, far exceeding the framework of the genre. As an empirical basis and starting point for these reflections, this text draws on examples from the exhibition by Galina Tsvetkova and Dionysii Kalamaras „Inner Space“, held space at the Rafael Mihaylov Exhibition Halls, Veliko Tarnovo (2021).
Сравнението в речта на спортните журналисти
Сравнението е фигура на речта, стилистично средство за директно съпоставяне на различни обекти и привидно несвързани категории. Съпоставя се един предмет, лице, картина, явление с друг; прието е да се сравнява непознатото с познато, далечното с близкото, абстрактното с конкретното и т. н. Сравнението се реализира в две части. В първата обикновено се съобщава това, което ще се онагледи, а във втората – това, което е познато и ще се използва за онагледяване. Двете части се свързват с думите „като“, „като че“, „сякаш“, „също така“, „подобно“, „тъй както“, „прилично на“, „наподобяващо“ и други. От сравнението се е появила метафората.
Facebook is trapped by its own acceleration. The largest social network, despite of denying it, has transformed into media platform which has no editor-in-chief. Therefore Facebook is hesitating between absurd censorship, on one hand, and its complete weakness regarding propaganda, fake news and troll’s campaigns, on the other. The social network gave birth to a new horror genre – “Live Death” – a reality show which the algorithms so far are incapable to control.
Gender by Choice (Survey of Attitudes Towards the Concept of Gender)
The text presents an analysis of the use of the term „Gender“ in the Istanbul Convention and the variants of the term in the Bulgarian translation of the document. The results of the analysis of the media use of the term „gender“, as well as the new meanings of the word in the media context, are presented briefly. The results are supported by a survey of public attitudes to the concept of gender and its understanding. The conclusions highlight the statement of the discrediting of the concept and the impossibility of accepting the term outside of the negative connotations it carries as a result of changes in its meaning.
Language Specifics of “Me Too” Movement’s Presentation in British Media (2017 – 2018)
In October 2017, social media gave birth of two movements: “Me Too” and “Time’s Up”. A month later, the movements managed to surpass digital borders which led to tangible consequences in the “real” world. The taboo on the public discussion of sexual misconduct is already been broken. In this article we analyze how two British media – BBC and The Guardian – present the facts around the two movements in their commentaries. The methodology used is content analysis. The aim of this article is to see whether these media share any criticism or support towards “Me Too” or try to remain neutral, and to follow what kind of topics are discussed in relation to both movements.
Linguo-Stylistic Analysis of Media Texts Concerning the LGBT Community Published in the Online Newspaper “Dnevnik” Between 2008 and 2012
The article analyses the various nominations for homosexual men and women, bisexual and transgender people as well as collective nominations for the LGBT community and its subcategories. The frequency with which some nominations occur throughout the 5-year period has been noted.
nomination of the LGBT community in media
Some Observations on Can, Want and Have to in Politicians’ Public Speech
The paper focuses on the usages of three modal verbs in present tense: can, want and have to in two registers of the public politicians’ speech: interviews and parliament speech. The behavior of these verbs is considered within two aspects: the frequency of present verb wordforms in both registers and their collocations in the right context.
Black and White in the Print media: The Language of Bulgarian Rock Read in Transition
Researching the marks left by the rock bands forming the Transition towards Democracy’s Second generation, the logical choice falls on the print media. Back then existed only one TV channel and one radio station. Both musicians and fans wanted to create a new art form. Printed press served as a mediator in this communication. Back then, digital media still haven’t surpassed printed word, which was the real “library of memories”. Time shows that this textual reality is the only trustworthy archive of the new “BG Rock” musicians generation from the end of the 80s. There are several questions which arise from this and which are worth the research. Do rock musicians manage to force on the print media their professional and highly specialized jargon and what was the role of rock journalists who were working in the period between 1987 and 1992/93? Would we be able to find a new style in Bulgarian print media? Would that style irritate the readers?
Tendencies in the Composition of Press Releases for the New Media
The article offers analysis of 100 press releases, chosen according to the method of maximum variation (heterogeneous sampling), described by M. Patton. The research is referring to the work of J. Nilsen, who outlines three key characteristics of texts in the new media – compactness, segmentation and hypertextuality, and examines whether the same characteristics can be observed in the chosen type of copywriting texts, created for the needs of IMC – the press releases. The research shows that the three tendencies, described by J. Nilsen are all present in copywriting texts as well.
Rhetorical Exercises – Ancient Practice and Modern Necessity. The Communication-Training Models in the Study of Rhetoric
The article is motivated by the idea of developing practical rhetoric as an area of modern rhetorical knowledge. It has been argued that the field of applied rhetoric reflects both the traditions and continuity and the new manifestations of the science of persuasion. The high effectiveness of the application of communicative-training models in the contemporary study of rhetoric is analyzed. The main methodological tool – rhetorical exercises, with their inherent variety of forms and functionality, are the intersection of ancient traditions and modern perspectives and show the strong connection between rhetorical classics and the new manifestations of the science of persuasive communication.
Corporate Culture – Mission, Vision, Values Rhetorical Models Used in a Workshop to Increase the Effectiveness of Business Communication Within the Company Team
Corporate culture is a symbiosis between the mission, vision, and values ​​of a company. This article reveals the rhetorical models used in the implementation of a workshop to improve the effectiveness of business communication within the company team. Increasingly used as a major tool for increasing the popularity of Employer Branding, corporate culture is becoming a prerequisite for sustainable development. It is the basis of corporate communication and uses proven rhetorical techniques to achieve a balanced and successful communication with the organization’s internal and external audiences.
Rhetorical Techniques in the Negotiation Process
This article analyzes basic verbal techniques and strategies in political and business negotiations. Negotiations can take place differently. A universal recipe for negotiating behavior cannot be stated. In summary, it is worth mentioning that negotiations that are pragmatic when the parties are not digging into their own positions but looking for alternative options and applying compromise options are positive. In order for negotiations to be successful, several basic rules relating to advance preparation must be observed. There is a need to carefully diagnose the situation, determine the negotiator’s goals, and assess the goals of the other party.
Historical and Modern Forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution
This article gives a brief analysis of the characteristics of the model of legislation and state administration of justice, established in the Continental legal system, with a view to their effectiveness in regulating public relations and resolving legal disputes. A comparison is made with the historical and contemporary forms of alternative dispute resolution: the Ecclesiastical court of Christian church, justice of the peace and mediation.
Mass Deviations From Literary Standards in the Media – Mistakes or New Norms?
In speech, there are phenomena that deviate from the literary norm and are widely used, ie. represent „mass“ errors that communicators over time stop evaluating as a deviation in their linguistic behavior. Typically, this type of errors is interpreted as a manifestation of a low linguistic culture and as a severe deficiency in literacy. In fact, it is very likely that this is a rule change that has occurred, but has not yet been reflected in the codification documents. The article analyzes mass mistakes in the media that are no longer recognized as defects in speech.
Rhetorical Techniques in Parliamentary Debates
The article examines the application of sibi ipsi responsio and rhetorical dialogue in parliamentary debates. It represents the author’s view that the skillful use of rhetorical techniques does not in all cases contribute to convincing the audience of the speaker’s proposition, but provokes discussion and influences the audience. The text consists of basic theoretical concepts, followed by analyzes of parts of two parliamentary debates in which sibi ipse responsio and rhetorical dialogue are used. Following the development of the debates and their results, the author proves his thesis that adroit use of rhetorical techniques is not a sufficient condition to change the attitudes of the audience, but arouses discussions and suggests ideass.
Live Online Streaming by Prime Minister on Facebook as a Tool for Communication. Some Rhetorical and Communication Aspects
This study aims to review some of the rhetorical and communication aspects of live online streaming. The format is used by the Prime Minister in his car journeys, in which he broadcasts live conversations with his car, documents his work day, records his business visits and meetings. The study’s hypothesis is that live online streaming has greater rhetorical, communication, media and PR potential, can be persuasive, a political influence, and has many advantages over traditional forms of public communication.
About Some Dark Places in Genealogy and Phenomenology of Training
The article presents and analyzes poorly researched and deliberately taboo questions and cases of the phenomenology of training methods and techniques. Some discrete relationships and dependencies between different – synchronous or diachronic – epochs, types of societies and social practices are shown and explained in which prototype versions of today’s trainings are formed and used by modern people. Some dark sides of the true story of the most deserving scientist, Kurt Levin, were also mentioned. Some of the correlations of training with power are also highlighted.
Trends in Writing Abstracts for Bulgarian Scientific Journals: Language Analysis
The abstract as a mandatory requisite of the scientific publication is the first and sometimes the only part of it to which the reader has access. Its communicative role is to present the publication and to initiate interaction between the primary publication and the audience. The object of this research are the trends in the language and style of writing abstracts in the system of scientific publishing in Bulgaria. The subject of immediate research interest is the text-linguistic characteristics of abstracts in Bulgarian. The purpose of the research is to outline some current trends in the language used in written abstracts in electronic scientific journals in Bulgaria. There are three tasks: extracting selected abstracts from Bulgarian scientific journals with online access, according to predefined criteria; presentation of findings on publishing practices for creating and publishing abstracts; making a linguistic analysis of the empirical material. The main research methods are analysis of international standards of abstracting and linguistic analysis of the selected abstracts. The first hypothesis of the study is that scientific publishing in Bulgaria follows global trends and international standards for creating quality scientific content, including abstracts. The second hypothesis is that publications in different scientific fields have different approaches to the content of the scientific abstract, and this affects the accessibility of its language. As a result of the study, a tendency was established for a lack of sufficient control over abstracts on the part of publishers. Authors, regardless of the scientific field of the journal in which they publish, prefer a structured text with clearly outlined major points. Condensing scientific information and presenting it in an intelligible manner in the abstract are key skills that need to be improved.
n effective legal communication is one in which the recipient not only receives and comprehends the message addressed to him, but also responds with acceptance or rejection by engaging in a particular behavior. The media’s function as interpreters in the information flow between institutions and society is seen here, as well as vice versa. What are the most typical issues with comprehending and expressing legal terms, and do they succeed in realizing this function of theirs?
Application of International Law to the Subjects of International Relations
A key topic in the implementation of international relations is the application of international law. Of essential importance are the rights or functions of the subjects of international law, as well as the dependence between them. Relations between subjects of international relations depend on international law to a large extent. The main functions, rights and obligations of subjects in international relations must be carried out according to the provisions of international law.
Public Diplomacy for the Climate – Cities as the New Participant
We are witnessing a deepening climate crisis that not only threatens people’s livelihoods and hinders development, but raises important geopolitical issues: sovereignty, territorial integrity and access to resources such as water, food and energy. It has the potential to cause significant impacts on societies, undermining people’s security and increasing the risks of conflict and instability. Addressing them requires a strategic and coordinated response at the global level. The tools of public diplomacy are among the possible steps for solutions and responses. While climate diplomacy largely refers to negotiations between governments in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), numerous scientific analyzes and concrete facts show that climate issues and the „diplomacy“ surrounding them go beyond this narrow perspective or frame. A large percentage of climate initiatives are actually carried out by global networks of cities.
The provided text contains excerpts from the monograph Crisis Management in social media. The passage examines the crucial role of social media in contemporary crisis management, particularly in the context of public relations (PR). It emphasises that the rapid rise of social media has created new challenges for organisations, requiring them to adapt their crisis communication strategies to this dynamic digital environment. In the full text of the monograph, the author explores various types of crises that can emerge online, such as cyberattacks, misinformation, and consumer activism, and offers strategies for effectively managing these situations. The monograph also underscores the importance of developing a well-structured crisis communication plan that incorporates digital tools and platforms to ensure a timely and appropriate response. This excerpt highlights the necessity of continuous social media monitoring and real-time engagement with stakeholders to mitigate the impact of crises on an organisation’s reputation. Additionally, the text provides practical guidelines for creating and implementing crisis management tactics, including press releases, virtual press conferences, temporary crisis websites, and more.
Lexical Tools for Manipulation in the Media Text (Case Study)
The article presents the techniques of manipulation and the lexical tools used as a toolkit, in the context of research on the dividing lines for the memory of Gotse Delchev between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. This work is methodological and applied; it is by no means exhaustive because it is oriented towards presenting basic knowledge. The principles of presentation of media publications on the subject, presented through the prism of research for the anniversary of the commemoration of Gotse Delchev, are explained. The purpose of the research is a comparison of the presentation of the celebrations of the historical person, as a basis for a more serious study of the attitudes and stereotypes in the two societies.
Lаnguаgе аnd Pоlitiсаl Imаgе: Аnаlуsis оf thе Fасеbооk Prоfilеs оf Pеtаr Vоlgin аnd Nikоlа Minсhеv during the Election Campaign for Members of the National Assembly and Members of the European Parliament of the Republic of Bulgaria in June 2024.
Thе аrtiсlе will еxаminе thе rоlе оf lаnguаgе in shаping thе pоlitiсаl imаgе оf twо prоminеnt figurеs during thе 2024 еlесtiоn саmpаign. Thе fосus is оn thеir Fасеbооk pоsts, аnаlуzing thе linguistiс strаtеgiеs usеd аnd thеir impасt оn thе саndidаtеs’ pоlitiсаl imаgе. Thе studу will highlight thе impоrtаnсе оf sосiаl mеdiа аs а plаtfоrm fоr pоlitiсаl соmmuniсаtiоn аnd suppоrtеrs’ mоbilizаtiоn, аs wеll аs thе nееd tо аdаpt lаnguаgе tо thе spесifiс саpаbilitiеs оf еасh plаtfоrm fоr еffесtivе vоtеr еngаgеmеnt. Thе аrtiсlе will аlsо еmphаsizе thе signifiсаnсе оf using lаnguаgе аs а kеу tооl fоr pеrsuаsiоn аnd influеnсing publiс pеrсеptiоn.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the concepts of perception and crisis in historical and sociocultural terms. Also how crisis is perceived – with negative or positive reactions, respectively as a momentary malaise and suffering from the “diseases of society”, or as an occasion for change and progress in finding meaning. In a problematic situation, crisis is most often perceived as a catastrophic experience, but it has another side – it can be a good opportunity to change direction by overcoming obstacles and making a new beginning in order to achieve a new humanism. The methods of comparative analysis are used for attitudes towards crises in the ancient/modern periods, content analysis of the media language and empirical analysis in the form of a survey. It is not possible to objectively assess the perception of crisis due to the dual nature of the concept, its fluid connotation depending on the context and the blurring of boundaries in its use in everyday speech, political and public discourse, etc.
Nowadays, Facebook is one of the most popular information sources not only for the young people in Bulgaria. According to the Media Literacy Index for 2021 by the European Policies Initiative (EuPI), Bulgaria ranks last in the European Union in terms of resistance to the spread of fake news. Surprisingly, even Bulgarian politicians quote in various media fake news from Facebook. The aim of this article is to describe some of the most significant features of the fake political news on Facebook. The article investigates fake news published during the presidential election campaign in Bulgaria in 2021. The applied method of research is critical discourse analysis.
Stephen Fry’s “Mythos” – A Modern Adaptation of Ancient Greek Myths and Legends
The text deals with Stephen Fry’s Mythos as a modern, authentic and humorous adaptation of the ancient Greek mythology. The study focuses on the applied language policies and practices, as well as the achieved balance in the language situations and formations. The creative figure of the author with a special point of view of the modern world and accepted stereotypes are essential. The research methodology combines theoretical and interdisciplinary analyses.
The Speech of Hate in the Election Campaigns
The democratization of the public communications language extends to the election campaigns as well. The desire to find convincing messages that set the political organization apart from its opponents has made us witness a violation of the good tone of political speech. In order to trace the language used during the July 11 parliamentary election campaigns, a review of the online publications of parties and coalitions (websites and Facebook profiles) was conducted. The research shows hostile rhetoric from almost all parties, using different methods of hate speech, incl. doublespeak, veiled hostility, presenting opponents as a public threat, etc. Its disturbing non-accidental use speaks of an increase in tolerance to hate speech, even in political speech, and this can have dangerous consequences such as fragmentation of society, polarization on important issues and inability to unite around common goals and actions. Recognition of hate speech is part of media literacy and is a tool of protecting against its impact, and making decisions based on correct political messages and specific programs, rather than manipulation.
Update of the Translation of George Orwell’s Book “1984”. The Media Coverage
George Orwell’s novel “1984” has an established status as an emblem in the pantheon of literary anti-utopias. Modern readers can significantly associate the issues addressed in the book with current social phenomena. However, the project of adapting the translation of the novel to modern young readers is becoming a field of discussion. An emblematic example is the translation of Borislav Stefanov, published in 2021 as part of the “Project 48” campaign initiated by the online media “Az Cheta”. This paper includes a comparative analysis of part of the first chapter of the translations of Borislav Stefanov and Lydia Bozhilova (published in 1989) and presents the media coverage after the publication.
The article links the metaphorical image of flowers to the 1957 Chinese political campaign “100 Flowers” and the anti-war “Flower Power” movement in the United States in the mid-1960s. The focus in the article is on the acute experience, that is, on the imagery of the world in our mind, on the perception of reality shaped by memory, as well as on the prefunctionalization of the floral metaphor.
„Coverage of Cultural Topics and Objects in Traditional Electronic (Radio and Television) And New Media”
The focus of the research is the media coverage of culture in the traditional electronic (radio and television) and the new media.It is analyzed to what extent the latter are a continuation of the former in the modern digital environment; what is the attitude of the recipients to the high level of cultural content produced by the established public broadcast media, as well as to what extent the presented content related to culture in the private electronic media is recognized as such by the respondents. The research includes the identification of the modern and preferred sources of cultural information of the respondents.
Haralan Angelov – Outside the Bulgarian Literary Memory
Haralan Angelov is a poet and politician who remained behind the board of the Bulgarian literary canon. This is due to his noninclusion in the type of Revival poet-revolutionary, behind which stands the fate of a hero, and after the Liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish rule – to his noninclusion in the type of modern poet. A contemporary of Hristo Botev, he does not have his destiny, nor is his poetry so frenetic. A contemporary of Peyo Yavorov, due to his death in 1904, he did not have time to rank among the predecessors of modernism.
„European“ vs. „Traditional“ Values in the Bulgarian Media
The study presented deals with the issue of the media representation of the concepts of „European values“ and „traditional Bulgarian values“ during the European election campaign in 2019. The results show that a broad misrepresentation of the European values prevails in the political discourse, based on which they are opposed to the Bulgarian values. As a result, a negative attitude towards the EU is constructed.
Visual Suggestions via Photos With Hunting Trophies (Validation of Cultural Indexes Through Photographic Images in the Mass Communication)
The aim of this research is to explore the impact of photographs of hunters with killed animals that are published in the press or the social media. The object of the research are images of hunters, who having finished the hunting, pose with their trophies. All of the images are in „memory photograph“ style and are very typical – a man (or a group of men) with hunting weapons that are in structural unity with a body (or many bodies) of killed animals. The research aims to show the coded suggestions of the pictures that impact the mass public. The main hypothesis is that the hunting photographs are actually cultural self-description influenced by national symbols, rituals and values. The method of the research is the content analysis of the photographic images through decoding their meaning. The models used for this purpose are that of Harold Lasswell and Friedemann Schultz von Thun. The result of the research should draw conclusions about the effects of the techniques for coding and decoding of non-verbal suggestions in the mass media for the purpose of the collective cultural programming and about the role that the people attribute to the natural surrounding, according to the researches of Geert Hofstede and Fons Trompenaars. As a result of the mass publications of photographs of hunters with trophies, a validation of the cultural indexes is fulfilled. The conclusions about the functional purpose of the images of hunters with trophies can be resumed as an aimed impact that provokes reactions which are useful for the manipulator.
Language and Nation. Ethnocultural Aspects of Language Communication
In this research the ethnocultural aspects of linguistic communication of two nations are analyzed Bulgarian and English. It is questioned whether the native language is part of the identity and can be a source for pride. Bulgaria and Great Britain face the same problem – the language of hatred(hate speech) and the crimes that follow from it. Different definitions of offensive speech are considered, as well as the main causes of aggression – ethnicity, appearance etc.The relationship between stereotypes and values are also analyzed. Attention is paid to the cultural context and its influence on human relationships. Measures to deal with hate speech are proposed to improve the individual’s communication and understanding of „others“ – „not ours“.
Language Fashion in Online Media: Observations on Some Communication Practices
The article analyzes the concept of language fashion as a linguocultural, sociolinguistic and linguistic phenomenon that influences the style of modern media and in particular online media. It is pointed out how some specifics of online media such as the possibility for regular updating of information, hypertextuality, multimedia presentation of information and active participation of users in creating the information flow reflect on the emergence and imposition of fashionable language patterns. Language fashion is seen as a means of manipulating information in the online environment. The summary is made that despite some specifics in the creation and assimilation of fashionable language patterns (rapid assimilation of language models; unsustainability of some language innovations; entry of language patterns from social networks; search for a balance between expression and standard), online media follow common to most media language models.
Bulgarian Newspapers Between Agony and Renaissance – Audience’s Attitude, Habits and Expectations
Who does (not) read newspapers today and why? Is the Bulgarian press doomed or its Renaissance is achievable – albeit online? The present study tries to answer these questions analyzing the attitude, habits and expectations of the audience. The results demonstrate the dimensions of the newspaper crisis – loss of readers, “dawn” of the reading ritual, young public alienation and problematic mediamorphosis. At the same time, data outlines possible positive scenario for the Bulgarian newspapers – which requires emphasis on quality media content and user experience in the digital environment.
How does the media report the problems of Bulgarian language instruction in universities
The article follows the media coverage of Bulgarian language education in universities. The role media play in forming public opinion is highlighted. The text explores if the Bulgarian language education in universities is covered by the Bulgarian media, whether the issues concerning it are considered relevant and to what extent to journalists impact the perceptions of their audience. Based on a review of popular and niche Bulgarian online media, the study outlines a list of the leading topics, related to the Bulgarian language education in universities.
Cyber diplomacy – a communication tool of international organizations
States and international organizations increasingly have cyber capabilities, and the need to use „soft power“ such as cyber diplomacy plays an important role in preventing cyberattacks by maintaining a constant dialogue between partners and potential opponents. Cyber diplomacy is the natural evolution of public diplomacy to incorporate and use innovative communication platforms in the 21st century.
Tactical silence as a marketing strategy. The case of Elden ring
An advertising campaign for a product is almost as important as the product itself. In order to gather attention and build excitement, a company must consistently advertise, display and disseminate news about its upcoming project. This rule applies to any type of industry, including the video game industry. However, is it possible for a product to be commercially successful without any effort on the part of the company to make it so? This is the purpose of the present study, which examines the case of the advertising campaign for the video game „Elden Ring“ and the corresponding inaction of its marketing department. The study concludes that the initial excitement caused by the fans may be enough to gain attention, and without much effort on the part of the company. Silence from the developers can also be proven to be a sound tactical decision.