The Freedom of the Press – A Value Worth Fighting for or a Geopolitical Tool?

The Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index has released its annual report on the freedom of the press. Its findings prompted Philip Burov, a member of the editorial board of the Barricade, to write a very insightful article on the way this well-known organization established hierarchies between countries with regards to the freedom of expression.

His article prompted us to invite Ivan Radev, from the Association of European Journalists in Bulgaria, to discuss the freedom of the press in his country. Bulgaria was placed 112th in the ranking of countries, and while this may show that the freedom of the press in this country is indeed endangered by political and economic pressures, it puts it on the same level as Myanmar, which is a little odd, since the political events taking place there with the military junta regaining power are far more violent than those taking place in Bulgaria.

At the same time, Reporters Without Borders places Ukraine in a higher position, even though the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced it had launched an investigation into Viktor Medvedchuk. He is the leader of Opposition Platform - For Life, the largest non-government party in the country’s parliament. A number of his supporters and members of the 'Ukrainian Choice' pressure group are also facing potential charges.

In the first part of the programme, Boyan Stanislavski and Maria Cernat discussed the general context of the so-called fight against disinformation, and in the second half they discussed discuss the situation of Bulgaria with Ivan Radev from the Association of the European Journalists - Bulgaria