21st Century Media and Communications

1-6

Authors: Editorial Board

Table of Contents: Theme of the Volume: Media and Business

16-33

Authors: Ivo Indzhov

The study seeks an answer to the current problem of the deepening global crisis of classic media business models in the digital age and the need to seek sustainable new forms of financing. This state of the journalistic media, resp. of quality journalism is the result of competition from the Internet and major online platforms, but also from acute financial crises, the most recent one caused by Covid-19. They hit the two market foundations of the media company the hardest – advertising and sales. Financially afflicted media repel citizens and are a direct threat to democracy. Weakened, they fall under external dependence, and cannot control the politicians and those in power; neither can they oppose the viral spread of misinformation and fake news on social media. The main research question is “Is it possible – and in what way – to save the media financially in the digital age?” 13 current media-financing models with an emphasis on digital media have been studied - beyond advertising, classified ads etc., which until recently ensured the well-being of the press and television. Two different media business models were also considered: taz – a successful German left-wing alternative newspaper based on cooperative ownership and a solidary model of attracting readers, and “Capital” – a Bulgarian business-oriented medium that successfully applies new forms of financing. Both editions focus on digital transition. The elements of comparison show that for several reasons the “taz model”, which provides a much more direct and emotional connection with the readership, is not applicable to Bulgaria in the medium term. The main conclusion of the study is that in order to survive in the digital age, journalistic media must have a flexible pluralistic funding model. Depending on the nature of the media, its target groups and the specifics of society, it may contain only part or a wider range of the following main sources of funding: market; state / public funding; structures of civil society and citizens.

47-55

Authors: Ivanka Mavrodieva

The article aims to introduce to the readers the features of fake news, basing itself on theoretical observation. Another goal is to determine if there are grounds to claim that there is creation, broadcasting and distribution of fake content. Some methods for spotting, detecting, recognizing and neutralizing fake news are presented briefly. The relation between fake news and post-truth are described as well. The article also presents examples of fake news regarding the Coronavirus crisis (COVID-19) selected from media, online media and social networks in Bulgaria. Lastly, the article highlights the arguments used while presenting information regarding the plan to overcome the crisis and the prevention of spreading fake news.

70-81

Authors: Stefan Serezliev

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously shaken the foundations of modern brand management. The first reaction of communication specialists was to look for ways to optimize communication messages during a crisis, but is that enough? The author explores the possibilities for complete restructuring of the modern brand – i.e. brand positioning, mission and vision of the brand during such complex crises. Is it possible to talk about a new type of Post-truth? The article aims to establish some of its characteristics.

88-96

Authors: Waldemar Żak

Migration is an objective process that promotes the global development and integration. At the same time, migration contains a lot of contradictions, the chief being the problem of social inclusion of one group and exclusion of another. Thus, migration is a process that has a strong potential for conflict. Modern mass media play a key role in this migration process. Media construct images of social groups and thus influence the formation of tolerant or intolerant attitudes in the society. In the media discourse, we can observe the cyclic arousing of the atmosphere of increased social anxiety and the focus of media attention on events defined as significant social problems. There are two discourse models of the migration process in mass media: the model of migration crisis (subjects of discourse are locals, journalists and authorities) and the model of pragmatic tolerance (subjects of discourse are employers and authorities). The article presents an analysis of the media discourse regarding the refugee crisis in terms of the structure of arguments and narratives of the parties involved in the media discussion. The aim of this article is to reconstruct the debate strategies appearing in the Polish media discourse concerning the problem of migration. The migration crisis of 2015 in Europe, and the accompanying media panic, have drastically changed the prevailing image of refugees among Polish people from stable positive to clearly negative. The Polish weekly magazines covers were analysed. This procedure enabled to recognise the argumentative strategies which had been applied in researched weekly magazines and to describe the differences between them when it comes to developing the migration problem. Extreme opinions are clearly seen particularly in Polish weekly magazines a cyberspace. Analyses of the „key moments” in the media discourse (fear, cursory knowledge of the foreign culture, emotionality, unreliable press reports, aggression towards Europeans, statements of politicians) facilitated the recreation of the phenomenon of media’s creating social fear around the subject of the migration crisis, and pointed to the nature of its irrationality, characteristic of moral panic. In an attempt to answer the question whether the media reporting on the problem of immigration create an effect of “simulated reality,” the author refers to rhetorical aspects of constructing images with persuasive features.

99-100

Authors: Editorial Board

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