21st Century Media and Communications

2-6

Authors: Editorial board

Table of contents. Theme of the Volume: Media and Elections

12-18

Authors: Stefan Sezerliev

Nowadays, the brand is becoming a mantra that guarantees success and sustainable prosperity within broad limits and categories: commercial, political, sports, religious, tourism, urban, regional, state.In this study, the author aims to conceptualise the contemporary crisis of the brand narrative in the field of political brand and branding. The focus of the analysis is the correlation between different approaches in modern brand management in the context of political brands. The purpose is to discover the causes of the crisis in the political brand narrative in the perspective of the successful development of the political brand.

27-33

Authors: Zoran Jevtovic, Zoran Aracki

With the arrival of the information revolution, the methods, techniques and skills of the journalist profession have rapidly changed, which has resulted in the creation of the new identity of the public communications. Media become new totems, sources of powerful, usually manipulative messages, which explains all political, historical and cultural phenomenons of the past and present. Fetishizing of items, easy profit and individual money-making, wrecked conventional notions of tradition and spirit of time, thus offering a variety of short-lasting, frivolous, sensational, tabloid and kitschy (trashy) pleasures, using their fascinating pictures and treacherous contents to attract people’s attention. In a multitude of high technology elites people have become more and more alienated, while mass media take over distribution of social power pouring consumers every day with new packages of spectacle and sensations. The Democracy waves today are flooding the planet, creating dramatic and intensive changes on an evolutionary political path. Exciting statistic triumph of neoliberal order excite the humanistic orientated part of our planet, but, behind the democracy screen, human rights and economic welfare are hiding lots of social problems, important for further concept of political development (an energetic and ecological crisis, stock market problems worldwide, first signs of planetary recession, growing unemployment…). The catalog of modern crisis depends on many agents which can decide whether the new established democracy will survive the numerous illnesses that attack it. An increasing number of contemporary intellectuals are discussing the issue of democracy future, facing the ethical dilemmas coming from the more frequent information manipulation, done by a more and more alienated governing elite. Multiculturalism is being put on a global market pedestal of ideas and opinions, and massmedia are being pushed forward as desirable tool for communication among everbody and about evertything. However, the problem lies in the fact that planetary media giants are avoiding information circulation among smaller ethical communities, commercially non-worthwhile and uninteresting, bringing to doubt the public debate concept. The new dogmatism is hidden in the shadow of the new world order, which is likely to lead towards creating self-sufficient, closed, ethnical or religious homogeneous groups, which by accepting the “victim” role, in the future will represent a suitable soil for unpredictable and painful political, religious, cultural and economic tectonic disturbances. New redistribution of power gives a stalwart role to cultural patterns, national identities, social conflicts and life styles, thus participating in reconfiguration of the traditional state which is naively trying to resist the changes, unwilling to relocate the cultural energy from state and bureaucratic cabinets to the open market or under favor of civilian society. Democratic culture implies the right for a variety of cultural values and models, lawfulness of national institutions and specific cultural identity

37-42

Authors: Valentina Bondzolova

The review deals with the linguistic features of print media advertising used in the presidential election campaign in 2016 as well as with the political slogans in it. Pre-election advertising is an important manifestation of political advertising, which serves the purpose of presenting the candidates and motivating the electorate. In connection with its characteristics attention is paid to the choice of linguistic means, most of all vocabulary, but also registered language game skills. Different adverts analyze the use of precedent texts, language game and style tinting, which, in parallel with the other emotional-expressive means, boost the effectiveness of the text.

60-67

Authors: Rayna Dushkova

The political campaign for the presidential and vice presidential election in the Republic of Bulgaria in October – November 2016 gives rise to research interest and is topical. The campaign discusses the messages of the candidates during their coverage in online media and social networks. Focus is placed on their disclosures in the media, as well as the specific political rhetoric on the part of the candidates regarding their opponents in the campaign. Based on a content analysis and using the descriptive approach, articles in the media and social networking publications are analyzed for the purpose of the specific study. The analysis aims to trace whether the specific disclosures for candidates remain as separate publications in a media or turn into political scandals that are effective enough to discredit a presidential and vice presidential candidate. It also aims to address the question of how much media attention is given to individual politicians, their characteristics and qualities, extracts from their biographies, or it focuses public attention on their political and management achievements. Do individual politicians have a key role and do they shun the parties, institutions and organizations from the focus of the media?

76-82

Authors: Anton Getsov

The subject of the paper is the inevitable, utilitarian and effective symbiosis between power and language, which is a main precondition for the conversion from „language of power” to „language power”. „Cryptic language” is the basic mechanism by which „language of power” systematically and creatively modifies itself into „language power”, and corruption of language becomes corruption by language. Thus, logical, deductive, and conceptual thinking are neglected at the expense of emotions, imagination and sensory activity. This mechanism is a function of skilful and permanent interaction between media discourse and political discourse. It is an indisputable and eloquent manifestation of one of the new functions of language – realization of a hidden and intentional manipulative influence on the feelings, adjustments, prejudices, beliefs, thinking, and ultimately – on the societal behaviour.

91-94

Authors: Gergana Kusheva

The paper presents the manipulative linguistic devices which the tabloids The Sun and The Daily Mirror use in the creation of the image of the British politician. The manipulative use of the proper names, the discrepancy between the real text and the headline, as well as the use of reported speech in the texts about British politicians are being analysed. The aim of the used manipulative devices is to derogate the reputation of the politician and to create a “parasocial interaction” with the reader.

99-104

Authors: Fani Mazdrashka-Mihova

The paper focuses on some peculiarities of media coverage of election campaigns in regional media. The main thesis is that there is less journalism in the media coverage of the election, with its rejection being voluntary and conscious, and the reasons for this are not exhausted with the popular ones about political dependencies. Consideration is also given to ways in which the media complies to or circumvents some legal requirements for tagging paid content.

112-118

Authors: Ivalinka Pencheva

The problems faced by an organisation are constant and their nature differs. The reasons for their occurrence may result from the external and internal organisational environment and their solution depends on the adequate behaviour of the management. The management decisions are very often based on managers’ intuition and subjective assessment of what is right and wrong. They are hastily taken and do not lead to concrete results. This is a common managerial error and public relations have a pertinent role in overcoming it. The present paper contributes to the improvement of the process of “elaborating a management decision” by performing the “Public Relations” managerial function. Thus, the problems from being a threat become an opportunity for improvement and achievement of organisational development.

123-126

Authors: Plamena Pencheva

Communication is an integral part of the management process. We find it as a prerequisite for the realization of optimal management, as part of the elements of organizational and management structure, as a means of implementing basic management functions, but it is also necessary in the implementation of the process of making management decisions. Сommunication also helps to implement leadership. Therefore, managers should endeavor to implement effective communication and its management.