The paper examines brand journalism as a phenomenon in the modern world of communications; it introduces the dawn of brand journalism and the debate about the concept; it also outlines the correlations between a brand and journalistic communications. Main conclusion of the study is that brand communications form the core of journalism, they have a growing importance in the new economy of relations and the Media-as-a-Service (MaaS) practice. Brand journalism is a result of the tendency of personalization of media content in a world of opposition between the two simultaneously evolving processes of globalization on the one hand and localization on the other.
Thе article argues for brand prosperity being dependent on the interaction between corporations and consumers under conditions of hyperconsumerism and a dynamically developing information economy. The study is based on the theories of Cultural Branding (Douglas Holt) and Buzz Marketing (Mark Hughes, Andy Sernovitz). Main issues highlighted in the paper include the creation of iconic brands and the consumers’ role in brand development.
This article argues that the history of mass media is actually the history of the technology for the manipulation of a society’s psyche. The main focus is on the opportunities for technical and media middlemen to launch certain messages and insinuations among the illiterate and docile masses, serving the interests of ‘the special class’ (Walter Lippmann). The analysis also takes into account ‘obsolete’ media attempts at professional ‘emancipation’ in their bid to preserve their market value against the challenges of a competitive environment.
This paper deals with the manipulative potential of media discourse and in particular that of the tabloid press. The difference between manipulation and persuasion is clarified, and theories explaining the manipulative influence of the media on their readers are outlined such as Perse’s theory of uniform effects, Handelman’s method of ‘limiting manipulation’, along with Noam Chomsky’s theory of manipulation strategies used in the contemporary press. Media ‘hyperpresentation’ of the elite, the presence of a ‘partial/ semi-reality’ and the existence of ‘parasocial interaction’ between the rich and famous and the readers are also taken into account as a cause for the manipulative effects in the media.
The wave of immigrants surging towards Europe has put the parliaments of multicultural societies to a test. The crisis has sparked again the debates about ‘political correctness’, which is a product of multiculturalism. The present paper tackles primarily the media dimensions of political correctnes and the system of rules governing a specific type of social behaviour characterised i.a. by the language used. The basic idea thereof is not to offend or disrespect people on grounds of their origin, religion, gender, etc. The overview of the socio-cultural and political circumstances in which political correctness evolves, as well as the evolution of its methods and its representation in different societies confirm the original hypothesis about its ambivalent character. The conclusion is that journalists must in principle use politically correct language without turning it into a needlessly rigorous imperative.
The text is an essay at presenting the media and their relations with the current political system in Romania. Recent developments in the press, radio, television and the internet have been taken into consideration. Romania’s media play an extremely important role in society. Their main objective is to keep the general public informed about major issues in society: how the government functions, about legislation, local initiatives and self-governance, as well as national security. Control over media ownership is constitutionally regulated which is a considerable advantage in comparison with other South- Eastern European countries. Romanian media are quite open to progress in new information technologies. In this regard the country boasts one of the most dynamic and flexible markets in Europe and in terms of technological innovation it takes a leading position worldwide.
The text explores the historicаl dialogue between Bulgaria and Asia in the context of moving pictures, as the theoretical focus is set on the earliest silent period of a “cinema of attractions”. The main question is: what is the stepping stone for the cinematograph trying to articulate exotic remoteness? Contemporary archival studies dealing with film history and re- contextualisation of film distribution tend to tackle the question of the connection between the viewer and the moving pictures on the screen. It is treated in terms of deictic modes, and especially with regard to visual deixis. The movie screen triggers a meta-visualization of already accumulated knowledge which, before the emergence of cinema, had already evoked images in the minds of Bulgarians as to „what Asia is”. The early cinema opens new vistas to unknown worlds thus stimulating a grasp of cultural diversity.
This article looks into the stand-up comedy routine while paying closer attention to its similarities with dialogue structure as opposed to a monologue. The ways in which closeness between comedian and audience is achieved, its rationale and the role of the audience are examined as well. Closer attention is paid to the specific framework of a stand-up show. The comedian’s job is not only to make people laugh but to make them feel like they are part of the act. Stand-up routine is analysed as a technique that makes it easier for the comedian to keep the audience constantly involved throughout the show.
Narrativity is a fundamental cognitive potential of human thinking. The article tackles the narrative function of photography and outlines three options for its creative application – sequence photography telling a story in a sequence of images; an assembly of photographic collages in a literary text, and the ability of photography to stimulate the imagination of the recipient. As an illustration two examples have been adduced.
This article offers a brief overview of key contemporary perspectives on the specificity of literary communication initiated by picture books, with their interdependent verbal and visual text. The focus is on their potential to engage readers of various ages, which projects them beyond a narrowly defined domain of children’s literature and transforms them into crossover literature. The main part of the article is devoted to the analysis of four such books: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, the Bulgarian When I Want to be Silent by Zornitsa Hristova and Kiril Zlatkov, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Sciezska and Lane Smith, and Battle Bunny by Jon Sciezska, Mac Barnett and Matthew Myers.
The concept of ‘ornament’ has an important role in the work of the Austrian writer Hermann Broch. For him this concept subsumes a historically complete depiction of a particular period and its style, a utopian unity of an all-encompassing value system. Broch‘s ornament is a cognitive concept too. The paper studies how this concept helps organize narrative structures in the trilogy of novels The Sleepwalkers. Another aspect under scrutiny is how the ornament facilitates cross-media transfer (for example between the media platforms of the opera, the theatre, the church, and in architecture).
The article outlines the process of establishing adolescent poetry as part of a general tendency of liberalisation in Bulgarian literature in the late 1950s. The text tackles the advancement of poetry to a higher fictional level through the appearance of everyday poetics along with a themes galore, by giving priority to intimate feelings and personal emotions in the lyrics for adolescents. The article examines poems and poetry books by that period’s most prominent authors of adolescents poetry – Ivan Davidkov, Hristo Chernaev, Plamen Tsonev, Ivan Rudnikov and Slavcho Chernishev.
Recent Event: 15th International Student Conference on Balkan Studies The Balkan Model of the World: Non-unique Phenomena in a Unique Mosaic and a round table discussion on Perspectives for Balkan Studies in Bulgaria (26 27 November 2015, University of Veliko Tarnovo)