Since the Communists took over the government in 1944, the mass communications systems have been perceived as instruments of propaganda and vehicles for party control. Because of this perception of the significance of the media, the new government immediately claimed all mass media as state property.

There is little if any tolerance of the free expression of ideas throughout the entire mass communications system. Because Bulgaria is more closely tied to the Soviet Union than most of the other Eastern European countries, the dictates of Moscow are virtually followed to the letter in the media. Themes that are initiated in Moscow are reiterated almost verbatim in Sofia. The major theme of the mass media is respect for and emulation of the Soviet Union, although recently some social themes—such as the problems of youth and alcoholism—have been incorporated as well.

The only sources of information and entertainment permitted to the people are the domestically controlled mass media. Most Bulgarians distrust information available to them from these sources but, having no alternative, continue to use them.

Historically, of all the mass communications systems, the press has always reached the largest number of people and has traditionally been viewed by the government as the most effective means of informing the general public. Although the circulation of the press dropped drastically in the mid-1940s, it has since the 1960s once again become the chief instrument of the mass communications system. Radio has greatly expanded in variety and scope since the 1940s. Television, although slow to develop and still limited in its audience relative to other European countries, has been growing rapidly since the early 1960s and was beginning to experiment with color in the early 1970s.

There has been little change in the Bulgarian publishing industry since 1944. Owing to the government's fear of contamination by the West or other capitalist societies, there is very little importation of foreign books into the country. Although books have increased greatly in terms of sheer numbers of editions, the quantity of book titles has remained very much the same since World War II.

Libraries range from those under the control of state ministries and committees to local reading rooms and enterprise libraries. The latter are generally more widely used by the people.

Since the end of World War II the film industry has grown to a great extent. Like other instruments of the media, films are chosen for their propagandistic value; however, since the advent of television, fewer people have attended films.

BACKGROUND

The press—composed of newspapers and periodicals—was the most developed of the Bulgarian media in the first half of the twentieth century. Radio, which was introduced in the 1920s, was under the aegis of what was then the Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone. The production, importation, and sale of radios were unrestricted. The least developed communications system of the day was the film industry, which was privately owned and operated. Television was not initiated in the country until the mid-1950s.

In the years immediately after the takeover, a strong pro-Soviet policy was established for the media, which was still in effect in 1973. While the new government restricted individual freedom and initiative within the media, it demanded total support by the media of all policies of the Soviet Union. Despite the fact that Bulgaria has never deviated from the policy of complete commitment to the Soviet Union, after the invasion of Czechoslovakia various media conferences were held in which calls for stricter adherence to the Soviet line were sounded.

OBJECTIVES OF MASS COMMUNICATIONS

The government has certain distinct perceptions as to how the media must serve the state. Propaganda permeates every aspect of life from formal education to membership in unions and clubs to the publication of books and pamphlets. The Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP—see Glossary) is the main political force. It both creates the appropriate condition for the expression of public opinion and forms public opinion itself.

At a recent conference on the mass communications system, a leading member of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party delineated the principal tasks of the media. The major task of the media was "to work for the broadest possible propagation of the congress decisions and for the mobilization of the people's physical and mental powers to make their decisions materialize...." The second vital task of the media was to "help form a socialist outlook on life among the peoples and educate the new man—active fighter for the developed socialist society, ideologically convinced, morally durable, physically tempered, with profound awareness of duty and responsibility." The third task was to promote the economic awareness of the people and to train managers, specialists, workers, and farmers for the greater economic good of the country. The fourth main task was to continue in the active struggle against "bourgeois ideology ... and the ideological subversion of imperialism."

A basic tenet of the Bulgarian system, however, is the belief that mass communications must be actively supplemented by human contact on the individual level. Iliya Georgiev, secretary of the Varna Okrug Bulgarian Communist Party Committee, in an article on the political knowledge of working people in 1972, stated categorically that the interest stimulated in the people by the mass communications system must be maintained and extended by informal means of communications, such as district (okrug) seminars, meetings in enterprises and farms, activities in the trade unions, and the Dimitrov Communist Youth Union (Dimitrovski Komunisticheski Mladezhki Suyuz—commonly referred to as the Komsomol).

The government has spent considerable time in assessing the extent to which these media objectives have been achieved. In the years immediately following the takeover, the government was consistently distressed by continued Bulgarian feelings of friendship with the West and the continual influence of the West upon the country. Although the propaganda efforts of the communist government were tireless, radio broadcasts and printed materials from the West continued to pour into Bulgaria.

As the government's control over both the formal communications media and the informal means of communications widened, the external threat was perceived to be less, and governmental attention turned to the assessment of the relative popularity of the various branches of the media. In a recent study 3,294 people were questioned as to their favorite source of domestic and international information. The vast majority—64.8 percent—of those polled stated that their preferred source was daily newspapers; 24.6 percent preferred television; and only 2.7 percent preferred radio. Although the newspapers were the favorite source of information, they were frequently criticized by the people, who expressed a basic lack of confidence in the press. In a second study dealing with people's attitudes toward the press alone, 48.1 percent of the 900 people polled said they disliked the press, and 52.1 percent complained of the primitive quality of Bulgarian newspapers.

Young people, especially students, appeared to be even less stimulated by the mass media than their elders. A study performed in the 1969/70 academic year indicated that students were indifferent to both domestic political events and international developments. The pollsters concluded that generally Bulgarian students take little advantage of the mass media as a source of information. Unlike the broad public, whose primary source of information was the press, students tended to see television as their preferred source and the press and radio as secondary sources.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATIONThe 1947 Constitution, known as the Dimitrov Constitution, established the stated rights of citizens as well as the nationalization of all private property, including the mass communications network. Regarding the so-called freedom of citizens, Article 88 of the 1947 Constitution claimed: "The citizens of the People's Republic are guaranteed freedom of the press, of speech, of assembly, of meetings and demonstrations." At the same time, Article 10 and Article 17 prohibited the unrestricted freedom of private property and provided for its nationalization under the authority of the National Assembly. More specifically, Article 80 of the constitution dealt directly with the system of mass communications: "The state cares for the development of science and art by establishing ... publishing houses, libraries, theatres, museums, public reading clubs, ... film studios, [and] cinemas...."

In 1956 the premier of the communist regime, Vulko Chervenkov, emphasized the ultimate control of the party over all institutions of the country. He stated: "No institution, organization, or person can be above the Politburo and the Central Committee ... those guilty of deviation from the Bolshevik rule must be held responsible and punished." Under his successor, Todor Zhivkov, a slight liberalization regarding freedom of the media ensued (see ch. 9). For a brief period writers and scholars were given greater latitude of expression. When some writers dared to openly criticize the government, however, Zhivkov was unable to tolerate this criticism and reimposed restrictions on the media. The ultimate authority of the party was again made manifest. In an article in 1969, Georgi Bokov, chief editor of Rabotnichesko Delo and chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Journalists, flatly rejected the notions of freedom and independence for the mass communications system. The stated goals of the Union of Bulgarian Journalists in the late 1960s were "to promote the development of mass information and propaganda media as first-rate ideological weapons in the struggle for the victory of socialism and Communism ... the Union must constantly work to turn the press, radio, and television into effective ideological instruments for the Party."

In 1971, a new constitution was promulgated, but the basic clauses of the 1947 document, regarding so-called individual freedoms and state ownership, remained essentially intact. It was restated in Article 54 that "citizens enjoy freedom of speech, press, meetings, associations and demonstrations." Article 46 again provided for state development of, and control over, the mass communications system.

The results of the policy regarding the media are witnessed by numerous examples of party control and the repression of dissidents. All newspapers must provide space for the official news of the government, and all Central Committee directives must be printed without alteration. No dispatches sent out by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (Bulgarska Telegrafna Agentsiya—BTA)—the official news agency of the country—are allowed to be revised. No criticism of government policies is tolerated. Dissident individuals and groups are singled out for criticism by the Politburo. In 1972 a Politburo member, Todor Pavlov, accused certain writers of rejecting Socialist Realism in favor of more bourgeois literature and art. Other writers were criticized for their so-called subjectivistic interpretation of Bulgarian literature and were branded as pseudoscientists.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE MASS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

Administrative Units

As the system has evolved, the broad outlines of propaganda have been dictated from the Politburo, the party's chief policymaking unit. From there policy is transmitted to the Agitation and Propaganda Department (Agitprop), which is a major operational unit of the Central Committee. Agitprop, in turn, is responsible for the transmission of guidelines down to the lowest levels of party organization. Simultaneously, the same dictates are transmitted throughout all cultural institutions by the Ministry of Information and Communications. Under this ministry's jurisdiction are the arts, the film industry, radiobroadcasting, television, book and pamphlet publishing, printing, all cultural or educational institutions, and all so-called independent artists. Still a third channel for the transmission of the original propaganda are the mass organizations that function in the propaganda field under direction of either Agitprop or the Ministry of Information and Communications (see ch. 9).

The administrative center for all media is Sofia, the capital. Eight daily newspapers are published in Sofia and distributed throughout the country; there are also seventeen major publishing houses in Sofia. The National Film Board, which oversees all aspects of film production, is in Sofia, as is Radio Sofia, which is the radio station for the entire country. The Cyril and Methodius Library—also known as the Bulgarian National Library—is within the confines of the city, as are the Union of Bulgarian Writers; the Union of Bulgarian Artists; and the Union of Composers, Musicologists, and Performing Musicians (see ch. 7).

The exportation of propaganda is under the auspices of the Sofia Press Agency. This agency was founded in 1967 with the express purpose of disseminating Bulgarian propaganda to other countries. Its three major tasks are to publicize Bulgaria's achievements and successes actively to the world; to attempt to counter anti-Bulgarian propaganda; and to provide the various communist parties of the world with rationale in their struggles against capitalism.

In 1972 the Sofia Press Agency was in the process of negotiating agreements with the BTA and the Committee for Television and Radio. Agreements had already been established with book publishers, photographic artists, and the film industry. In early 1972 over 500 people—the majority of whom were editors and translators—were working for the Sofia Press Agency, and contracts had been signed with approximately 120 foreign countries. Nine magazines, translated into eleven languages, had been published each year in 2.5 million copies. A dual language newspaper has been published each year in 500,000 copies, and 400 books had appeared in approximately 4 million copies. Some 15,000 articles had been written, 30,000 photographs taken, and dozens of television motion pictures and documentaries had been filmed.

News Agency

The BTA was founded originally in 1898 in Sofia. It is the official news agency of the country and the sole source of both foreign and domestic news. It receives most of its foreign items from the Soviet Union news agency but also maintains exchange agreements with Reuters, Associated Press, and the Associated Foreign Press as well as a host of lesser known foreign news agencies, although it tends to be more discriminating in terms of the items selected from these sources.

In the 1960s the BTA had twenty-three correspondents posted throughout the nation, as well as foreign correspondents in Moscow, Peking, East Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Tirana, Belgrade, Ankara, Paris, Bonn, New York, Vienna, Cairo, and New Delhi. Correspondents are sent on special assignments to investigate news that is considered to be of interest to Bulgaria. Domestic news is reproduced in Russian, English, French, German, and Spanish, and international news is reproduced in Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. In an average day the BTA receives approximately 800 foreign newspapers, magazines, and bulletins and itself produces over 125,000 words.

THEMES OF THE MEDIA

The predominant theme of the media remains the expression of friendship with the Soviet Union. In 1971 a leading member of the party's Central Committee informed members of the media that one of their primary functions was to champion the feelings of "fraternal love, trust, and gratitude" of the Bulgarian people for the "heroic Soviet people," at the same time demonstrating "clearly and convincingly the unbreakable ties linking our present and future with the present and future of the Soviet Union."

A second common theme of the current media deals with the continuing struggle between so-called bourgeois capitalism and socialism. The people are, on the one hand, warned of the invidiousness of capitalistic methods—"The veiled methods of ideological struggle applied on an even broader scale by contemporary imperialism requires greater vigilance from us...." On the other hand they are assured that socialism will ultimately prevail—"their [socialist] ideas make their way with insuperable force into the minds and hearts of working people all over the world, gain more and more new adherents, and become a powerful factor of social progress."

Another dichotomy that the media pose as a continuing theme is that of religion versus socialism. Bulgarian writers triumphantly proclaim that "religion as a component of the sociological structure of society for thousands of years gradually withers away at an even faster pace throughout the transition from capitalism to communism." Since one of the major aims of the government is to eliminate religious sentiment among the people, the public is from time to time assured that—according to the latest survey—only 35.5 percent of the population is considered religious or that the "Bulgarian people is one of the least religious in the world."

Another divisive force that is frequently posed by the media is national patriotism versus proletarian internationalism. Although internationalism is viewed as predominant, citizens are warned against feelings of bourgeois nationalism, since the "unity between internationalism and patriotism is of a relative character, and there is always the real possibility of dissension between them; they may even be placed into a position of mutual opposition." Somehow the conflict, according to the journal Filosofska Misal, is perceived as being resolved through a higher form of patriotism that is inextricably linked with love of the Soviet Union. Socialist patriotism is seen as a "qualitatively new, higher form of patriotism" as expressed in "love and gratitude toward the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union organically linked with love for Bulgaria."

In accordance with the media's constant expression of admiration for, and solidarity with, the Soviet Union, any issue that raises the question of conflicting loyalties between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Soviet Union is summarily dismissed with the reiteration of support for the Soviet Union. One journal warned the people of the dangers from the left in the form of the people of the PRC as well as from the right in the form of capitalist societies: "Contrary to all healthy logic, for years on end, the Chinese leadership has been waging hostile propaganda campaigns against the Soviet Union ... which are in no way inferior to the most malicious fabrications of bourgeois anti-Sovietism."

When the troops of the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968, Bulgaria once again rose to the Soviet Union's defense in complete justification of the invasion. The BTA cited a long list of workers, peasants, and intellectuals who were allegedly in favor of the action. Major newspapers such as Rabotnichesko Delo interpreted the event as symbolic of proletarian internationalism, and Zemedelsko Zname stated that "it is our supreme duty to resist the common enemy and not to allow anyone ever to tear away even one link from the chain of the socialist community." The Czechoslovak uprising itself, as reported by the Bulgarian press some months later, was interpreted as nationalistic and counterrevolutionary.

Bulgaria's relationship with the West, as expressed by the media, has evolved over time from overt hostility to some degree of tolerance. In 1968 the Bulgarian media openly denounced the concept of peaceful coexistence with the West. By the early 1970s, however, although citizens were still urged by the media to struggle against bourgeois capitalism as epitomized by the West, a slight thaw in the cool relations that had prevailed since the mid-1940s was detected. On the one hand, all instruments of the media were urged to direct the people away from foreign influences and to struggle against "bourgeois ideology, anticommunism, and the ideological subversion of imperialism." On the other hand, however, Western correspondents in 1973 declared that Bulgaria was entering a period of greater flexibility with the West.

The last polemical theme of the Bulgarian mass media is known as the Bulgarian miracle. Although success for the alleged achievement of Bulgaria's national goals is attributed to correct socialism, the application of Leninist principles, and the unity of party and people, the media take every opportunity to stress the achievements of the Bulgarian state since the advent of communism. One journal stated that "our country strengthened and matured as a state with a modern socialist industry, intensive mechanized agriculture, and flourishing national culture, a state enjoying an indisputable international prestige, respected as an economic partner and as a factor for the safeguard of peace."

On the nonpolemical side, the Bulgarian media discuss both Bulgaria's immediate social problems and issues that affect the world. The issue of alcoholism is discussed relatively openly and is viewed as an issue of national concern. Alcoholism is perceived to be related to both the rising number of divorces and the frequency of crimes (see ch. 5; ch. 15).

Bulgarians also have become involved in the international issue of pollution of the environment, and the press has given the topic a fair amount of coverage. The issue has been dealt with on a completely nonpolemical basis; in fact the brotherhood of all forms of societies is stressed as the means of combating the problem.

THE PRESS

Newspapers

In 1944, three months after the new government took control, all newspaper plants were made the property of the state. In the ensuing year, the government took over the distribution of newsprint, and many noncommunist editors and Communists were either jailed or executed. By 1945 only eight daily and weekly newspapers were permitted to publish. Five of them were published under the aegis of a governmental or party agency. Rabotnichesko Delo—which was patterned on the Soviet Pravda—became the organ of the Central Committee, and Otechestven Front—patterned on the Soviet Isvestia—became the official organ of the government. Izgrev was an organ of the Fatherland Front Zvenos; Narod was an instrument of the Fatherland Front (Otechestven Front) Socialists; and Narodna Voiska was an army organ. Politika was not directly affiliated with the party but was decidedly pro-Communist (see ch. 9).

The other two newspapers, both expressing a degree of opposition, were tolerated only through 1946. These were Narodno Zemedelsko Zname, an organ of the Bulgarian Agrarian Union (Bulgarski Zemedelski Suyuz—BZS) and Svoboden Narod, an organ of the Social Democratic Party. In early 1947, however, they were closed down.

The Fifth Party Congress in 1948, endeavoring to more fully exploit the potential of the press for propaganda purposes, called upon it to serve as the "first assistant of the Bulgarian Communist Party, of the Fatherland Front, and of the government." The primary function of the printed news media, as stated by that congress, was to mobilize the working people in terms of their identification with the so-called great socialist buildup. In the same year the Central Home of Bulgarian Journalists was established in order to train writers in the correct propaganda line established by the party. This institution was replaced in 1955 by the Union of Bulgarian Journalists.

After World War II the national newspapers were generally four pages long and consisted of news concerning Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, and other socialist countries; progress reports regarding national economic plans; foreign news presented with a decided anti-Western bias; and information regarding cultural events and sports. Cartoons, which appeared occasionally in the daily and weekly newspapers, were generally propagandistic and dealt with so-called foreign agents, the bourgeoise, and other so-called enemies of the people. There was little humor in the newspapers, as their overall purpose was to portray and defend the communist system.

The national newspapers were modeled after those of the Soviet Union, in both style and content. During the 1940s they established ties with the Soviet news agency, the Chinese Communist news agency, and the news agencies in other communist countries. All international events—those dealing with the communist-bloc countries and those dealing with the West—were integrated through these sources.

While Stalin lived, all of his dictates were followed to the letter, including the duplication of the Soviet example in the strong verbal campaign against Yugoslavia. When Nikita Khrushchev succeeded him and subsequently made some semblance of peace with Yugoslavia, the Bulgarian press followed suit. Similarly, when the Soviets quickly quelled the Polish and Hungarian revolts, the Bulgarian press endorsed the Soviet versions of these events. Strict control over the press was retained in the early 1970s, and most news still emanated from the Soviet news agency. Censorship was seldom required, however, since all editors were by this time acutely aware of their responsibilities to the party.

In contrast to the natural press, the provincial press concentrated on local matters. It included, in addition to a few regularly published newspapers, a variety of new types of publications, such as multicirculators—which were wall posters—and the so-called bumblebees, which were letters of accusation pointing out alleged failures of particular individuals to maintain acceptable social standards or to attain programmed economic goals. In broad terms, all these publications were designed to indoctrinate specific groups of people, generally in their places of work. The multicirculators called on workers to support the economic goals of the government and promised them rewards if they fulfilled the required objectives (see table 10).

Table 10. Bulgaria, Newspaper Circulation by Frequency of Issue, 1971

In the early 1970s the style of Bulgarian newspapers remained essentially the same as in the mid-1940s. National daily newspapers ordinarily had four pages, but sometimes had from six to eight pages when there was vital news to cover. Headlines were often printed in red, but stories and articles were in black print. Since the late 1960s or early 1970s advertising increased, and newspapers began to resemble their Western counterparts to a greater extent.

In 1972 thirteen daily newspapers were published, eight of which were printed in Sofia. Rabotnichesko Delo was a descendant of the first workers' newspaper, which was begun in 1897. It led both in importance and circulation, was the primary organ of the BKP, and set the tone for all other newspapers in the country. In 1950 it had a daily circulation of 364,500 copies, and by 1960 its circulation had risen to 567,360. In 1972 this newspaper had a total circulation of approximately 650,000 copies. The second most important daily newspaper published in Sofia was the Otechestven Front, the organ of the government. This publication was initiated as an underground newspaper in 1942. As of 1972 it claimed a daily circulation of 247,000.

The other Sofia dailies and their circulations were: Zemedelsko Zname, 168,000; Narodna Mladez, the newspaper for youth, 225,000; Trud, the organ of the trade unions, 200,000; Narodna Armiya, an organ of the Ministry of National Defense, 50,000; Vecherni Novini, founded in 1951, an evening newspaper, 40,000; and Kooperativno Selo, the organ of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, 230,000. The major provincial dailies were Otechestven Glas (in Plovdiv), Narodno Delo (in Varna), Chernomorski Front (in Burgas), Dunavska Pravda (in Ruse), and Pirinsklo Delo (in Blagoevgrad) (see table 11).

Table 11. Bulgaria, Circulation of Newspapers and Periodicals, Selected Years, 1939-71

Periodicals

By 1971 there were 963 periodicals with an annual circulation of 48.6 million, roughly tripling the pre-World War II figures. Periodicals were an extremely popular form of reading material.

Among the leading periodicals of Bulgaria are: Novo Vreme, a monthly journal of the Central Committee; Ikonomicheska Misal, the organ of the Institute of Economics of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; Puls, a publication of the Central Committee of the Komsomol; Slavyani, the monthly journal of the Slav Committee in Bulgaria; Bulgarski Voin, the monthly journal of the chief political department of the Bulgarian People's Army (Bulgarska Narodna Armiya); Resorts, a bimonthly journal printed in Russian, French, English, and German; and Lov i Ribolov.

RADIO

In 1939 there were three radio stations and over 60,000 subscribers (see table 12). Approximately one out of every 100 Bulgarian citizens owned a radio set.

Table 12. Bulgaria, Number of Radio Stations and Subscribers, Selected Years, 1939-71

As of March 26, 1948, the state controlled not only the management of radio stations and the content of radio programs but also the manufacture, distribution, and sale of radio equipment. The ownership and operation of radios were subject to the chief directorate of radio information according to the Law on Radio. Article 15 of this law stated that private homes could only receive programs of Bulgarian radio stations. Article 17 of the same law stated that all people wishing to purchase radios had to receive prior authorization and pay a radio tax.

The ideological purposes of radio broadcasts are presented by the government in quasi-cold war terms. One radio commentator, Lyuben Popov, has described the radio as a weapon for waging war on the air. He explained that "the struggle on the air is becoming sharper and sharper and more and more uncompromising.... Our propaganda work is part of the ideological struggle for victory of communist ideas." Radio is perceived as serving two principal ends. On the domestic level it serves to provide information as well as propaganda to the public; on the international level it functions in a purely ideological capacity.

There are twelve mediumwave radio transmitters: two are located in Pleven; two in Kurdzhali; two in Sofia; and one each in Plovdiv, Blagoevgrad, Varna, Shumen, Stara Zagora, and Stolnik. There are eleven ultra-shortwave stations: three are located in Sofia, two in Botev, two in Slunchev Bryag, two in Kyustendil, one in Snezhinka, and one in Plovdiv. There are four shortwave radio stations in Bulgaria. Of the total number of twenty-seven radio stations in the country, six broadcast in both amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM); twenty broadcast in AM only; and one located at Botev Peak broadcasts only in FM.

Bulgarian radio stations are on the air approximately 500 hours per week. Foreign broadcasts are transmitted approximately twenty-six hours a day Monday through Saturday and twenty-nine hours on Sunday. These programs are broadcast in Bulgarian, Turkish, Greek, Serbo-Croat, French, Italian, German, English, Spanish, and Arabic and are transmitted to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, and South America. The number of domestic listeners has approximately doubled over the 1960-71 period. In mid-1973 over a quarter of the population owned radio sets.

The leading radio programs are transmitted by Radio Sofia. Radio Plovdiv, Radio Varna, and Radio Stara Zagora also transmit popular programs. Radio Rodina is the main station transmitting to Bulgarians residing abroad. Generally, radio programs consist of news bulletins dealing with both local and international events; programs for rural listeners and industrial workers, which deal with industrial, agricultural, and cultural matters; programs for children, which complement the formal educational curriculum; literary and cultural programs; and scientific programs.

In January 1971 Radio Sofia took steps to refurbish its old programming. Some critics felt that the old programming was lacking in variety, causing listeners to turn to foreign broadcasts for more enjoyable entertainment. Others within the medium wanted to have more freedom and creativity in programming. As a result, in mid-1973 the three main programs of Radio Sofia had a singular and distinctive character. "Horizont" provided both general information and popular music. "Christo Botev" had a more cultural and propagandistic nature, presenting ideological, literary, and educational programs. "Orfei" was the program for classical music, which was occasionally supplemented by theatrical and literary features. The results of these changes have been mixed. Although some critics felt that the new programs were more lively than their predecessors, others continued to criticize them for a "dearth of original thought, a laconic style, and a pompous tone."

Other recent developments in radio have been the establishment of radio relay ties with nearby countries. These relay ties are expected to increase Bulgaria's communications with the West while providing her new partners with access to the East. In July 1972 the construction of radio lines between Bulgaria and Turkey was completed. In December 1972 plans for a radio relay line between Sofia and Athens were announced; the line was to be completed by 1974. This particular line was expected to provide Greece with access to Eastern Europe and Bulgaria with access to the Middle East and North Africa.

TELEVISION

Television, like radio, became a state monopoly under the control of the Ministry of Culture on March 26, 1948, but the first strictly experimental broadcasts were not undertaken until 1954. It was 1959 before the first regular programming—consisting of two programs per week—was being broadcast. By 1962 programs had been increased to only four per week.

The number of television subscribers rose from a mere 2,573 in 1960 to 185,246 in 1965 and to 1.2 million in 1971. These figures meant the number of sets per 1,000 people were; less than one, in 1960; about twenty-three, in 1965; and 138, in 1971. During the same period an increasing number of transmitting stations was making reception possible in nearly all parts of the country. By 1972 there were twenty-seven transmitters; the major ones were located at Sofia, Slunchev Bryag, Botev, Varna, and Kyustendil. In spite of the expansion of the network and the increasing numbers of sets available, in comparison to other European countries there were still relatively few television subscribers per 1,000 of the population.

Three-quarters of the television sets are located in the cities. Although there is only one major television program, Program I, plans are underway for the transmission of a second program, Program II. This, when added to the coverage of Program I, is expected to reach 95 percent of the population by 1975.

Television is transmitted on a daily basis. The weekly programs run between 68 and 72 hours. Television time has been apportioned more or less according to popular taste. Of the total hours, 22 percent of television time was devoted to documentaries, 15 percent to music, 12 percent to news, 11 percent to programs for children, 10 percent to language and literature programs, and 8 percent to sports. There were also special broadcasts to villages and question-and-answer programs in industrial enterprises and cooperative farms. Unlike the rest of Eastern Europe, Bulgaria imported very few television films from the United States.

One of the most recent innovations in television programming was the transmission of a special program for tourists in 1973. Bulgarian Radio and Television decided to cooperate with the Committee for Tourism to promote a 1-½-hour program for foreign tourists on the Black Sea coast. The program, as envisioned in 1973, would consist of local news, presented on three different channels in Russian, English, and German respectively; local events; international news; tourist information; and advertisements.

Future plans for Bulgarian television were outlined in the Sixth Five Year Plan (1971-75). Although color television programs in the 1970s were transmitted to Bulgaria from Moscow, Bulgaria's own color television was to be transmitted in late 1973. Along these lines, Bulgaria planned to collaborate with Intervision—the Eastern European television network—in the promotion of color television. In 1972 plans were also being formulated for the construction of between 250 and 300 relay stations and additional television transmitters.

PUBLISHING

In 1939 there were 2,169 books and pamphlets published in 6.5 million copies, and in 1948 there were 2,322 books and pamphlets published in 19.9 million copies. By 1960 the number of book and pamphlet titles had risen to 3,369 in 30.2 million copies, and by 1971 the number of book and pamphlet titles reached 4,188 in 46.8 million copies.

More recent studies of book and pamphlet publication conducted in 1969 and 1970 indicated that the overwhelming majority of books and pamphlets were written by Bulgarians. Of the 3,799 books published in 1970, there were 3,368 by Bulgarian authors. The foreign works during this year were predominantly in Russian, 131; French, sixty-five; English, sixty-five; and German, fifty-four. There were few books translated from Spanish and a sprinkling of translations from other lesser known languages. Of the translated works most were literary, followed by works dealing with the social sciences, the applied sciences, the arts, geography and history, the so-called hard sciences, philosophy, philology, and religion.

A 1971 study illustrates the fact that—in terms of titles alone—books are more popular than pamphlets by a ratio of approximately three to one (see table 13). The greatest number of book titles in 1971 were in the areas of artistic and folkloric literature, technology and industry, and scientific and educational texts. The smallest number of book titles were in the areas of general handbooks, community affairs, and atheism and religion. The greatest number of pamphlet titles, on the other hand, were in juvenile literature, communist party literature, and science and education. The fewest pamphlet titles dealt with atheism and religion, Marxism-Leninism, languages, and labor and trade unions.

Because the Bulgarian publishing industry has emphasized the quantity of books available in terms of copies rather than variety or number of titles, there has been some serious criticism of policy, particularly from the newspapers. In fact, among the Balkan countries, Bulgaria ranks below Yugoslavia, Romania, and Turkey in the number of titles published annually. One newspaper claimed that of the total number of books published in 1972, only approximately one-third were so-called real books, meaning that they were not simply textbooks or brochures. This newspaper claimed that foreign literature was not well known in Bulgaria and pointed out that the literature of Asia, Africa, and South America had increased by only 470 titles since 1939.

The state not only is in charge of the publishing houses themselves but also supervises the distribution of books throughout the country. Editorial councils are the final authorities in determining the output of individual publishing houses. The one exception to the general administration of publishing houses is the publication of textbooks. In this case the Committee on Art and Culture is responsible for the printing of textbooks, and the Ministry of National Education is, in turn, responsible for their distribution.

Table 13. Bulgaria, Book and Pamphlet Publication, 1971

The party is the final arbiter regarding the acceptability of work for publication. All party control, however, is theoretically unofficial; censorship exists only in the sense that all power of decision regarding publication is in the hands of party members. The official process for publication is that the writer submits his work to the publishing house. The publishing house then sends it, with a brief description of its ideological content, to the Committee on Art and Culture. If the book is approved at this stage, it is returned to the publishing house, where it is again checked for its ideological content.

The major criterion for acceptance is the ideological soundness of the work in question. According to a refugee playwright from Bulgaria, "The journalist must praise the party, and government, and criticize the West. The poet, the playwright, the novelist must uphold the communist ideal." Since the works of leading Communists are almost always accepted for publication, one writer has stated; "In Bulgaria dead communist heroes are the safest bet."

The government is actively engaged in attempting to promote Bulgarian books abroad. In the late 1960s and early 1970s books by native authors—although in relatively small numbers—were published in such diverse countries as Great Britain, Japan, France, Turkey, Italy, Iran, Austria, Argentina, and Finland. According to the latest available source on the promotion of Bulgarian books abroad, plans also have been formulated for the publication of books in the United States, Belgium, Brazil, and Syria.

One of the most serious problems in the publishing industry, other than the broad issue of freedom of expression of the writers, is that of a shortage of textbooks. In 1970 the Committee for State Control discovered that courses in 1,013 subjects at the university level had no textbooks whatsoever. In the University of Sofia alone, where approximately 317 subjects were taught, textbooks existed for only 216 of these subjects; roughly half of the books for the 216 subjects that used textbooks were out of print.

LIBRARIES

When the Communists took power in 1944, they began to allocate relatively large sums of money to develop new libraries in both large cities and small villages. By 1971 the country had over 10,000 libraries, whose collections numbered nearly 50 million volumes (see table 14).

The Committee on Art and Culture maintained a number of libraries, including the country's largest, the Bulgarian National Library. Founded in 1878 in Sofia, it contained 814,000 works in 1971, including about 13,000 old and rare volumes, approximately 17,000 graphic works, and some 20,000 photographs and portraits. The library published both a yearbook and a monthly periodical.

The committee maintained two other libraries. One was the Ivan Vazov State Library, situated in Plovdiv, whose collection included a wide variety of periodicals, old and rare books, and archives. The other library under the committee was the Elin Pelin Bulgarian Bibliographical Institute, which maintained a record of all printed works in the country and published a monthly bulletin listing all of its publications, an annual yearbook, and a monthly list of all articles published in reviews and journals.

In addition there were research-related libraries maintained by the Academy of Sciences; public school libraries; university libraries; libraries organized in state plants, factories, and cooperative farms; regional libraries; and local libraries.

The major regional libraries were located in Burgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora, Shumen, Varna, Velsko, and Turnovo. The best known local library was the City Library of Sofia, which contained about 452,862 volumes.

Table 14. Libraries in Bulgaria, 1971

The so-called public reading room was another form of library. Founded by educated Bulgarians during the Turkish occupation as centers of culture and education, the reading rooms have become quite widespread, particularly in the villages, and supply books to farmworkers and other members of the rural population. In the early 1970s there were 4,108 reading rooms with over 20 million volumes.

FILMS

By 1947, after the new constitution had been enacted, the film industry became a state monopoly. The next year the new Law on Motion Pictures was passed, which essentially expanded on the theme of state control. It officially abolished free enterprise in the film industry and prohibited individual activities in the importation and exportation of films and the private operation of movie theaters. The film industry fell under the official control of the Bulgarian Cinematography Association, which was under the Department of Motion Pictures of the Committee for Science, Art, and Culture. By 1950 the entire film industry was under the complete control of the Council of Ministers. The Department of Motion Pictures became officially attached to the council.

One of the early laws regarding films stated that "the motion picture must become a real fighting assistant of the party and the government and be an ardent agitator and propagator of the government policy." The focus of the industry was to be placed on the building of socialism while increasing the country's bonds with the Soviet Union. Early legislation stated that "Soviet films gave immense educational influence and mobilized action and conscious participation in the building of socialism for still greater friendship with the Soviet Union." This emphasis on the relationship with the Soviet Union was not only ideological. Soviet films also represented approximately 87 percent of the films shown in Bulgaria from 1945 to 1956, and the Bulgarian film industry was in large part assisted by its film counterpart in the Soviet Union.

The film industry expanded quickly under the new government. There were 187 films produced in 1960 (see table 15). By 1965 there were approximately 2,000 motion picture houses, roughly 83 percent of which were in the villages.

Table 15. Bulgaria, Films Produced and Translated,
Selected Years, 1939-71

In mid-1973 information on the film industry indicated that the production, distribution, importation, exportation, and exhibition of films were still controlled by the Bulgarian Cinematography Association. This agency was subdivided into three sections: the chief studio at the Bulyana film center where feature films and cartoons were produced; a second studio that produced documentary shorts and popular science films for schools; and a third studio that specialized in newsreels.

Relative to other European countries there was little importation or exportation of films. In mid-1973 data suggested that between 100 and 150 feature films were imported per year. These films generally came from the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries, although a few were imported from Italy, France, and Great Britain. The first Bulgarian film to be exported was The Chain, which was shown in Czechoslovakia in 1964. The same year another Bulgarian film, The Intransigents, was shown in Ireland, and still another, The Peach Thief, was shown in Great Britain. The precise number of Bulgarian films exported was unknown, although one writer claimed that in 1973 Bulgarian films were viewed in about seventy countries.

In mid-1973 the subject matter of Bulgarian films was characteristically contemporary, and there was little focus on historical events. Although a few historical films had been produced, they were in the minority. A few films had dealt with the subject of Bulgarian resistance to the Nazis, but they too were relatively scarce. More films were devoted to the so-called people's heroic struggles. Most films in Bulgaria, however, dealt with contemporary life in the country and current events. The overwhelming majority of these films treated the conflicts and issues of Bulgarian youth.