In brief
BTA’s LIK Magazine marked the 180th anniversary of the first Bulgarian newspaper on a video‑linked launch in Sofia, highlighting the press’s role in nation‑building and civic oversight. While BTA emphasized the historical significance and the media’s formative influence, the abnase.com announcement noted the event’s timing and venue without detailing the program. The issue featured contributors' reflections on early Bulgarian journalism and its contribution to public opinion.
On 11 November 2026, the Bulgarian News Agency’s (BTA) literary‑culture magazine LIK marked the 180th anniversary of Bulgaria’s first newspaper, Bulgarski Orel, with a video‑linked launch held in BTA’s Maxim Hall in Sofia. The event brought the national press club and foreign participants together and framed the issue as a celebration of the press’s contribution to national identity, freedom of speech and civic oversight.
Editor‑in‑Chief Georgi Lozanov stressed that the development of the press is inseparable from the sense of self‑confidence that led to Bulgaria’s Liberation in 1878 and later became associated with freedom and free speech. He said that people form opinions on important issues on the basis of the press, and when these opinions converge, public opinion emerges.
"In a democratic state, public opinion governs those in power, while the development of the media makes it possible to create a new quality of governance that is subject to civic oversight,"he added.
Managing Director Yanitsa Hristova noted that BTA’s news reports reflect the ambition, dedication and sense of mission with which the country’s first journalists, publishers and printers set out to work.
"The conditions under which the Bulgarian press emerged were difficult: Bulgaria was not a free country, while newspaper publishing and printing had already made significant advances and gained followers elsewhere in the world,"she added.
Prof. Zdravka Konstantinova, a lecturer in the History of Bulgarian Journalism at Sofia University’s Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, highlighted that journalism played a state‑building role before Liberation, when the Bulgarian state had not yet been restored. She recorded that the beginnings of Bulgarian periodical publishing date back to 1842, when Konstantin Fotinov published a trial issue of the magazine Lyuboslovie. The first newspaper, Bulgarski Orel, appeared in 1846, and by September 1944 the country had produced more than 10,000 titles.
Literary historian, critic and publisher Prof. Albert Benbassat echoed the sense of continuity, noting that the press has preserved a national memory and served as a conduit for public debate throughout Bulgaria’s turbulent history.
In its editorial, LIK outlined the issue’s sections, which trace the trajectory from the experimental print of the 1840s to the widespread circulation of daily newspapers by the mid‑nineteenth century, and onward to the digital age. It highlighted how early print agents such as Ivan Bogorov and Konstantin Fotinov challenged the Ottoman censorship and cultivated a sense of Bulgarian nationalism that ultimately contributed to the country’s push for autonomy. The piece also noted how the 1990s‑era transition saw a surge in independent media voices that laid the groundwork for the modern democratic pressosphere.
The event’s video link enabled simultaneous participation from press clubs across Europe, underscoring the transnational recognition of Bulgaria’s journalistic heritage. According to BTA, representatives from Germany, France and the United Kingdom marked their presence through live feeds, while BTA’s own archives displayed historical issues for virtual viewing during the launch. Meanwhile, the abnase.com post mentioned only the inclusion of a video link but did not comment on these international observers.
The announcement on 7 hours ago by the website abnase.com – which listed the event as a upcoming presentation on Monday, 9 November at 4 p.m. in BTA’s Maxim Hall – noted only the time, place and the fact that the issue would be showcased via video link, without referencing speakers or the historical context discussed by BTA.
Thus, while BTA’s own reporting frames the November issue as a milestone in the evolution of Bulgarian journalism, abnase.com focuses on logistical details of the launch. Both accounts converge on the celebration of a 180‑year legacy but differ in emphasis, reflecting the broader diversity of narratives that coexist around Bulgaria’s first newspaper and its ongoing influence on public opinion.
