In working on its tasks AEJ Bulgaria is determined to focus on the transnational perspective of modern journalism, which involves creating and sustaining partnerships with media professionals and civil society activists all over Europe.
“When I decided to start the Bulgarian section, I already knew that the most important thing is to resemble people with ideas. Therefore all the journalists I invited to join me for AEJ Bulgaria are people who want to change the situation in Bulgaria, people who can strive for and materialize their ideas into action and results. In addition, all of us are very engaged with the NGO sector and I believe it is very important to create a strong connection between the media and the civil society so to be in line with the growing role of the civil journalism”, explains Kristina Hristova, Secretary-General of AEJ Bulgaria.
At the moment AEJ Bulgaria’s team is focused on creating its official website, which will provide useful information for journalists, including funding and training opportunities, announces about future conferences, meetings and media seminars. On the website, the section will publish all of its reports and materials, concerning important media issues such as media freedom and independence. The first report on media freedom in Bulgaria, made by the Bulgarian section, was presented at the Congress in Ordu.
What is also important for the Board of AEJ Bulgaria is to attract new members who will fit in the concepts of the organization. Therefore the section is working on its enlargement in Bulgaria and on creating contacts with potential partnership organisations throughout Europe.
Despite all the administrative work, the team of AEJ Bulgaria has already started gathering and discussing ideas for its future project work. The organization is project-oriented, as the members believe that by such initiatives it can achieve positive results in helping the European journalists to become more independent, open-minded and effective. For example, AEJ Bulgaria is determined to work for increasing the EU-related and linguistic knowledge of the Bulgarian journalists, so that they can benefit more from the opportunities to work together with international professionals on common projects and initiatives.