Analysis of the Online Media Reactions to the Government’s Annual National Security Report for 2016
Analysis of the Online Media Reactions to the Government’s Annual National Security Report for 2016

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyzes the media and political reactions in Bulgarian online media to the Government’s 2016 Annual Report on the State of National Security of the Republic of Bulgaria, subsequently approved by Parliament, in the period from 1 September to 30 November 2017. References to the Report were subjected to content analysis according to the timeline of the reactions and the intensity of their occurrence, according to the different categories of institutional and non-institutional speakers, as well as according to the basic messages they were carrying. The findings show a strong disproportion in the representation of different opinions and the lack of public debate on the subject. From the very beginning of the researched period, there was a visible disparity between the dynamic of reactions to the Report and their media coverage. Media attention was almost exclusively focused on the passages in the Report describing the role of Russia for Bulgaria’s national security, which were the most debated political issue on this topic. It is highly likely that the next national security topic that will get extensive coverage will revolve around the state of security in the Black Sea.

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