2024-04-03 16:45:37
General Director Milen Mitev: There is pressure to export internal decisions
The directorate is closed because it overlaps with the program board, the radio explains
The Governing Council of the BNR closed the Program Directorate of the radio on March 7, it became clear from a signal sent to the Council for Electronic Media by Daniela Kusovska, who was the program director until that date. According to her, to this day none of the employees of the BNR has been informed about the reasons.
“The directorate is closed, as it duplicates the activities of the Program Council and there is no need for intermediaries between the council and the programs of the BNR”, explained the general director of the public radio, Milen Mitev, to “24 Chasa”. At the same time, the BNR published a statement on their website. (See below.)
However, according to Kusovska, “this is a punitive action because of the decision of the Program Council related to the unaired interview with the Russian ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova in December and my role as the chairman of the Program Council of the BNR”.
Mitev himself explained that this is absolutely false, especially since he himself has repeatedly defended the position of the Program Council in interviews regarding the interview with Mitrofanova. He added that the definition of pressure is when you make an internal decision and expect it to be changed through public pressure.
In her complaint to the CEM, Kusovska asks how the editorial independence of the programs will be guaranteed, whether the management of the BNR acted under external pressure from a foreign country, whether it allowed external intervention in the form of a punitive action because of the unaired interview, and whether it took repressive actions against the program director and the entire Program Directorate. Kusovska also questions whether this action constitutes a SLAPP (strategic anti-public participation lawsuit) and, if so, what actions CEM as a regulatory body would take against the addressees.
In fact, the structural and personnel changes in the BNR are not within the powers of the CEM, but of the Management Board of the radio. His decision is to close the Program Directorate, in which its members are on salaries, and leave only the Program Council, which is led on a rotating basis by the directors of the largest programs – “Horizon”, “Hristo Botev”, “Digital Programs”. . It is currently managed by Ivo Todorov, who is the head of “Digital Programs” and former program director of the BNR. According to this scheme, after 4 months the Program Council will be headed by a person from another program. The new thing is that the editors-in-chief will now participate in the Program Council, so that more creative issues can be discussed, explained Milen Mitev.
At the same time, all members of the Program Directorate remain at work in the radio. Kusovska herself will be a senior editor in the news of the “Hristo Botev” program.
Here is the official statement of the BNR:
Editorial democracy in the BNR does not need an intermediary
On the occasion of the claims that appeared in some media that the structural reform in the Bulgarian National Radio, carried out on March 7, 2024, is under external pressure, due to the suspended interview with the ambassador of the Russian Federation in our country, the Governing Council of the BNR states that democracy in the public media is not in danger.
It is within the powers of the Board of Directors of the BNR to make decisions on personnel and structural changes, as well as decisions to optimize the work of individual units. Assigning the coordination of the activities of the broadcast programs to only one administrative structure, such as the Program Directorate, limits the possibilities for effective communication between the BNR programs.
The structural change voted by the Board of Directors does not threaten the editorial independence and the democratic beginning in the public media. The structural changes that have been made will ensure even greater creative independence and better interaction between programs.
The program board of the BNR continues to function, and in addition to the directors, the editors-in-chief of the individual programs will participate in its composition. This will optimize direct communication on creative and administrative issues and improve deliberative democracy.
After the closure of the Program Directorate, all its employees continue to be part of the BNR team in accordance with their professional experience and qualifications.
The governing board of BNR clarifies: The interview with the Russian ambassador was not stopped by the former program director. It is not in his power. Nor within the powers of the Program Board. Thus, the editorial independence of each individual program is guaranteed. As an advisory body, the Program Board can only make recommendations. In this particular case, the decision not to broadcast the interview was made by the director of the “Horizon” program.