Media Development Center

The Media Development Center, Sofia (MDC) was established in 1998 to promote the activities of independent media in Bulgaria and to foster capacity building of the media by encouraging good practice in journalism, ethics, networking and cross-border cooperation.

The Center is a member of the South East European Network for Professionalization of the Media (SEENPM), set up in 1999, where now 17 media centers and institutes from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia and Yugoslavia take part. The Chief Executive Officer of MDC, Ognian Zlatev was elected the President of SEENPM on 2nd March 2002 for a one-year term.

MDC is a member of the South East European Media Organization (SEEMO), associated with the International Press Institute, Vienna, Austria and participates in the Reporting Diversity Network based in London, UK.

Media Development Center Capacity

   Training facility for hands-on broadcast and print media production training:
• Digital radio studio integrated with state-of-art class room with workstations
   fully equipped with software for radio production, post production and
   broadcasting (Dalet, CuBase, WaveLab, Raduga);
• Software for newspaper layout and design; fast Internet accessibility; also available    professional multifunctional digital TV cameras, image
   editing software and video editing suites;
• State-of-art equipped multifunctional training/conference rooms for workshops, conferences    and other public events.

MDC training facilities are established with the support of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) within the project "Support of Media in South Eastern Europe/Media Development Center - Sofia" financed by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany under the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe.

Media Development Center Program Profile:

• professional training for journalists and media managers from
   South Eastern Europe;
• training courses for operational and language skills;
• media handbooks and manuals publishing;
• information service on media and for the media.

MDC, together with Deutsche Welle Radio Training Center, Cologne (DWRTC), have designed and are currently offer specialized programs on radio management, formatting, marketing and positioning, as well as on news and current affairs production especially aimed at regional electronic media channels. So far over 150 Bulgarian journalists and senior producers have benefited from that project.

Ultimately at the end of 2000 that co-operation resulted into a three-year program, which under the framework of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, offers training to electronic and print media representatives from the region. Using the joined efforts of DWRTC, Deutsche Welle TV Training Centre, Berlin and the International Institute for Journalism, Berlin, only during the first year of that project MDC has helped some 150 media professionals from the countries of SEE to get training in various aspects of journalism and media management.

Along with that MDC offers foreign expertise and leading professional experience on publishing, distribution, marketing and advertisement in print media. It also organizes various courses on investigative journalism, elections reporting, European integration, minorities' issues and legal aspects of journalism.

For 2001 MDC has organized some 32 training courses aimed at over 400 media representatives coming from Bulgaria and the other countries of SouthEast Europe.

MDC has also initiated discussions and round-table talks on the role of the media in the region, the freedom of speech, the media regulation, and on the harmonization of Bulgarian media legislation with the West European practice. MDC has supported the foundation, promotion and development of different professional media organizations, such as the Association of the Bulgarian Broadcasters (ABBRO) and the Investigative Journalists' Association.

Using its partnerships with outstanding foreign media institutions and universities MDC has sent lots of Bulgarian journalists to improve their qualification in USA, UK, France and Germany.

MDC offers specialized program for journalist in English Language Training as well as on Internet and online Journalism.

MDC has organized four competitions for journalists: three aimed at the development of investigative journalism, and one on gender issues.

Media Development Center Surveys and Publications

Media Perception Patterns among the Turkish Community in Bulgaria, 1999 - 2000, a comprehensive sociological survey, conducted in the regions inhabited predominantly by Turkish ethnic minority, complemented with a TV documentary.

Practice, Attitudes and Necessity of Professional Training in Bulgarian Media, December 2000 - January 2001, a pilot survey carried out among 416 journalists and 150 media managers from all media in Bulgaria.

ABC of Radio, Bernd-Peter Arnold, translated in Bulgarian, Sofia, 2000.
A handbook on radio, targeting students and radio professionals, useful for both mid-career journalists and media academics.

On Air: The Radio Presenter's Handbook, Kostadin Atanassov, Sofia, 2000.
The first Bulgarian media handbook, targeting future and working radio presenters. An enjoyable reading for everyone curious to know a lot more about the "back-air" of radio presenting.

British and American Mass Media, Madeleine Vassileva (ed.), in English and Bulgarian, Sofia, 2000.
The book discusses some of the most important questions in the development of the mass media in Britain and the USA. A timely reading, extraordinary interesting, catching the attention of students in journalism and media professionals.

Basic TV Reporting, Ivor Yorke, translated in Bulgarian, Sofia, 2001.
A practical and easy to read guide to the skills needed to become a successful TV reporter describing in detail the ways reporters could fit best into the editorial team.

Managing the Newsroom, Peter Saunders, in English and Bulgarian, Sofia, 2002.
A book based on the lectures of the author read at a two-week workshop for senior journalists from regional newspapers in SEE. A guide for all ambitious press representatives with eyes fixed on the editor's chair.

A Responsible Press Office, Marguerite H. Sullivan, translated in Bulgarian, Sofia, 2002.
A guide based on the experience of the author as both an outside observer of how a government communicates in her capacity of a reporter and columnist, and from the inside, as a government spokesperson working with journalists.

Afghanistan: The Reporters War, Krassimira Popova-Olah, Sofia, 2002
The author, prominent Bulgarian TV journalist, offers a specific angle to the impact of the recent events in Afghanistan talking to some of the most eminent war correspondents like John Simpson, John Sopell, David Loyn, Lara Logan, Jonathan Steele, etc.

TELEPHONE: +359 2 988 92 65

FAX: +359 2 988 92 60

EMAIL: mediacenter@osf.bg

WEBSITE: www.mediacenterbg.org