Prosecutor General’s Office and TV after 2013: Forms of Pressure and Interference

The text presents findings from a study examining the relationships between the Prosecutor General’s Office in Bulgaria and television media during the period 2019–2024. At first glance, the bipolar model of media ownership associated with political parties seems to have long since become a relic of Bulgaria’s transitional period to democracy. However, the simulation of a bipolar business model through internet outlets, Facebook, Twitter, and digital television creates a bipolar dictatorship of messaging. Only organized crime benefits from this situation, as the Prosecutor General becomes a media figure with limited actual power. Particularly during Ivan Geshev’s tenure, media pressure occurs on two fronts: criticism aimed at media outlets, and the continual orchestration and dissemination of information, which some journalists merely reproduce. Consequently, the „untouchables“ become publicly untouchable, as even reputable media outlets avoid engaging with the ambiguous and sometimes misleading messaging from the Prosecutor General’s Office. The judiciary is portrayed as weak and entirely dependent on the Prosecutor’s Office’s performance. This phenomenon eliminates what Christopher Lasch describes as the art of argumentation, with media discussions about „justice,” „morality,” and „legal order“ suggesting these concepts are universally understood and stable, despite societal changes affecting their interpretation.