DV: Describe the current media environment in our country to - let's assume - a person who knows nothing about it.
Anna Tsolova: It is difficult, because we have to start from the fact that lying is not another point of view. This applies to both conventional media and Internet media. But I understand why you are asking me. Let's put it this way: it is impossible to uncritically broadcast and cover outright lies uttered by the powerful of the day. For example, a politician comes out and says that a billion-dollar project is very profitable for Bulgaria. No questions follow. With three questions from a journalist, it will become clear that this is not true, and the project is a weapon in the hands of an aggressor, for example. But this requires preparation. The obstacle "lack of preparation" is surmountable. The other seems insurmountable - the freedom to ask these questions.
DV: Are we talking about the most ordinary fear?
Anna Tsolova: Yes, I suppose we are talking about fear, but I don't want to judge that someone has reasons to be afraid. There is also misunderstanding - it could be a matter of youth or poor personal standards.
This also leads to the simultaneous dissemination of the same support and thesis.
It seems that there is a list of those allowed and those chosen to appear as analysts on television. The same ones. And there are those who are banned from airing or are rarely invited.
Here, for example, an expert who deals with anthropology explained the inexplicable. The marginalized people saw their savior from globalization (however, he is called a Euro-Atlantic, respectively a globalist) and that is why they voted for him. They sharply recognized him as the strongest of the seven samurai. This is what is being said on television, I am not making it up. That is, we should not ask whether these votes were bought, but believe unconditionally that suddenly hundreds of people from the same section recognized the savior. They had not voted for him before. They voted unanimously for someone else or did not vote at all.
DV: A forbidden topic again?
Anna Tsolova: Yes. The topic of controlled and bought votes has not been examined in depth with journalistic means of expression. And this is not a big topic, but a huge one. Therefore, do not be surprised if a major corruption scheme has not been talked about on national airwaves for many years and suddenly it becomes a topic. It is allowed as much as the strongest samurai allowed in order to settle accounts with his current enemy.
DV: In my opinion, the big devil is in self-censorship, and not so much that someone necessarily calls and gives specific instructions.
Anna Tsolova: The pressure is strong from above and we can see it in the unanimity between the major media outlets on what and how to cover and who the spokespeople are on the permitted topics. The pressure from a single center is obvious, and I have personal observations, after all. My unwillingness to participate in these processes is the reason I am not on national airwaves. Self-censorship, as you say, is also working at full steam. When so many journalists are banned before your eyes, cursed by order and threatened, and the task was to turn them into "former people", there is no way to demand courage from the rest. And some of those who call themselves "journalists" they don't even know what they don't know and what they are participating in. Without knowing it, they become part of the big game of disinformation and the dumping of the important at the expense of the unimportant. Waves of petty issues, spread over dozens of minutes of airtime, in times when, wherever you look, you can find corruption and irregularities on a large scale. But the audience watches for 10 minutes how a man steals a bicycle, then another man steals a sausage and brandy (another 10 minutes), etc. These are topics that can be told in seconds. And they are important, but these things also happen because the head hurts. But it doesn't get touched.
DV: Well, not everyone is like that. There seems to be a certain negative paroxysm here, namely the belief that our oligarchic system necessarily micromanages. Not that it doesn't happen, but it's not the essential problem.
Anna Tsolova: Everything I say has its exceptions. And these exceptions on national airwaves have a hard time. If someone sticks out, they are immediately punched in the mouth. And they should be drowned. Or they should comply. Look at the last elections - several interviews with a journalist from BTV and a report on BNT began to unravel and even gave rise to talk about vote buying, for example. And this is no small thing, because at least they put the topic on the table in essence. And not only in the way it was presented to us by the police. Sometimes reports about corruption schemes and larger-scale abuses are also slipped in. That is why we must also highlight this, the positive. Not only because it costs these journalists and authors a lot.
DV: What and what do you think makes a seemingly normal person a real journalist?
Anna Tsolova: Here's what - the most important thing is the sense of justice and the way in which one reacts to injustices. And one more thing - knowledge, knowledge of history, the level of functional literacy, knowledge of what propaganda is and how it functions. A journalist cannot and should not believe that "the bowed head of a sword does not cut it". And he must realize that those whose corruption and all other schemes he exposes cannot and do not believe that there are people who do something for the sake of truth and justice. They measure others by their yardstick and by their concept of existence.
DV: Comment on the "deep state", in which the fourth estate is seized, crushed or bought. Is there such a thing?
Anna Tsolova: It is clear here, Orwell - war is peace, freedom is slavery. For years, by the way, propaganda has also used Orwell to call black white and vice versa. But it does not tell its audience that Orwell describes the chilling dictatorship of Stalin. Today, socially dissatisfied people, who are easy prey to disinformation, are told that socialism was a good thing. Can you imagine? But I will continue Orwell's line - the Euro-Atlantic and democrat plays for the dictatorial Eastern regime, but shouts loudly that it is for Europe.
DV: And the vote buyers shout that they are resolutely fighting vote buying. Something like that classic "bombing for peace is like f**king for virginity".
Anna Tsolova: Exactly. The media, who have their boot pressed against them, shout that our media freedom is the freest in the galaxy. And speaking of freedom, I fear that there are quite a few people among us who do not want to live freely. By the way, during my student years I also flew through Erich Fromm, without really understanding what he was saying when he said: "Freedom is hard work; many people run away from it and prefer to be governed, as long as they are provided with existential security." I recently searched for and found his book "Escape from Freedom" (1941). It clearly and thoroughly explains why people vote for authoritarian leaders, why they elevate them into a cult and arbitrarily give up their freedom. The answers are given. Nothing new under the sun. These leaders often offer simple solutions to complex problems and promise security and "order in chaos", they promise "to fix the state" in exchange for restrictions on personal freedoms.
DV: Are we unconsciously avoiding freedom by mentioning Erich Fromm?
Anna Tsolova: Some - yes, others - no. Yes, because freedom can put us in isolation. This can be tiring and exhausting. I'll tell you about a clip that my son showed me on TikTok. The frame shows a white American woman, around 60, her clothes are covered with Trump's image, her face is painted with the flag, her hat is MAGA ("Make America Great Again"). A famous TikToker asks her: "Who would you rather have as your ruler - Kamala Harris or Putin?" The answer: "Putin. He takes care of his people and life in Russia is very good." You understand how the narratives intertwine and how far propaganda and disinformation have reached overseas. This well-structured and far-reaching organization for the dissemination of disinformation uses very well the weaknesses, sins and extremes to which the so-called "Western democracy" has reached. We are currently observing the visible results.
DV: And why is there no functional democracy in our country, beyond its formal prerogatives?
Anna Tsolova: 35 years after November 10, many people have understood that our society is driven by the same processes and mechanisms as before the "fall of the wall". In our country, as in those times, the system functions like an army. I will use this metaphor - an army of soldiers who spread lies and manipulations on assignment, participate in and organize active events. Just like in the army - there are generals, privates, colonels and lieutenant colonels, suppliers, businesses that serve the army, etc. And now look at our society and you will recognize the trolls (privates), the prominent people of business, there are also people of culture who sing in this choir. Here are the big media. Those who hold high positions in the army - people of science, experts - speak out on their field.
DV: And how have social networks changed journalism? What distinguishes a professional journalist from all those who simply "create content"? And notice my slight frustration - we are again forced to ask ourselves the basic questions about journalism, which in itself is a kind of silent answer to what is wrong.
Anna Tsolova: For years, our society has been working to make us forget what exactly a journalist does. I'll say it again - whether you're a YouTuber, a podcaster or a journalist, lying is not a different point of view. A journalist seeks the facts, detects inconsistencies, does not use labels, nicknames, is equally distant from all sides in the political process. There are such people, but they are silenced. They are shouted at and those with vuvuzelas get involved.
DV: You recently said something remarkable - in the sense that whoever does not obey the new "rules" of the profession, ends up on YouTube. Is it really possible for our profession to move to the internet, even though big advertising money is still pouring into private national televisions?
Anna Tsolova: The global trend, due to the power of the market and digitalization, for years has been for content to go to the devices we hold in our hands, not to the TV with the remote control. That's on the one hand. On the other hand, in our latitudes, YouTube is the only platform that journalists have who have chosen not to make any compromises.
DV: Why aren't you on the TV screen? What really happened to make you get removed so rudely? Do you feel harmed?
Anna Tsolova: When you can't change something, you don't allow it to change you and turn you into something you won't like. It turned out that this was what drove me to decide not to be on television. A journalist cannot freely practice his profession if he doesn't have a strong and free media behind him. This cannot happen. Either you do what you believe journalism is, or you leave. The situation is such that there is no middle ground. There is no way they will allow you if you do not comply, submit and do not make almost daily compromises. It is simply not possible. At least for me it is. Today I can do journalism on YouTube and I had offers for teamwork. But, honestly, I have no desire. The demon of meaninglessness had settled in my life. I expelled it. Active journalism is now behind me.
DV: What would you say to a freshman in the journalism faculty?
Anna Tsolova: I will say that it makes sense, despite everything. I will tell him what can follow. But this is journalism. Journalism is not only interviewing actors, singers and other celebrities. Journalism is what someone does not want to be published, everything else is PR - Orwell again. And regarding my presence in this process, I will say - everyone has the right to seek meaning in what they do. Mine is already in a different place. I do not experience myself as having abdicated my role as a journalist or as a victim, because I do not live with the feeling of missionaryism. But I also know that I am not wanted by the big media. The reasons are clear.
DV: Lately I have been rereading William Styron and his "Darkness Visible", probably the most healing book about depression. What keeps you out of it, honestly?
Anna Tsolova: What I am doing right now. I teach and conduct training on various forms of public speaking. It may be my illusory bubble, but communicating with educated people gives me enormous meaning. My antidote is contact with people who see what I see in the world and the processes in it. Reading also helps, as you say. I discovered many interesting Scandinavian and Japanese authors, for example. I set out to read everything that is on the Bulgarian market by Nobel laureates in literature in the last 15 years. That's how I discovered Kazuo Ishiguro and Mo Yen.
DV: What do you think about the current political situation in our country?
Anna Tsolova: Everything we have said so far is a consequence of the so-called "political situation". My short answer is in a few seconds of the video surveillance of the counting of ballots after the end of election day. In those seconds, you can hear - "Krassi needs 300 votes from this section". And Krassi gets the votes by falsifying the election protocol. To please the guarantor. We see this action - "an army of people carrying out tasks" - in all layers of our political and social life. It is seen in all spheres. We recently saw the "art" of political theater. The picture was also clearly seen from the "performance" that was organized in front of the National Theater. Pro-Russian parties and people who have been scaring, sowing division, and disinforming for supposedly patriotic purposes for years have become the drivers of a protest in front of the theater. They have shown their followers a prey - John Malkovich wants to humiliate us as a people.
DV: Rather, a group of scumbags and indoctrinated youth who, for a sandwich a day, will attack their own homes if ordered to.
Anna Tsolova: Outside of the drivers of this event, I think there were also people who are truly passionately involved in "saving Bulgarianness" and believe that someone wants to take something from us, rob us, insult us. Years of disinformation have led to this. There were also those like you describe.
But there are other big winners from the shame in front of the theater. The winners are those politicians who will appear acceptable, stable and calm against the backdrop of the loudmouths. The "loudmouths" are grist for the mill of the "stables". And vice versa. Broken vessels. It has happened so many times. And of course it is outrageous. We, the audience, are beginning to ask ourselves in fear what they will make them do next? Burn books, since they are now attacking actors and people going to the theater? And the behavior of the police is indicative and reveals all this. It is passive. It leaves the people with posters and banners in front of the theater to complete the task. Thus, the connection between the broken vessels has worked again. We stop talking about bought votes, for example. The eyes are directed at the loudmouths. All the scriptwriters are satisfied. The frightened viewers are beginning to look for "stability" and "order in chaos". Not everyone is clear about what exactly is happening, because the scene is blurred. But that is the goal. For the savior to come. And he is here. Erich Fromm described it in the book I mentioned earlier.
DV: What question did you fail to ask and to whom?
Anna Tsolova: After every live interview, I left the studio with the thought that I had failed to ask all the important questions. I did not do an interview with Ahmed Dogan and Delyan Peevski despite my repeated desire over the years. Rumen Radev also refused to give an interview for our show.
DV: What is your favorite song?
Anna Tsolova: It is clear that it is difficult to answer with just one song, but let it be "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" by Pink Floyd. By the way, the topic of music deserves a separate conversation. And we will probably get back to what we have said so far.
DV: Okay, so: "Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine".
The interview was conducted by Ivaylo Noizi Tsvetkov.