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Diana Ivanova Media
I wasn't in Bulgaria, when the protests happened.
That was perhaps why I watched them with so much interest.
I drew a surprising parallel.
In 1989, I was studying Journalism.
The first rallies took place in December on the square in front of our Parliament.
I don't know how many of us still remember that
the great protests after those rallies were against the media.
Against one media, in fact: there was a single national TV then.
I can't forget those slogans saying, "Film editors!", because of how
the TV edited those rallies.
They protested the huge manipulation
which tagged the people gathered in front of the Parliament
as a "mob of extremists."
There were crueler epithets too, such as 'the Hawks.'
My mom, who lived in the province and could watch that TV only,
got frightened and told me, "Don't go in the streets, it's scary."
I grew angry with the field I'd chosen, journalism.
At some point, I was even unwilling to go on with it.
Why would I work for a giant manipulating machine?
I think we've forgotten about
this manipulation that accompanied the changes in 1989.
Have we really learned nothing? Have we forgotten the manipulation?
Some twenty years later,
we see young people who have no experience with totalitarianism
do the same thing exactly:
they belittle others' protests, calling them irrelevant names.
They don't put any effort in making sense of events on their own.
This parallel shows me it's worth reflecting on what was before.
We live in a memoryless society, with no mentors.
Today's young journalists find no mentors in yesterday's ones.
We're all forced to look for new forums in order to talk with one another.
Personally, as a journalist, I hardly see any media I'd like to write for any more.
I myself am looking for new forums,
because publicity, journalism can happen in all sorts of places.
I've found a few such places, but I think this year's events show that
there's a new generation now, refusing to accept this manipulation.
My generation forgot about or got used to manipulation.
The new one notices it, protests it--
which gives me hope that things will change.
Diana Ivanova Media
Do you wanna go in? Go, go, we'll take some time here...