Partners

Founded in late 1989, the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) is a public policy institute fostering the reform process in Europe and Bulgaria through impact on policy and civil society. CSD’s mission is “building bridges between scholars and policy-makers” and as an interdisciplinary think tank it combines a broad range of capacities. CSD is best known in Europe and worldwide for its work on good governance, state capture and anti-corruption, Russian influence in CEE, organized crime threat assessment, and judicial reform. In the past five years CSD has developed a solid track record on disinformation policy research as well as cooperation with national, regional (Central and Eastern Europe) and EU, NATO and US authorities. CSD has established a wide transatlantic network of relationships, including with the European External Action Service’s East StratCom Task Force, the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, U.S. State Department, NATO Centre of Excellence on Strategic Communication and others.

Mediapool.bg is one of the oldest and most popular Bulgarian news sites. According to Google Analytics, the regular readers of the site in 2021 were more than 8 mln., which generated more than 91 mln pageviews.

Mediapool.bg was founded in 2000, making it the first web-based news media outlet in Bulgaria. It is an independent analytical media, providing news in real-time, analysis, and opinion pieces. The site offers entirely free access to users, with no subscription, pay-walls, etc. The news are published daily, seven days a week.

In its twenty one years since its establishment, Mediapool.bg has proven itself as an independent source of information, which stands firmly for the principals of responsible journalism, serving the public interest, and following the highest professional and ethical standards of its editorial policy.

Apart from the timely and fair reporting of current events, Mediapool.bg stresses the importance of developing the stories and work on investigative reporting. The media actively aids in the development of civil society in Bulgaria, providing a platform for well-respected NGOs and experts, who have proven their independence and expertise.

In 2018, Mediapool.bg’s campaign You Are What You Read won first place in the category for social, media, and political campaigns and receive global marketing recognition in the tenth edition of the EFFIE Awards Bulgaria.

The “Alternative” is a factor in Bulgarian journalism and a platform for free speech, funded solely by its audience – the people for whom bold journalism is the guarantor of democracy.

The Association of European Journalists-Bulgaria (AEJ-Bulgaria) is a non-profit association, established in 2010. It is a member of the International Association of European Journalists (www.aej.org), which brings together journalists from over 20 European countries. AEJ is an independent, international association, where journalists are members of their respective national section. The organization supports critical journalism in the course of European integration and defends freedom of speech. AEJ gives journalists the opportunity to be part of professional and social network. The association is an official Observer in the Council of Europe’s Media Steering Committee. The main goal of AEJ-Bulgaria is to care and improve the media environment and the quality of journalism in Bulgaria, as well as to support journalists who are prevented from performing their work (freely).

In 2021 AEJ-Bulgaria started Factcheck.bg – the first ever fact-checking platform in the country.

Athens Technology Center develops technology for fighting disinformation. ATC is currently EDMO’s technical coordinator. At FENCE, ATC will set-up and operate a secure online platform supporting the detection and analysis of disinformation campaigns.