Free to Hate: How Media Liberalization Enabled Right-Wing Populism in Post-1989 Bulgaria

Bulgaria's media-driven pivot to right-wing populism is part of a global trend, driven by media concentration under Western giants. Martin Marinos' critical political economy approach shows how the Right has used anticommunism and racism to undermine traditional media and position their own outlets. Marinoss ethnographic observations and interviews provide on-the-ground detail.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 21 November 2023
Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Bulgaria's media-driven shift to right-wing populism mirrors global political trends. Martin Marino employs a critical political economy lens to contextualize Bulgarian right-wing populism within the country's media institutions' structural transformation. Marino demonstrates how media concentration under Western giants like Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung and News Corporation has resulted in a neoliberal shift characterized by commercialization, concentration, and tabloidization across media. The Right has capitalized on the anticommunism and racism fostered by this environment to undermine traditional media and establish their own outlets to support emerging political entities like the nationalist party Ataka. Marino's ethnographic observations and interviews with local journalists, politicians, and media experts provide valuable firsthand insights. Additionally, he delves into related topics such as the performative appeal of populist media and the financial backing behind it.

A timely and groundbreaking analysis, Free to Hate sheds light on the intersection of structural changes in media and right-wing populism.

Weight: 482g
Dimension: 152 x 229 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780252087615