The historic event was witnessed by President Georgi Parvanov, Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg, and the Chairman of the Bulgarian Parliament Prof. Ognian Gerdjikov.

The Code of Ethics, developed as part of the PHARE BBC Media Support Project, unites owners as well as journalists, print media as well as electronic media, media outlets as well as media organisations, and metropolitan as well as regional media – “a ‘first’ not only for Bulgaria, but for the whole region of South Eastern Europe”, Yasha Lange, the Project’s lead consultant for Media Self Regulation, stated at the signing ceremony.

The Code was signed by a number of media organisations, such as the Association of Bulgarian Broadcasters, the Bulgarian Media Coalition, the Union of Bulgarian Journalists, the Union of Publishers in Bulgaria, and the Association for Regional Media. Immediately afterwards, some 45 media outlets also put their signature to the document, including the main national and a number of regional newspapers, the largest commercial radio and television stations, the Bulgarian national radio and television networks, and the national news agency.

Additional signatures to the document will still be accepted. Media outlets and media organisations that were unable to be present at the signing ceremony and wish to sign the Code of Ethics at a later stage, are asked to contact the Project Office (tel / fax: 02/980 77 45) to make the necessary arrangements.

The implementation of the Code of Ethics will be overseen by a Council of Journalistic Ethics, which will be established with the assistance of the EU PHARE Project.

The full text of the Code is available for downloading - both in English and in Bulgarian .

Photo by 24 Hours Daily