site.btaBTA Has Signed 20 Contracts in Education and Science Field, 16 With Universities

The Bulgarian news Agency (BTA) has already signed 20 contracts in the field of education and science, 16 of them with universities, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said during the first seminar Open Science in the Media, organized by BTA’s internship programme. BTA has signed contracts with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), the National Library, the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, the Bulgarian Science Association, and the Bulgarian Science Magazine.

As of March 2022, the BTA news services are free for all users, including other media organizations, Valchev noted. He stressed that the business model based on the idea that truth costs money and only fake news is free, was undermined during the pandemic.

Free access to information about real science is important, Valchev noted. 

He said that BTA’s support for science matches BTA's strategic goals: freedom, truth, knowledge, community and memory. 

It is important to explain what kind of societal issues could be solved when reporting scientific news, said the Head of the BTA Culture, Science, and Education (LIK) Directorate, Georgi Lozanov. 

BTA Deputy Director General Evgenia Drumeva stressed the importance of journalists to seek information from established experts when covering topics like the pandemic or the war in Ukraine. A community of journalists writing on scientific issues is being built in Europe, and they are coming together on special platforms, she added. 

Representatives of BAS and Bulgarian Universities took part in the seminar online.