Media freedom has reached its lowest level for the past decade, according to a recent study by British non-governmental organization on the freedom of speech Article 19 and the V-Dem Social Science project. According to the study, the work of journalists is threatened by various factors, such as power censorship, organized crime, commercial pressures due to the growth of the Internet and others.

For the past 10 years, the country with the biggest slump in media freedom is Turkey, with deterioration seen in Macedonia, Brazil, Burundi and Bangladesh, the report reads. Bulgaria is in the upper part of the chart with mostly positive results on the five basic elements of freedom of expression - transparency, protection, civil society, the digital sector and the media, with the latter two showing a slightly weaker performance.