Top Global Journalists from One European Nation Come Together in Jerusalem For an Up Close Look at How International News Coverage About Israel is Shaped.

Jerusalem, 2 November, 2022 (TPS) -- The World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, an event lead by the Bulgarian News
Agency (BTA), kicked off the second day of their 3 day convention in Israel by going in-depth with political leaders, legal experts, and Israeli journalists for insight into what makes the Jewish State such a complicated topic for news coverage.
The candid forum was hosted by the Tazpit Press Service (TPS), Israel’s only news wire service. With nearly all of the international coverage about Israel coming from foreign news agencies, the significant impact of misleading headlines, misunderstood facts, and inaccurate storytelling was at the forefront of the discussion.

“False narratives drive real violence,” explains TPS Executive Director Amotz Eyal. “It is critical that journalists around the world recognize that when the stories they present are not based on facts, their coverage can and all too often does affect anti-Semitism and real violence against Jews.” Eyal called for increased scrutiny of all news stories about Israel, regardless of media outlet, and for journalists to check facts instead of merely copying and pasting information from common wire services.

That message appears to have hit home with members of the Bulgarian contingent on hand.

“It is a very challenging task,” explains Hristo Hristov, CEO of Bulgaria’s Darik Radio.

“We see it’s not about saying, this is just the way it is or this is the way it’s always been, it’s about actually doing something about it.

This inspires me..that we demand from everyone in our news organization and from our partners as well that we seek the truth.” TPS has a growing media partnership with BTA aimed at enhancing the quality of news coverage
between Israel and Bulgaria. “The international news media is finding that they can get quality and accurate information about Israel in a timely manner, from journalists on the ground and with a deep understanding of what are often complex issues,” explains Eyal.

Bulgaria’s decision to hold this year’s annual World Meeting of Media in Israel, carries added meaning, as 2022 marks the 80th anniversary of the salvation of Bulgarian Jews during World War II. A day in which they honor and remember the actions taken by Bulgarian leaders and civilians that ensured no Jewish Bulgarians were deported to Nazi concentration camps during the war. A fact that is very close to the heart of Former Mayor of Jerusalem and current Israeli Knesset member Nir Barkat.

Barkat opened the session by sharing with the Bulgarian delegation the fact that he is the grandson of Holocaust survivors and that 30 members of his own family are inscribed on the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center memorial.

In addition to Mayor Barkat and TPS’s Eyal,  Itai Ruveni of the NGO Monitor, and Yifa Segal of the International Legal Forum were also part of the day-long session.