Skimming through the headlines at a newsstand in Varna, I felt disillusioned. They were all dedicated to a Big Brother contestant and the former Prime Minister's sexual orientation.
The magazines, spread out haphazardly among the yellow tabloids, dealt with beauty tips and love advice. As I was losing all hope for a good read, I saw a thick, nylon-wrapped newspaper peeking at me with its catchy political front page.
Капитал (Capital) saved me from drowning in complete disillusionment with the Bulgarian press.
Launched in 1993, the weekly newspaper offers well-written articles on the country's politics and economy. Some lead stories demonstrate good narrative journalism. The content of the articles overflows with interesting comparisons that better inform the reader. For instance, based on several Capital articles, I was able to carry out a very fulfilling political conversation recently.
The newspaper's lay-out complements the content quality. Capital's pages contain a healthy mixture of charts, photos and images that facilitate the reading process. Well-balanced are the produced images (like the one of a waving skeleton) and the real photos (like the one of the Belene nuclear power station). Featured are also political caricatures.
What impressed me the most, however, was Capital's use of social media. The newspaper is active on both Twitter (with nearly 300 followers) and Facebook (with over 2 370 fans).
Capital definitely uses Twitter more efficiently than the biggest media channel in Bulgaria bTV. Unlike bTV's long yet incomplete tweets always ending in dots, Capital writes well thought-out updates. It interacts with followers and responds to mentions in a timely fashion. In addition, Capital features Tweet of the week in its print edition. How cool is that?
Photo Credit: onlinewoman
** Correction: bTV doesn't have a Twitter account. The one I mention above is created by a person not affiliated with the televizion.