Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

BTA celebrates its 125th anniversary

Photo: Facebook/BulgarianNewsAgency

On February 16 (New Style February 28), 1898, the BTA put out its first news bulletin, hand-written in person by the agency’s recently appointed first director, Oskar Iskander, who was a Doctor of philosophy, editor and publisher. The four-page bulletin contained seven dispatches datelined from Vienna, Athens and Constantinople, the BTA informed. The news was about the illness of H.R.H. Princess Clementine, the assassination attempt on King George I of Greece and the ratification of a commercial agreement between Bulgaria and Turkiye. The news bulletin ended with an information about the stock exchange prices of wheat, corn and oats in Vienna, Budapest and Marseilles.

The BTA, which was directly subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked all the newspaper editorial offices in the Principality of Bulgaria to headline their telegrams  "Telegrams of the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency", which indicated their origin.

Nowadays BTA has 25 national press clubs in Bulgaria and five abroad. Since 2005 it has been organizing World Meeting of Bulgarian Media with the participation of journalists from Bulgaria and Bulgarian communities abroad. From mid-2021, the agency is launching a programme to support science and education in Bulgaria, in partnership with leading universities and schools.
The anniversary of the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency will be celebrated with a concert performed by the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Emil Tabakov. Among the guests are Clive Marshall, CEO of Press Association Group in London, President of the News Agencies World Council, as well as representatives of international news agency organizations of which BTA is a member.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

On September 20, Prof. Ludmil Vagalinski's team discovered a statue in Heraclea Sintica, three days later they also discovered the head of the sculpture.

Floor mosaic and the head of a Roman statue discovered at Heraclea Sintica

The head of a statue has been unearthed during excavations in the great canal of the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica located in Southwestern Bulgaria, close to the town of Petrich. The head longs to the statue that was discovered a few days ago..

published on 9/23/24 4:48 PM

85 European archaeologists meet in Bulgaria to discuss "Frontier Landscapes along the Danube"

From 23 to 28 September, Sofia and Vidin will host the 7th International Conference on the Roman Danubian Provinces on the theme "Frontier Landscapes along the Danube", reports BNR Vidin. The initiative was taken by the University of Ferrara, Italy...

published on 9/23/24 8:45 AM
Memorial on Tsarevets hill in Veliko Tarnovo where the independence of Bulgaria was proclaimed

On 22 September 1908 Bulgaria gained its independence

The independence of Bulgaria was proclaimed on 22 September, 1908. After the most audacious independent act in Bulgarian history – the unification of Eastern Rumelia with the Principality of Bulgaria – Bulgarians once again demonstrated the power of..

published on 9/22/24 7:05 AM