Vijay Joshi, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of the Press Trust of India (PTI), recently conducted visits to the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) in Skopje, North Macedonia, and its national press club in Belgrade, Serbia. At the Skopje BTA national press club, Joshi was welcomed by BTA correspondent Marinela Velichkova. In Belgrade, he was received by BTA correspondent Teodora Encheva.
During his time in Skopje, he also met with Bulgaria’s Ambassadors and visited the Bulgarian Cultural and Information Centre. Previously, Joshi and BTA Director General Kiril Valchev attended the MINDS International conference in Vienna, Austria, where BTA presented its “Digital Life for BTA’s Archives,” detailing the digitization of the agency’s 128-year history. Joshi’s itinerary included a visit to Tryavna for an event marking the 160th anniversary of Pencho Slaveykov, and a visit to the Museum of Asian and African Art.
Furthermore, Joshi and Valchev are scheduled to attend the annual BNR Top 20 Music Awards in Sofia. The collaboration between PTI and BTA is established through a cooperation agreement signed in Toronto in 2023. This agreement facilitates mutual access to full English-language news services and involves the daily exchange of major news items.
Both agencies have engaged in reciprocal coverage, with PTI sending a correspondent to cover elections in Bulgaria, and BTA sending a correspondent to cover India’s general elections. MINDS International is a global network for news agencies. BTA is a member of MINDS, alongside several other international agencies, solidifying the framework for cross-border journalistic cooperation.
Topics: #bta #national #press
It is interesting to see these exchanges happening between major news agencies in the Balkans.