Alexenia Dimitrova (

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

: Алексения Димитрова) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and author who started her career in the late 1980s. She works for

24 chasa ''24 Chasa'' ( bg, italic=yes, 24 часа, lit=24 hours) is a Bulgarian newspaper. Its headquarters are located in Sofia. History and profile The newspaper, part of the ''168 Chasa'' (meaning ''168 Hours'' in English) Press Group founded by Pe ...

, the second largest Bulgarian daily. Her favorite topics are secret archives of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

era, shadow affairs and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

, suspicious ownership and property, and

secret societies A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

. She profiled finding and reuniting lost people all over the world. For her series of publications about missing persons that started in July 2002, she received ''Chernorizets Hrabar'' (Bulgaria's most prestigious award for investigative journalism) in November 2004. She was nominated for the same award in 2003. Dimitrova has published more than 4,000 stories in 40 media in Bulgaria, the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. Her book ''The Iron Fist - Inside the Bulgarian and American Secret Archives'' was published in March 2005 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and in English by Artnik Publishing. The same book (under the title ''The War of the Spies'') was published in Bulgaria in October 2005.

Early life

Dimitrova graduated from Sofia University in 1986 and has specializations on journalism in the

World Press Institute The World Press Institute (WPI) is an American nonprofit, educational organization based in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota, that offers paid fellowships for international journalists. It is funded by a wide range of foundations, local and na ...

, the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

, European Center for Journalism (

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

), and Danish School of Journalism. Dimitrova is a licensed lecturer in journalistic investigations in Bulgaria within the framework of SouthEast European Network for Professionalism in the Media.

Career

She worked as a local trainer for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

on investigative journalism during a 3-year project implementing the Self-regulation and Code of Ethics of Bulgarian Media. She is one of 12 members of the Press Complaint Commission in Bulgaria. She has spoken at seminars and other events of investigative journalism in Bulgaria,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, Netherlands, Austria,

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. She is a member of the

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

of Bulgarian journalists, the Investigative Journalists Association;

International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries. The IFJ is an associate ...

(IFJ); and is a founding member of South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO).

Affiliations with former communist secret service agencies

In December 2009 Dimitrova (agent “Vladimir”) was exposed as one of the Bulgarian print journalists who were operatives of the Committee for State Security – the secret police and intelligence of the former communist regime. Others included the former Editor-in-Chief of ''24 Chasa Daily'', Valeri Naydenov, (under the name “Sasho”) and fellow journalist Pencho Kovachev (agent “Maxim”), who also worked for ''24 Chasa Daily''. Dmitrova contributed from June 15, 1988, to January 21, 1990 - a department whose main goal was the ideological control over the intelligentsia, universities and clergy of communist Bulgaria.

Controversies

Dimitrova's communist past remains controversial to Bulgarian independent media because of her continued cooperation with independent Western European media organizations, whose core values do not require their members to avoid collaboration with former communist secret services.

References

External links

More about DimitrovaInterview with Dimitrova regarding Saxe-Coburg becoming Prime MinisterSophie Echo interview with Dimitrove regarding her new book, "The Murder Bureau"Dimitrova interview, International Spy MuseumDimitrova interview, EurActiv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimitrova, Alexenia Dimitrova Alexenia Investigative journalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Bulgarian women writers Bulgarian women journalists