THROUGH THE LENS OF MEDIATIZATION: GOVERNANCE LEGITIMACY IN THE WAKE OF BULGARIAN PROTESTS IN 2020 AND 2021

Although there is ample literature on discursive aspects of legitimation invoked by different actors aiming to justify particular policies or activities, few studies examine the role of the media and the ensuing (de)legitimation of the processes of governance. This article seeks to redress that gap by providing an empirical account of the discursive aspects of (de)legitimation by the media at the time of societal turbulence. Focusing on Bulgaria, the author traces the ways by which the media attempted to (de)legitimize the governance processes in the wake of public discontent in 2020. Combining critical discourse analysis and constructivist grounded theory, the article elaborates on three de-legitimation narratives – violated democracy, crisis and left-behindness – and(de)legitimation strategies and the lexical choices that formed the basis for such (de)legitimation. The findings suggest that these narratives contribute to the activation of the feelings of hopelessness, and the imaginary of “common” Bulgarians that are at the mercy of “the others” or some external forces from which it is impossible to break free.