Boryana Kolchagova – One Journalist, Two Worlds: Inside the Independent Spirit of Bobs News

Two Journalistic Worlds – And the Freedom to Explore Both

Boryana, you are still working as a journalist at Standart News in Sofia. So why create your own news platform alongside an already demanding profession?

There is something particularly interesting about a journalist who spends her working days producing news for an established media organisation and then chooses to devote part of her personal time to creating another editorial world.

Boryana Kolchagova has spent more than a quarter of a century in Bulgarian journalism. Her professional career includes work with Standart, 24 Chasa, Monitor, Telegraph, Bulgaria Today, Bloomberg TV Bulgaria and Bulgaria ON AIR. She has reported on culture, music, cinema, entertainment, personalities and the stories behind public events.

Today, she remains an active journalist at Standart News in Sofia. Bobs News is not a replacement for that work, nor does it represent a departure from professional journalism. It is an independent side project, developed alongside her continuing career.

That distinction matters.

The established newsroom and the independent personal platform serve different purposes. At Standart News, Boryana works within the structure, responsibilities and editorial priorities of a professional news organisation. With Bobs News, she has an additional space to experiment with subjects, formats and ideas that reflect her personal interests.

There is no need to present these two worlds as competing alternatives. They can coexist, and perhaps even complement each other.

In her personal introduction on Me & Bo Life, Boryana describes the philosophy behind her storytelling through a simple observation: the world is full of stories. Some become major headlines, while others pass almost unnoticed. And sometimes the most fascinating stories are found somewhere in between.

That idea captures the spirit of Bobs News more accurately than any conventional business description.

But isn't journalism already a profession that demands more than ordinary working hours? Why devote even more time to it?

Perhaps because curiosity rarely respects office hours.

There is a difference between being employed as a journalist and having the kind of curiosity that makes journalism part of the way someone experiences the world.

For some people, the profession ends when the working day is over. For others, it becomes a habit of observation. A conversation in a café, an unusual historical detail, a song, a film or an unexpected encounter can become the beginning of another story.

Boryana's published work and professional presentations consistently point towards that second understanding of journalism.

Her interests are broad, but they have a recognisable connection. She looks for people, unexpected details and the human experiences that give events their meaning.

Bobs News gives that curiosity a place of its own.

It is not necessarily about producing more news. It is about having the freedom to publish something simply because it deserves to be explored, even when it falls outside the immediate priorities of a busy newsroom.

That makes the project less a career transition than a personal extension of an established professional identity.

News With Heart – Finding What Others Overlook

When we look at Bobs News, it feels different from a conventional Bulgarian news website. Is that the central idea?

Bobs News describes itself through the motto Independent Mind. Open World.

It is a concise statement, but one that carries a relatively ambitious editorial idea.

Rather than attempting to provide exhaustive coverage of politics, economics, international affairs and daily events, the platform presents a personal selection of stories from Bulgaria and around the world.

The subjects range widely. Readers may encounter unusual human-interest stories, cultural discoveries, literature, entertainment, music, cinema, social observations and the occasional wonderfully unexpected piece of information.

During our review, the website included stories about a masked benefactor helping people in London, the Renaissance artist Lavinia Fontana, aspects of Japanese cultural behaviour and rock musician Alice Cooper.

At first glance, these subjects have very little in common. Yet they share something important: each offers a reason to become curious.

That appears to be the real editorial principle behind the platform.

Bobs News is not trying to tell its readers everything that happened yesterday. It is offering a selection of things that might be worth thinking about today.

And in a world where news is increasingly organised by automated recommendations and measurable audience behaviour, the personal judgement of an experienced journalist may be a meaningful distinction.

You describe journalism as something more than reporting what happened. What does that mean for the stories published on Bobs News?

In Boryana's own presentation, journalism is connected to understanding people, asking questions and recognising the details that turn information into something worth remembering.

It is a distinction that often disappears in modern news production.

Two articles can report precisely the same event while offering very different experiences. One may communicate the essential facts and stop there. Another may explore the people involved, explain the context and reveal why the event matters beyond its immediate circumstances.

The second approach is not automatically better. Accuracy, verification and relevance remain essential. But when done well, it can bring readers closer to understanding the world rather than merely keeping up with it.

Consider the story of Lavinia Fontana. It can be presented as an interesting episode from art history, but it also raises questions about women's opportunities, professional independence and the social restrictions of the Renaissance.

Or consider the mysterious figure in London who helps strangers while concealing his identity. Beneath the entertaining premise are questions about generosity, anonymity, public attention and how unusual acts of kindness become modern media stories.

These are the kinds of connections that suit Boryana's editorial interests.

The human element is not simply decoration added to a news report. It can be the reason the story deserves to be told in the first place.

But some of the headlines on Bobs News are quite dramatic. Doesn't that conflict with the ambition to offer something more thoughtful?

This is one of the areas where the platform could develop a more distinctive editorial voice.

Boryana states on the website that she does not chase traffic, does not belong to a political party and loves the human side of news.

Yet some headlines still borrow heavily from the language of commercial online publishing: dramatic revelations, mysteries, scandals and surprising secrets.

There is nothing unusual about this. The traditional media industry has spent decades developing headlines designed to attract attention, and an experienced journalist naturally understands the importance of getting a story noticed.

But an independent personal platform has an opportunity to do something different.

A fascinating historical figure does not necessarily need to be described as scandalous. An unusual cultural tradition does not always require the language of mystery. Sometimes a carefully constructed question can be more compelling than another promise of an extraordinary revelation.

For Bobs News, this is particularly relevant because the platform's identity is closely connected to Boryana herself.

Readers may eventually return not because a headline promises something sensational, but because they trust her judgement about what is worth reading.

That is a considerably stronger foundation for long-term credibility than attention alone.

Independent Does Not Mean Outside Professional Journalism

How independent can Bobs News really be when you continue working for an established media organisation?

Independence does not necessarily require leaving an employer or abandoning an established profession.

What matters is understanding the distinction between professional responsibilities and personal publishing activities, including any relevant employment agreements, editorial policies and potential conflicts of interest.

Boryana's continued work at Standart News should therefore be seen as an important part of her professional identity, not as something that contradicts her personal project.

In fact, the relationship between an established newsroom and an independent publishing platform raises interesting questions about how journalism is changing.

For many years, journalists generally depended on their employers for the infrastructure required to publish their work. Newspapers owned printing presses, television stations controlled broadcasting facilities, and editorial organisations provided access to production resources and audiences.

Digital technology has changed those conditions.

A journalist can now create and operate a separate website, publish directly, reach international readers and experiment with formats without building an entire media company.

This does not eliminate the responsibilities associated with journalism. It simply creates additional possibilities for professional expression.

For Boryana, Bobs News provides a personal editorial space alongside her continuing role at Standart News. The two should remain clearly distinguishable, both for readers and for professional transparency.

Does the website meet the journalistic standards one would expect from someone with Boryana's experience?

There is already a credible foundation.

Articles include author names and publication dates, and some reference established international sources. The website also has a recognisable visual identity, organised content sections and an English-language option.

But there are areas where the platform could become stronger.

Several articles identify international media organisations as sources without consistently providing direct links to the original reporting. Clearer attribution would make the material easier to verify and help readers distinguish between original journalism and stories adapted from other publications.

The distinction is particularly important for a journalist who maintains both a professional newsroom position and a separate personal platform.

Readers should be able to understand where a story originated, who reported it and what editorial work has been added.

A concise editorial policy explaining sources, corrections, copyright, potential conflicts of interest and the handling of contributed material would strengthen the website without requiring a complicated organisational structure.

The point is not that a personal side project needs the bureaucracy of a national newspaper.

It is that professional credibility depends on principles, not the size of the publication.

And those principles become even more valuable when the person behind the platform has spent decades earning a reputation in journalism.

More Than News – Culture, Literature and the Personal Side of Storytelling

Bobs News also includes book presentations and personality quizzes. How do these fit into a journalistic platform?

They reveal something about its ambitions.

The website is not limited to conventional news reporting. It includes interactive personality quizzes, cultural features and a literature section called Book Teaser.

The book concept is particularly appealing. Writers such as Somerset Maugham, Svetoslav Minkov and Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt are introduced through short editorial texts designed to encourage further reading.

At a time when digital services increasingly offer summaries as substitutes for longer works, Book Teaser takes a different approach. It uses the short format as an invitation to discover the original literature.

That is a small but interesting editorial decision.

The interactive quizzes provide another dimension. Visitors can explore which fictional characters, cultural personalities or familiar archetypes resemble their own preferences.

Naturally, entertainment content should remain clearly separated from factual journalism. But there is no reason why a personal editorial platform must restrict itself to serious news.

Newspapers and magazines have always combined information, culture, commentary and entertainment.

What matters is whether the overall experience has a coherent identity.

For Bobs News, that identity can be found in the combination of curiosity and personal selection. The platform is not trying to be all things to all people. It is attempting to reflect the range of subjects that interest its creator.

Alongside your work at Standart News and Bobs News, you are also a co-founder of Me & Bo Life. What role does that project play?

Me & Bo Life represents another part of Boryana's creative interests.

Co-founded with Chris, the platform explores people, relationships, cultural differences, travel, conversations and the unexpected directions life can take.

Where her role at Standart News represents her established professional journalism, and Bobs News provides an independent editorial side project, Me & Bo Life offers a more personal and conversational environment.

The projects are different, but they share an interest in people and stories.

On Me & Bo Life, Boryana has published personal articles and reflections that move beyond the conventional boundaries of news reporting. The platform also creates opportunities to experiment with different kinds of digital storytelling.

It would be a mistake to treat these activities as evidence that she is moving away from journalism.

Quite the opposite. They suggest a journalist who continues to work professionally while exploring additional ways to communicate and create.

That is becoming increasingly possible as technology lowers the practical barriers between an idea and a published project.

There are also plans for a video podcast. Could that become an important part of Bobs News?

Potentially, yes.

The website introduces plans for a video podcast featuring conversations with both well-known personalities and people whose stories have received little public attention.

This seems particularly well suited to Boryana's professional background.

Throughout her career, she has interviewed artists, actors and other people from the cultural and entertainment worlds. A podcast would allow her to build on that experience while working in a more flexible format.

The interesting opportunity is not simply to interview famous people.

A compelling interview can come from an unknown person with an extraordinary experience, an unusual perspective or a story that challenges familiar assumptions.

In the strongest interviews, the most important question is sometimes not the one the journalist prepared beforehand. It is the question that emerges when the conversation moves in an unexpected direction.

That kind of listening cannot be replaced by an automatically generated list of questions.

A video podcast could also give Bobs News a stronger foundation in original journalism, complementing its selection of stories from other sources.

For a personal project developed alongside an existing full-time profession, the challenge would naturally be finding a sustainable production rhythm.

But there is no need for such a platform to imitate a daily television programme. A smaller number of carefully produced conversations might ultimately be more distinctive.

The Experienced Journalist in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

With artificial intelligence transforming digital publishing, what can an experienced journalist still offer that technology cannot?

AI has dramatically reduced many of the practical barriers to creating digital content.

A single person can now build a website, prepare multilingual material, organise information, produce visual content and manage publishing processes using tools that would previously have required a much larger team.

That is an extraordinary opportunity for independent creators, including journalists.

But it also creates a problem.

When almost anyone can generate large quantities of content, producing more material is no longer necessarily the most valuable skill.

The challenge increasingly becomes deciding what deserves to be published, what is accurate and why anyone should care.

That is where professional journalism remains essential.

Artificial intelligence can assist with research, translation, editing and technical production. It can organise information and identify possible connections between subjects. But those capabilities do not automatically provide original reporting, independent verification or responsible editorial judgement.

Nor does the ability to generate an interview mean that a real conversation has taken place.

For someone like Boryana, the opportunity is to use technology to support her professional experience rather than treat technology as a substitute for it.

Bobs News does not need to compete with automated news platforms on quantity or speed.

Its potential value lies in something much more personal: an experienced journalist deciding which stories deserve attention and presenting them with knowledge, curiosity and care.

Can a personal Bulgarian news platform eventually attract an international audience?

There is certainly potential, particularly if the English-language content continues to develop.

But international growth would require more than translating Bulgarian articles into English.

The question is why an international reader would choose Bobs News when there are already thousands of news websites offering global stories.

One answer may lie in Boryana's Bulgarian perspective.

Bulgaria has a rich cultural history, a changing society and countless human stories that rarely receive sustained international attention. A journalist with deep local experience could offer a perspective that international news aggregators often cannot.

Rather than competing with global media organisations on their own terms, Bobs News could develop a distinctive voice connecting Bulgarian culture and human experiences with a broader international audience.

That would also fit naturally with Boryana's personal interests in travel, cultural encounters, entertainment and the less obvious stories of everyday life.

But the opportunity should be developed carefully. An independent side project has different resources and demands from a professional newsroom.

Its success should not necessarily be measured by how large it becomes.

The Value of Having Something of Your Own

After examining the platform, what is the overall assessment of Bobs News?

The most interesting thing about Bobs News is that it exists alongside Boryana's continuing work as a professional journalist.

That makes it a different story from the increasingly familiar narrative of someone leaving traditional employment to become an independent digital creator.

Boryana has not left Standart News. She continues to work as a journalist in Sofia while building a personal editorial project in parallel.

That distinction gives Bobs News a particular character.

It is not primarily an attempt to replace a career. It is a place to exercise additional creative freedom within a profession she continues to practise.

The platform already has several strengths: a recognisable editorial identity, varied content, an interest in culture and human stories, and a creator with substantial professional experience.

It also has clear opportunities for improvement. Source transparency could be stronger, the headlines more consistent with the stated editorial philosophy, and original reporting could play a more prominent role as the project develops.

The planned podcast, additional interviews and a stronger connection between Bulgarian stories and international readers could all contribute to that development.

But perhaps the most important recommendation is not to make Bobs News bigger simply for the sake of growth.

The platform does not need to become another large news organisation. It does not need to cover every major event, compete with 24-hour news channels or publish material at an unsustainable pace.

Its greatest strength may be that it can remain personal.

There is something valuable about an experienced journalist who continues to work within an established newsroom but still finds the curiosity and energy to create something of her own.

Not because the existing profession is no longer meaningful, but because the possibilities for storytelling extend beyond any single workplace.

We live in a period when digital technology makes independent creation easier than ever, yet genuine professional experience remains difficult to reproduce. A website can be built quickly. A recognisable design can be created in hours. Articles can be generated in seconds.

But developing editorial judgement, learning how to interview people and discovering what makes a story worth telling takes years.

Boryana Kolchagova has spent more than 25 years developing those skills, and she continues to practise them at Standart News in Sofia.

Bobs News gives her another place to use them.

And perhaps that is the most compelling thing about the project.

It demonstrates that professional journalism and independent digital creativity do not have to be opposing worlds. One can provide the experience, discipline and daily contact with the news. The other can offer room for personal curiosity, experimentation and stories that might otherwise remain untold.

Boryana does not need to choose between being a professional journalist and an independent storyteller.
She is already both.

And Bobs News is where those two sides of her professional and creative life can meet.