Marina Tsekova has been the host of the morning programme Wake Up since June 2021. She graduated from the German Language School in Sofia and went on to study Journalism and Communication Studies, as well as Film Studies, in Berlin. She also completed a Master’s degree in Media and Political Communication in the German capital. In addition, she has taken part in media specialisations and leadership training programmes around the world, including as part of the World Press Institute network in the United States.
Marina Tsekova gained her media experience at Deutsche Welle in Bonn, the Bulgarian National Radio, L’Europeo magazine, and other media outlets. She discovered the world of television in 2011 as an intern at the current affairs programme Panorama, before continuing her career as a reporter, presenter, and producer at NOVA.
Marina Tsekova is the recipient of numerous professional distinctions, including the Daniela Seizova Award for Overall Contribution, the Dimitar Tsonev Award for outstanding professional achievements in journalism, and the Special Award at the 12th edition of the Sveti Vlas Television Awards. She has also been honoured with the “Dignified Bulgarians” recognition by 24 Chasa newspaper.
Her awards also include the Business Lady magazine prize for quality and objective television journalism, the Special Award of the Bulgarian Europe Media Festival, and an award in the Worlds and Colours competition. She has also been recognised by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for her objective coverage of business-related issues in the country, as well as by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria on the occasion of the organisation’s 25th anniversary. She has also received the titles “Miss TV Charm” and “BG Fashion Icon 2024”.
Marina is the author of a number of reports that have deeply moved television audiences in recent years, including journalistic investigations into illegal child trafficking and vote-buying schemes during local and parliamentary elections, as well as reports on the horrors of Auschwitz, the most notorious concentration camp. She has covered terrorist attacks in Berlin, Cologne, and Istanbul, the Day of Rage in Jerusalem and the West Bank, the financial crisis in Greece, and the mass protests in Romania.