{"id":88252,"date":"2024-05-31T18:07:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T15:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88252\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"financial-problems-may-finish-off-ex-press-website-baj","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88252\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial problems may finish off EX-PRESS website \u2013 BAJ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (ex-press.live)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

May 31, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> The news website EX-PRESS<\/em><\/a> may cease to exist due to financial problems, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newsroom said that journalists had worked without pay for several months, and urged readers to support them on the crowdfunding website Patreon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to EX-PRESS<\/em> owner and editor in chief Mi\u0142a Polak, a temporary solution for the next four months has been found. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newsroom will receive the “institutional support” next week. However, the money “will not be sufficient even for a decent pay to staff members” abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Since the beginning of the year, all our grant applications have been rejected. In addition to the website, we also run other projects. All of them may close,” Polak said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The website covers current affairs in Barysa\u016d and \u017dodzina, Minsk region. EX-PRESS<\/em> was launched by journalists from the independent newspaper Borisovskiy Kuryer<\/em> (Barysa\u016dski Kurjer), which was popular in 1996\u20132005. The newspaper was closed after the Minsk Regional Executive Committee filed a lawsuit with the Minsk Regional Economic Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus blocked the website in August 2021. The Barysa\u016d District Court declared its content extremist twice, in 2021 and 2023. In April 2023, the website was reportedly excluded from the .by DNS zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BAJ notes that independent media such as KYKY<\/em>, Reform<\/em>, Belsat<\/em>, Plan B<\/em> and Radio Wnet<\/em> have all faced financial troubles since the beginning of 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BAJ: persecution of journalists was part of broader crackdown on dissent in 2023<\/h3>\n
May 3, Pozirk. In 2023, the government's repressive policy on independent media continued as part of a "broader crackdown on dissent," the Belarusian Association of Journalists said in the report "Mass Media in Belarus in 2023." It said that authorities …<\/div>\n \n