{"id":70335,"date":"2024-02-29T11:08:08","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T08:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"belarus-out-of-foreign-media-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus out of foreign media spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Lesia Rudnik<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny dominated news coverage around the world. Meanwhile, concerns about the health of Belarusian political prisoners, including Ihar Lednik\u2019s death behind bars, barely caused a ripple.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n
\n (pixabay.com)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Image of Belarusians is shaped by war in Ukraine and regime’s actions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Center for New Ideas has analyzed about 8,000 articles published in the leading Western media in 2022-23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It found that foreign media interest in Belarus has declined as it has been mostly mentioned in connection with the Russian war against Ukraine. More stories emphasize the Belarusian regime\u2019s role in the war. Belarusians are either out of the picture, or are assumed to silently agree with their government supporting the Russian aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2020-2021, international media gave extensive coverage to political unrest in Belarus and the Belarusians\u2019 struggle for democracy, whereas in the last two years the public has been associated with the regime of Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and its involvement in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than a third of stories casts Belarusians as co-aggressors, and a smaller percentage, as supporters of Russia in the war. \u0141uka\u0161enka and his government are the main actors in the foreign media. Although he is portrayed mostly as a dictator and autocrat, more media outlets refer to him as president. This casts a shadow on the image of Belarusians who are presented as a nation resigned to the fate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Media in most countries, except for neighbors, give scant attention to Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Western political support for the Belarusian opposition, statements and resolutions of solidarity with the Belarusians by the European Commission, the EU and the USA, the pro-democracy forces feature in fewer articles than \u0141uka\u0161enka’s regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With elections around the corner in Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the EU, the growing number of armed conflicts and the protracted war in Ukraine, journalists naturally choose hotter topics for their publications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three ways to influence foreign media coverage<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Attracting attention to Belarus is a challenging task. Still, Belarusian opinion leaders abroad \u2013 politicians, public figures and journalists \u2013 have many ways to project a positive image of Belarusians for the Western media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When writing for foreign media, analysts and journalists should cite public opinion polls and pro-democratic politicians and emphasize the impact of relentless reprisals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusians abroad should use their contacts with foreign journalists and politicians to promote the Belarusian agenda by providing relevant information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Western journalists often cannot obtain accreditation to travel to Belarus, Belarusians abroad can be an important link between European newsrooms and Belarusians inside the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When providing information to the media, it is important to look for ways of presenting information to meet the needs of foreign audiences and ensure its relevance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro-democracy forces can put more emphasis on Belarusians\u2019 European aspirations. This would organically support the goal declared by opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja. Promoting European integration among the Belarusians can potentially increase the number of people in Belarus who support this geopolitical choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the long run, this choice would also be reflected in public opinion polls used by foreign media. So, it might be possible to project a different image of Belarusians, without the stigma of co-aggressors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promoting Europe<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While promoting European aspirations, actors should be mindful of the widening gap between Belarusian opinion leaders in emigration and Belarusians who remain in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the midst of aggressive state propaganda and the crackdown on critical voices, in order to make the idea attractive, it is necessary to send clear messages and outline tangible solutions, describing in detail how exactly they can improve the lives of Belarusians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro-democracy forces should take advantage of their international support to develop clear strategies, for example, to simplify visa procedures, work out a plan to integrate the Belarusian economic and energy system into the European network and draft educational programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voter support for an alliance with the EU decreased from 16 percent in March 2022 to 13 percent in November 2023, while approval of a union with Russia rose from 37 percent to 41 percent, according to online polls conducted by Chatham House\u2019s Belarus Initiative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the long run, however, more detailed and concrete solutions can help improve the public perception of the EU.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lesia Rudnik The death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny dominated news coverage around the world. Meanwhile, concerns about the health of Belarusian political prisoners, including Ihar Lednik\u2019s death behind bars, barely caused a ripple. Image of Belarusians is shaped by war in Ukraine and regime’s actions The Center for New Ideas has analyzed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":69973,"template":"","rubric":[14,13,22],"class_list":["post-70335","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-society","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBelarus out of foreign media spotlight | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Lesia Rudnik The death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny dominated news coverage around the world. Meanwhile, concerns about the health\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belarus out of foreign media spotlight | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lesia Rudnik The death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny dominated news coverage around the world. Meanwhile, concerns about the health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/newspaper-943004_1280.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/\"},\"headline\":\"Belarus out of foreign media spotlight\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-29T08:08:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/\"},\"wordCount\":709,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/newspaper-943004_1280.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/\",\"name\":\"Belarus out of foreign media spotlight | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/newspaper-943004_1280.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-29T08:08:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"By Lesia Rudnik The death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny dominated news coverage around the world. Meanwhile, concerns about the health\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/newspaper-943004_1280.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/newspaper-943004_1280.jpg\",\"width\":1128,\"height\":752},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Belarus out of foreign media spotlight\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Belarus out of foreign media spotlight | Pozirk","description":"By Lesia Rudnik The death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny dominated news coverage around the world. Meanwhile, concerns about the health","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Belarus out of foreign media spotlight | Pozirk","og_description":"By Lesia Rudnik The death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny dominated news coverage around the world. Meanwhile, concerns about the health","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1128,"height":752,"url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/newspaper-943004_1280.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/"},"headline":"Belarus out of foreign media spotlight","datePublished":"2024-02-29T08:08:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/"},"wordCount":709,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/newspaper-943004_1280.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/","name":"Belarus out of foreign media spotlight | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/newspaper-943004_1280.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-29T08:08:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","description":"By Lesia Rudnik The death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny dominated news coverage around the world. Meanwhile, concerns about the health","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/newspaper-943004_1280.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/newspaper-943004_1280.jpg","width":1128,"height":752},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/70335\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Belarus out of foreign media spotlight"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/longreads\/70335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/longreads"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/longreads"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=70335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}