{"id":83354,"date":"2024-05-03T12:37:49","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T09:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/83354\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"belarus-independent-media-surviving-online","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/83354\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus\u2019 independent media surviving online"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Zmicier Nika\u0142ajevi\u010d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the 2020 postelection protests, the government has wiped out all dissent in Belarus, including political parties, non-governmental organizations, trade unions and the independent media.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Media lose sources of revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The number of print periodicals fell by 21 percent from 471 in 2019 to 372 in 2023, reported the National Statistics Committee (Bie\u0142stat).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of print periodicals decreased by 40.6 percent (from 69 to 41) in Brest region, 25 percent from 48 to 36 in the Minsk region, 23.5 percent from 51 to 39 in the Homiel region, 16.3 percent from 172 to 144 in Minsk, 15.2 percent from 46 to 39 in the Viciebsk region, 15 percent from 40 to 34 in the Hrodna region and 13.3 percent from 45 to 39 in the Mahilio\u016d region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their total print-run decreased by 15.1 percent from 2.89 million to 2.45 million copies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 1, 367 periodicals were registered in Belarus, including 199 state-owned and 168 non-state ones. That was a decrease of 1.3 percent from January 1, according to data from the information ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high number of non-state periodicals should not be mistaken as proof of freedom of speech in Belarus because these outlets do not cover sociopolitical developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All independent political newspapers have been closed down, blacklisted as extremist groups and forced to stop printing. Examples include Narodnaja Vola<\/em>, Novy \u010cas <\/em>and Intex-Press<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pa\u016dluk Byko\u016dski, a Media IQ analyst, has told The Viewer <\/em>that the print media circulation decline is most likely attributable to changes in media consumption, a shift toward digital media and the shrinking advertising market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also pointed to “the destruction by the Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka regime of independent media business models, which largely received revenue from sales of print periodicals and advertising.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“However, statistics also show a decline in the state sector,” Byko\u016dski noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his opinion, the print media are losing ground to television, social media and messengers, YouTube and TikTok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Propaganda warriors<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The government subsidizes national and local newspapers involved in propaganda. But they are struggling to expand readership even after their independent rivals have been forced out of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2023, Ihar \u0141ucki, then deputy head of the \u0141uka\u0161enka administration, noted that the government spent heavily on the state media, but some editorial offices still employed people who did not support government policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noting that the government established a supervisory board at the Journalism Faculty of Belarusian State University, he said, “We don’t just train journalists, we train information front fighters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Ideological work is a priority,” \u0141uka\u0161enka said on April 8, as he appointed U\u0142adzimir Piarco\u016d, a former information minister, as deputy head of his administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian ruler stressed the importance of propaganda and counter-propaganda amid what he called information war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\n \u0141uka\u0161enka taking questions from state media journalists at a military training ground in the A\u0161miany district on March 26\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (\u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s press office)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The state media demonize political opponents and praise officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2022, \u0141uka\u0161enka encouraged regional newspapers to criticize local authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then-Information Minister Piarco\u016d, speaking at the same event, added that “in the first quarter of 2022, many district newspapers did not publish a single critical article. . . . In this regard, I have a legitimate question: is everything that good? Or is it just elementary fear of the district administration?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course it is all about fear. Not a single district newspaper editor would dare to criticize their bosses as long as local periodicals are directly accountable to local executive governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, it is the Belarusian ruler who has created a system based on fear. District newspapers can only report on minor issues without criticizing local officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Print periodicals generate more revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Independent local periodicals were quite competitive before the crackdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viktar Mar\u010duk, editor-in-chief of Brestskaja Hazieta<\/em>, told The Viewer<\/em>, that his newspaper “had not even thought of giving up the print version” before the government banned it from printing plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before 2020, Brestskaja Hazieta<\/em> was the top seller in Brest because \u201cit objectively covered developments in the region,” Mar\u010duk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was easy to be a leader. You just don\u2019t lie and don\u2019t engage in propaganda like the state media,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n (baj.media)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“The newspaper was profitable, making revenue from sales and advertising,\u201d Mar\u010duk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government prohibited printers from doing business with it for political reasons, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There were no economic reasons: we were solvent, we made regular and timely advance payments. At that time, it was super-profitable for the printing plant because state newspapers were struggling financially.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many other independent newspapers, like BDG, Salidarna\u015b\u0107 <\/em>and Tovarishch<\/em>, had been banned from printing facilities in Belarus. Some Belarusian newspapers were printed in Russia for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retaliation for protests<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“August 2020 [presidential election] showed high demand from citizens specifically for print periodicals,” recalled Barys Harecki, deputy chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People bought up the print-runs of private periodicals to share with their relatives or keep as souvenirs. They did it despite the availability of information on the Internet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Harecki, more active citizens read news online, while less active, mostly older people, read newspapers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Komsomolskaya Pravda <\/em>with photos of beaten people opened the eyes of many Belarusians who didn’t really follow politics. Therefore, I believe that the government closed the independent periodicals in revenge for 2020 reporting,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government closed nearly all independent media outlets within months after mass protests broke out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government will not give up on the print media despite the abundance of other propaganda tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, it plans to spend 172 million rubles ($53 million at the market exchange rate on May 2) in subsidies to state media, including 142 million rubles to broadcasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having effectively banned independent journalism, the government has failed to offer an alternative to people who are used to reading quality news rather than fact sheets approved by ideological departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government has blacklisted teams of journalists as extremists, labeled their websites extremist content and media organizations extremist groups. It has jailed users for reading or sharing posts from independent media. However, it has failed so far to completely silence critics. Independent periodicals are available online despite the crackdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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