Accents

This week, the Ministry of Information stated the need for bundling regional newspapers. It is justified by the “difficulty to attract expensive specialists” to the provinces. However, it looks like another stage of degradation of the state print press and an attempt to save funds, most of which are now directed to the TV propaganda apparatus. The Belarusian Association of Journalists investigated the issue.

As the crackdown on independent media in Belarus continues for a third consecutive year, the state of journalism in the country is dire. With only a handful of independent journalists remaining within the country working anonymously, and 32 of their colleagues behind bars, the future of journalism in Belarus looks bleak. The Fix analysed the state of Belarusian independent media at the end of 2022 – and tried to find bright spots.

Belarus is one of the most difficult countries in Europe for independent journalists to work in. Since the rigged presidential election in 2020, the journalists have been a target for the regime and at least 300 journalists have been forced into exile. Now they are struggling to cover the news in their homeland from a distance.

The Slovakia-based media-monitoring organization MEMO 98 has launched monitoring of Russian Federation state TV channels First Channel, Russia 1, Russia 24, NTV, online sources Smotrim.ru, gazeta.ru, news agencies Ria Novosti, Interfax, RBC, newspapers Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Argumenty i Fakty and independent international media to evaluate how those news outlets are covering the war in Ukraine and anti-war/peace protests. What does state media propaganda tell Russians about these topics, and how does it compare to the portrayal by independent media outside the country?