Belarus’ Information Minister: now every media outlet matters

Every media outlet in Belarus matters today – as noted by Information Minister Marat Markov after his report to President Aleksandr Lukashenko on topical issues of the country’s information policy

In particular, Mr. Markov shared some impressions of the meeting, “We did not just see once again how deeply the President is immersed in the sphere for which we are responsible. He has a lot of questions. Every day there are completely different profile events. Today we have once again seen that he understands our field very deeply.”

According to the Information Minister, such meetings should be held more often, because they are extremely valuable, especially during the election campaign.

“Every time you talk to the President in this format, you feel a certain nerve, certain nuances that are sometimes just difficult to convey, but which are obviously read. They are very important for the management of the sphere, for the competent setting of tasks,” Mr. Markov underlined.

The official noted that during the meeting the issue of the development of the regional press was also raised, “I want to be heard, including at the level of district and regional newspapers, the leadership of the regions: now every media outlet – regardless of whether it is republican, regional or district – matters. Sometimes a district newspaper is read with much more interest than any other press, because it covers the problems of this particular area.”

Mr. Markov stressed that today there is an opportunity and conditions, including legal ones, to help the regional press solve certain tasks, “Meanwhile, we really need an initiative from the regional media so that they understand how important it is during the election period to cover those issues that directly affect people’s understanding of the nuances of politics and public life, which develops in a special way during the election period. We will support projects primarily those that help people understand the truth.”

The Information Minister also said that during the report to the President, an initiative was voiced to hold the first bloggers forum in Belarus in late September, “Probably, we are only at the beginning of this path, so we will deal with this systematically. The Information Ministry, the President Administration, and TV channels will pay sufficient attention to this issue – much more than before.”