First Press Club Belarus meeting in Minsk
On Tuesday, October 28th, the first Press Club Belarus meeting took place in Minsk, in the new premises of the popular online portal Tut.by. During a two-hour discussion, participants found out about Press Club Belarus’ plans, listened to a presentation by the deputy editor of The Guardian’s New East Network, asked questions, and also listened and took part in a panel discussion about how Belarus is covered in the international media.
At the start, Yuliya Slutskaya, chairperson of Press Club Belarus, talked about the club: “Press Club Belarus was set up in 2011. It was founded by editors and deputy editors of independent Belarusian media – more than 30 people signed the Founding Act. It belongs to an international association [International Association of Press Clubs, IAPC] with over 40 press clubs from around the world. Today, the General Secretariat is in Warsaw. The IAPC’s main aim is to increase opportunities for journalists and support access to free media.
Having started Belarus in Focus Information Office in Warsaw, I understood how isolated we, Belarusian journalists, are from many worldwide trends. It’s a shame because media around the world are developing and we want to develop with it. Therefore, the aim of Press Club Belarus is to integrate into the global media community.”
The deputy editor of The Guardian’s New East Network, Enjoli Liston, talked about how Belarusian journalists could cooperate with the Guardian and answered questions from the audience.
“We launched the New East Network in June. The basic idea was to show more broadly what is happening in post-soviet countries. The crisis which started a year ago in Ukraine really shook Western media outlets, who finally understood that they weren’t covering events in post-Soviet countries enough. Also, at the same time, all the media became really polarised. It’s obvious that there are media who are clearly pro-Western, and those who are pro-Russian”, commented Enjoli Liston.
Read the full article on MediaKritika
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