President meets with representatives of major media

9 июля 2020
It was a frank conversation with journalists and the expert community about what is going on in the country and around us today. The Head of State said that Belarus has not experienced such pressure as it did these days during the whole period of its independent development. Geopolitical situation, information wars, international contacts, confrontation with the pandemic and its impact on the world situation. These are by no means all the topics that have been discussed in more than 5 hours of dialogue. Nowadays, information immunity is becoming more and more important, so as not to get lost in the data stream and not to become victims of fakes. The main principles of responsible journalism is objectivity, reliability and efficiency. 
Two and a half hundred participants. They are heads of departments, press services, media companies, many of them are recognized gurus of journalism. They are opinion leaders: media professionals and experts whose reflections can often be read or heard in journalistic reports. 
Alexander Lukashenko explained from the very first minute: this is not an emergency meeting. It is rather a frank dialogue with those who shape the worldview of the society. Therefore, it is so important to explain some nuances of domestic and foreign policy (which is hidden from the broad view), to comment on the events. 
Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus: "I want to say there's no emergency. It's true that you may have different opinions on one fact or another - it's also normal, I take it well. I once said that when there is a meeting on a particular issue, the first question I ask the administration, whether there are alternative opinions on this issue. No? Then the meeting is cancelled, there's no point in holding it. Therefore, a position has already been developed - a mandatory alternative, mandatory competition, clash of opinions, brainstorming - all this is right.” 

The digital transformation of media is not only about Belarus. It's a global trend. It's time to be more active on the Internet, in social networks and telegram channels. 

Igor Lutskiy, Minister of Information of Belarus: "We have no particular problem. I already said that once: we need to adjust our work on the Internet, but that doesn't mean that we should ban or restrict anything. You need specially trained people, you need special technologies, you just need to use them in order to achieve the desired result."

The President didn't say much about geopolitics. The situation around us does not allow relaxation. Confrontation of world players, hydrocarbon perturbations, struggle for markets - all this affects Belarus. 

To carry out one's own information policy, to form one's own national information infrastructure, to ensure one's own information security are the global tasks of a journalist of any state. This is a kind of work for information sovereignty.  The information flow today is so powerful that it's easy to get lost. 

In these conditions, only honesty, openness and objectivity to their audience is the key to success. This dialogue with representatives of the media community and the President was maximally open. 

Ivan Eismont, Chairman of Belteleradiocompany: “Information is the most dangerous weapon of the 21st century, which, alas, does not require a license today. The consequences of "media war" can be as global as the consequences of the actual war. In such a situation, professionals are the support of any media.”