MINSK, 10 April (BelTA) – The government must pay attention to media outlets and support them, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with heads and journalists of the country’s largest state-run mass media on 10 April, BelTA has learned.
“Mass media is a sacred thing. If the government can finance and support media, especially the electronic ones, it must do this. This is a task of national importance. When it comes to private media, we should make sure the owners of private media stick to their commitments,” the president noted.
In his words, mass media can both create a country and destroy it in a blink of an eye. “As statesmen, we must take care of our country. We will have no other state. The task of our generation is to strengthen our country and transfer it to our children,” the Belarusian leader noted.
Alexander Lukashenko urged the representatives of TV channels to keep improving the work in this field. He added he looks at this work at the professional standpoint based on his personal experience. “I watch a lot of channels and compare them between each other. I was keen on photography when I was a student. I even was in charge of a photo laboratory,” the president recalled.
“The quality has improved. We have good honest journalists. We have a basis for making good television content. You should work in such a way that people see and respect you. The television should be honest in order to reflect life,” Alexander Lukashenko summarized.
In this context, the key task is to fight for the hearts and minds of the people, he added. “If we do not win over the hearts and minds of the Belarusians, we will fail to ever build an independent country in its classical form"...
Alexander Lukashenko believes that mass media must remain objective however hard and complicated it may be. Belarusians continue building their own country. It is important to preserve moral principles on this road...
"The need for this frank conversation is long overdue. The reason for today's event is the start of the new phase in your work. We cannot continue to work in old ways"...
He also stressed that Belarusian journalists managed to stand on their own in the tough years. "I think you are the best in the world. Keep it up"...
There is such a media center, for example, in Astana. It represents a single technological platform to ensure high-quality broadcasting of all national media. It has been set up to optimize and upgrade TV production...
“These platforms should be Belarusian. It doesn’t mean we have a grudge against [Director General of the Russian TV Channel One Konstantin] Ernst. Not at all. He is a normal, creative, and good person. But we need our own content”...
According to the president, quality journalism with an author’s position, reliable facts and deep analytics are highly in demand today. "Your goal is to catch the attention of readers and viewers"...
"Back then I had to tell everyone that we shouldn’t rush things, that we have our own peculiarities, our own way of life. That we are building our own country and don’t have to embrace shock therapy in Russia’s wake"...
“It is not normal if the head of state talks more than the minister about the topic the minister should know better,” noted the head of state...
The president noted that due to the inability of civil servants to make comments on some problematic situation the head of state has to sometimes step in in order to “clear up the mess”...
"We are not euphoric about private property. You want state-controlled property to fall into private hands overnight? These are systemic changes. But they have never written specifically what these systemic changes are"...
"Actually, I am not a big supporter of PR campaigns. PR is overrated, close to a lie. It is always better to tell the truth, or say nothing at all"...
"The Winter Olympics have just completed, and winter sports start a new preparatory cycle. The meeting is of high importance today. We still remember very well both the victories and drawbacks"...