Human Rights Day launch for Belarus TV channel

The multi-national project to beam independent television into Belarus is planned to hit the airwaves on International Human Rights Day. Belsat will be for Belarusians by Belarusians, say the producers. And they’ll throw in Ally McBeal, too.

Belarus has a reputation for being a very ugly place for media. Leader for life Alexander Lukashenko has strong-armed most media and most journalists under his control. None of this has pleased Belarus’ nearest neighbors, Poland and Lithuania, who have forged a partnership to, at the very least, bring a different viewpoint to “the last dictatorship in Europe.”

Belsat has been in the planning stages for months. The Polish government committed €5.8 million, mainstay of the €7.5 million budget, and the new channel will operate as a division of Polish PSB TVP. The Lithuanian public broadcaster is providing programming support and the Irish PSB is providing training. The channel will offer news and information in Belarusian as well as entertainment, including, they say, popular US serial Ally McBeal.

“This programme is a unique project,” said Eduard Melnikau, a coordinator for the project, quoted by the Belarusian Association of Journalists. “It is an example of cooperation between the governments of two democratic European states, Poland and Lithuania, on the one side, and democratic Belarusian journalists.”- Michael Hedges December 10, 2007

Keywords:media in Belarus,TVP

ftm Follow Up & Comments

Post your comment here

Europe’s Radio – a new ftm Knowledge file for September 2008

Europe’s media landscape is dotted by 15,000 radio stations and channels. Public, private, digital and even a few MW stations reach upwards of 90% of Europe’s listeners each day. Ftm reports on growing brands, changing rules and new technologies. Country reports. 135 pages PDF (September 2008)

Free to ftm members, others from €39
Order

Media Brands - Much More Than A Name

From Apple and the BBC to Google, KISS, Prince and NRJ... media brands inspire and engage. What makes a strong media brand? This ftm Knowledge file looks at brand basics and brand strategies for broadcasters, publishers and new media. 25 articles, 65 pages. PDF file (July 2008)

Free to ftm members, others from €39
Order

Russian Media - The Wild East

Media in Russia is big business and big politics. Advertising growth is high, radio and TV channels springing up. At the sametime independence is questioned, journalists in danger and foreign media excluded. It's all changing. ftm looks at media in Russia, 30 articles, 55 pages. PDF file (July 2008)

Free to ftm members, others from €39
Order

More ftm Knowledge files here