Reproduction of old poster  from Belarus. Photo: IMS

The Belarusian state media cover the Presidential election campaign by almost ignoring it completely, conclude a group of media monitoring experts from the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) in the lead-up to elections on 19 December 2010 

The group have been monitoring the quality and quantity of Belarusian print and electronic media’s election coverage between 1 – 20 November prior to the Presidential elections on 19 December. Monitoring results show that incumbent President Lukashenka received almost 86 per cent of the space allocated to election coverage in state media, with marginal attention given to opposition candidates.

For the first time in one of the world’s most restrictive media communities, however, candidates were permitted to use personal funds of up to 35.000 USD for political campaigning in the media, but these were spent mostly on political advertising in state media which already receive state support.

Demand for more objective information

Although the Presidential elections in Belarus on 19 December are expected to result in another convincing victory for President Lukashenka, not everything is business as usual, according to journalist and editor of 34 Multimedia Magazine, Iryna Vadanava.

In her article The Magic BoxMedia penned for the Belarus Association of Journalists (BAJ), she describes how the global financial crisis and worsening relations with Russia has forced Lukashenka to improve relations with the EU leading to a cultural and political liberalisation in the run-up to the elections.

This has increased the public’s demand for objective information - something which independent media in Belarus have capitalised on. Four years ago during the last Presidential elections, the situation of independent media was quite different. During the 2006 presidential elections, authorities blocked 19 independent newspapers from being sold from state-run newsstands and excluded 16 from state subscription services – all in the name of minimising coverage of the election process.

But figures quoted by Iryna Vadanava suggest that the number of independent newspapers is up by more than 10 per cent. While the quality of the coverage in Independent media divides opinion, this has been a platform for election candidates running against Lukashenka to be heard. The use of independent media to inform the people about the elections, as well as other growing communication channels in Belarus such as the Internet and social media information, is a step forward.

For more about the rise and role of the Internet and social media in the upcoming elections in Belarus, read Iryna Vadanava’s article “The Magic BoxMedia” on the homepage of Belarus Association of Journalists, a partner organisation of International Media Support.