Satellite TV for Belarus
Three years ago the Belarus Democracy Act was signed into law. It was reauthorized nearly unanimously at the end of last year. One of the major priorities of the Act was to provide external radio and television broadcasting into Belarus as an alternative to the regime's propaganda machine. The importance of free media in the democratic development of a country cannot be overestimated.
The main impediment to all plans for advancing democracy in Belarus is the almost total control by the current regime over in-country radio and television broadcasting. Since the printed media are also greatly restricted, the burden of providing objective alternative information to Belarus falls to media sources originating outside of the country. Otherwise, the majority of the population, lacking alternative sources, subconsciously accepts the regime's propaganda statements and news distortions at face value.
At this time, approximately a quarter of the population already has access to the Internet and is perhaps the best informed. A considerably smaller number listens to external Western short-wave broadcasts, over-the-border FM or AM broadcasts, or watches Euronews on television. Another quarter of the population is either committed to the official ideology, or affected by Soviet nostalgia. As unquestioning supporters of the regime, they are satisfied with in-country media, and are not interested in alternative information. Thus, it is the remaining middle half of the population that needs to be reached by enhanced external media in order to raise its awareness. The remainder of this article is focused on the information needs of this segment of Belarus' population.
The number of US and European Union funded radio broadcasts has grown in the recent years. Unfortunately, their audience percentages have not gone beyond low single digits. This is, in part, due to the change in listening habits of the people less willing to struggle with shortwave reception, or the limited cross-border reach of the relatively low power FM and AM stations. All of the outside broadcasters are strongly focused on the Internet, with some of them quite sophisticated, and undoubtedly not inexpensive to produce. And, since the Internet mainly reaches those who are technically savvy and also the best informed, the largest critical middle segment of the population remains poorly served.
The medium with the greatest popular impact is unquestionably television. And yet among the external information sources that medium currently fails to deliver. TV news coverage by Euronews is hampered by the fact that the accompanying audio is prepared and edited by the participating companies in the various countries. In Belarus, as a result, the audio produced in Russia, can be shamelessly biased, differing greatly from its English-language version. It is, however, practically the only Western TV program in Belarus, if one discounts the EU's misguided inclusion of RTVi in its European Radio for Belarus (ERB) project. RTVi naively placed its programs on the regime-controlled cable system with predictable results.
So, after three years since the passage of the Belarus Democracy Act, there is still no reliable or objective TV broadcasting into Belarus. A variety of explanations is being given, such as an insufficient number of satellite dishes, or unimpeded reporting by independent TV journalists. However, history tells that autocrats are hardly ever removed from power by safe and cautious methods. While the regime is trying to limit the use of satellite dishes, their number, nonetheless, continues to grow, and this course should be helped along. The support agencies, rather than searching for creative and possibly unorthodox solutions in a difficult situation, prefer to do, what is done under normal circumstances. But if the conditions in Belarus were normal and free, there would be little need for external broadcasting.
Recently a real possibility has emerged for effective TV broadcasting into Belarus. The Polish government, in cooperation with Polish Public Television, has been engaged for some time in preparing the TV Channel Belarus (previously referred to as TV BelSat). A multi-year agreement was signed between them to provide funding of over $6 million to finance this satellite TV station, due to start broadcasting in the fall of 2007. These funds are expected to cover almost all of the start-up and of the initial operating costs. The project needs some additional funding and political support from the United States. Such assistance will help firm up continuing public support in Poland, regardless of changes in government. It will also help its government to be better able to withstand the expected pressure and objections coming from the current Belarusian regime and its Russian allies.
This last initiative deserves unequivocal US support. The current American diplomatic practice calls for consulting with the European Union, and often deferring to it in matters dealing with Belarus. However, passing this urgently needed initiative to the cautious and unwieldy policies of the European Union, would, in our view, be decidedly less effective.
This article appeared in
Belarusian Review, Vol. 19, No.3
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Copyright 2007 Belarusian Review
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Walter Stankievich
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