Editing Mass media in Belarus (section)

==Media landscape==

Belarus hosts state and privately owned media, however, the latter sector keeps decreasing due to the repressive media environment.<ref name=bbc23/> In 2009 there were 1,314 media outlets in the country, 414 of them were state-owned and 900 privately owned.<ref name=EJC>Elena Kononova, [http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/belarus Belarus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405064012/http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/belarus |date=5 April 2016 }}, [[European Journalism Centre|EJC]] Media Landscapes, circa 2010</ref> As of 1 September 2023, there were 921 printed publications including 371 newspapers and 561 magazines (400 state-run), 7 news agencies (2 state-run), 52 online media outlets (45 state-run), 99 radiostations (63 state-run), and 93 TV channels (41 state-run).<ref name=president>{{cite web
| url =https://president.gov.by/en/belarus/society/mass-media
| title =Mass Media in Belarus
| publisher =President.gov.by
| access-date =2024-03-06}}</ref>

Most media outlets are Russian-language,<ref name=languages/> since, according to rough estimates, more than 70% of Belarusians use the Russian language. Under Lukashenko, the state policy was to promote the Russian language, gradually the Belarusian language was pushed out of use. Thus it turned into the language of the opposition and independent publications.<ref name=usov/>

The largest national mass media outlets are [[Belteleradio]], the [[All-National TV]], ''STV'' (''Stolichnoye Televideniye''), publishing houses ''Belarus Segodnya'' and ''Zvyazda'', and the [[Belarusian Telegraph Agency|BelTA]] agency.<ref name=president/> State media are mostly commercially unprofitable and survive on subsidies and grants from the government, despite the fact that they operate under a favorable tax regime.<ref name=FHreport22/>

The country has a monopoly of terrestrial broadcasting infrastructure, and does not allow cable companies to carry channels without prior approval. State-owned postal and kiosk distribution systems and state-owned print facilities and advertising contracts are mostly off-limits for independent media. State-run media in Belarus praise President [[Alexander Lukashenko]] and vilify the opposition. Self-censorship is pervasive in private outlets. The Belarusian government maintains a monopoly of domestic broadcast media; in 2014 foreign ownership was restricted to a maximum of 20%.<ref name=fhr2015/><ref>{{cite web
| url =https://baj.media/en/propaganda-and-desinformation-belarus/
| title =Propaganda and desinformation in Belarus
| date =2023-02-20
| publisher = BAJ
| access-date =2024-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.osce.org/fom/132866
| title =New regulation and recent blockings threaten free speech on Internet in Belarus, says OSCE Representative
| date =2014-12-22
| publisher = OSCE
| access-date =2024-03-17}}</ref> Back in 2010, [[OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media]] [[Dunja Mijatović]] "said [that] pluralism was non-existing in the broadcasting sector, restricted in the print media and vulnerable on the Internet".<ref name=osce>{{cite news|title=OSCE media freedom representative: Belarus needs media pluralism|url=http://www.osce.org/fom/74047|access-date=10 April 2017|publisher=OSCE |location= Minsk|date=2010-10-27}}</ref> Five years later, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus [[Miklós Haraszti]] said: "Media pluralism is absent. Belarus is the only country in Europe with no privately owned nationwide broadcasting outlets".<ref>{{cite news|title=Belarus – Media Landscape |url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16718&LangID=E#sthash.zfBFg9FK.LCIQCDhU.dpuf|access-date=2017-04-10|publisher=OHCHR|location= Geneva|date=2015-11-06}}</ref> 

In October 2020, the accreditations of all foreign journalists in Belarus were canceled by the authorities. Among those who reapplied successfully, the overwhelming majority are Russian journalists employed by state-run media.<ref name=FHreport22/>