SB. Belarus Segodnya columnist: Newspapers will not go extinct

Print media has long been predicted to collapse: such an idea was voiced with the advent of radio, TV and later the Internet. Nevertheless, newspapers and magazines continue to be published. They have their own army of readers and have no plans to disappear from the media sphere. The Belarus Segodnya Publishing House columnist, Andrei Mukovozchik, commented on a special role of newspapers.

In his talk with Alfa Radio, Mr. Mukovozchik noted that newspapers are of special importance for the civil society emerging in Belarus. “Will we have TV only? Life has shown that this is unlikely. There are different niches and functions, and the newspaper currently plays an important role for ideologists, people with an active civic position, and the civil society that is now being born,” he said.

The columnist compared a newspaper with a synopsis. “A student will not pass an exam without a synopsis, which highlights the main theses that need to be repeated. Similarly, a newspaper is a synopsis. In order to talk to people, to defend a certain point of view, to understand the state information agenda, trends and tendencies, it is necessary to have something at hand. A book, relatively speaking, is an encyclopaedia, while a newspaper is a synopsis. In turn, radio and TV are transitory,” Mr. Mukovozchik explained.

As noted by the radio presenter, Vadim Shepet, the SB. Belarus Segodnya does not exist by itself today: it has a website and numerous convergent projects.

“The Belarus Segodnya Publishing House is a media holding, with many directions. They all present information in different forms, but it is actually the same everywhere regarding its contents, truthfulness, veracity, and the spirit of patriotism. This is important because – by focusing on the newspaper alone – the Internet can be lost. Without radio, drivers, housewives and office workers can lack information. In turn, SB.TV makes it possible to watch the news,” the newspaper columnist noted.

These days, the SB. Belarus Segodnya newspaper is celebrating its 95th anniversary. In August 1927, the first issue of the Rabochy newspaper was published, and it was later renamed into Sovetskaya Belorussiya. At present, readers know the publication as SB. Belarus Segodnya.