Current accents of regional media development were outlined by the Minister of Information of Belarus Vladimir Pertsov in Shumilino
A decrease in circulation, a shortage of young personnel, the search for new sources of income to achieve self-sufficiency, let alone stable profit, and an increase in online presence – these are the problems faced by the local district newspaper, but they are familiar to many regional print publications. At the same time, the era of information battles requires state media to seek new approaches to win back their audience.
Vladimir Pertsov outlined the main accents and guidelines for the work of regional media. Among the priorities is improving the quality of online work. Today, it is not enough to simply post a "newspaper" article on the publication's website; it must reach its reader. The minister named indexing publications for search engines and active work on social networks and messengers as the main tools.
– We are currently paying considerable attention to district press, the reason for this is the events of last year, now our ideological opponents are focusing on the regions, – Vladimir Pertsov outlined the relevance of the problem. – Young people and middle-aged people today get all their news from the internet. And when a person seeks information online, unfortunately, they more often find oppositional, destructive publications, including regional ones. All this is due to the inability of state media to index their websites and work on social networks and messengers. They must follow the reader, follow their information consumption channel.
The head of the department also spoke about the need for state publications, together with local authorities, to promptly respond to all information leaks appearing in city and district public pages and communities.
– There is a need to strengthen materials concerning social and everyday problems from the region's life. Otherwise, an information vacuum will form in this topic, which our opponents will quickly seize upon, and they will present it as shortcomings of the local government, of the entire system. The district newspaper, together with the local government, must work clearly on each problem, monitor public pages and social networks, and live by the principle of knowing everything, reacting promptly, and preventing. If a boil flares up somewhere due to, for example, the lack of proper road surface, the presence of rusty water, and other socio-everyday problems, journalists must go to the site with a representative of the district executive committee and explain that this problem will be solved. Then this informational boil will be lanced, and the state publication and local government will gain authority, – is convinced Vladimir Borisovich.
In turn, the print version of newspapers, according to the head of the department, should also develop in the currently existing trends.
– A person can get operational news from Telegram channels, news feeds, TV, and radio, but the interpretation of events, analytics – this is precisely the niche of the print press, which operational online media lack. Each news item can be presented through the lens of the life of a specific district, – said the minister. He also expressed the need to develop author's journalism and actively introduce editor's columns, which will give publications new momentum.
Speaking about the economic component of the publications' work, Vladimir Pertsov urged not to limit oneself to circulation and advertising in the print version; competent monetization of online publications can bring its own income, which in turn will attract its own advertisers. And additional income will help increase the salaries of editorial staff and solve another problem – the shortage of young personnel.
Chairman of the Shumilino District Executive Committee Viktor Gutorov expressed his readiness to provide social housing to visiting young journalists, and the minister called the arrangement of living conditions one of the fundamental factors for retaining a young specialist in a district newspaper.
Another option for solving the personnel problem for district newspapers was voiced by Marina Novitskaya, Head of the Main Department of Ideological Work and Youth Affairs of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee. In particular, she proposed that the teams themselves should train their successors, organize a journalism club for schoolchildren, and introduce them to the profession so that they could enroll in higher education on a targeted basis and then return to their small homeland.
– If the district editorial office concentrates its efforts on solving all these issues, then it will have income, a decent salary, and young people in the team, – summarized Vladimir Pertsov.