Vitebsk region leads in the number of newspapers per 1,000 people
Vitebsk region is considered the most reading region of Belarus, with 367 copies of newspapers per 1,000 people, as reported by Gennady Egorov, Head of the Main Department of Ideological Work and Youth Affairs of the Regional Executive Committee, during a meeting of the Regional Executive Committee.
Characterizing the information space of the Vitebsk region, the head of the department noted that more than 80 media outlets of various forms of ownership operate in the region: 58 print and 24 electronic. 24 state general political newspapers are published, with a total circulation of over 140 thousand copies as of September 1, 2018, as well as 30 non-state newspapers. "The specificity of our region is that we have over 6.5 thousand rural settlements, most of which are sparsely populated. At the same time, the region is the most reading in the country, as the media saturation per 1,000 people is 367 copies (288 on average for the country)," noted Gennady Egorov.
Analyzing the activities of the regional TV channel TRK "Vitebsk", he added that the northern region was the first in the republic to start broadcasting on the regional information platform and is the only region in the country that has two regional TV channels. The broadcast is dominated by in-house productions. The region's cable television segment includes 13 operators, with a total number of subscribers exceeding 260,000 people. Digital television is available to 99.4% of the population.
The financial and economic situation of the state press in the Vitebsk region remains stable. The focus is on optimizing expenses, increasing the editorial offices' own income, and transitioning to self-sufficiency. 19 out of 24 newspapers are self-sufficient. "Nevertheless, there is a general problem of declining circulation, which is also relevant for our region. The reality is that young people, getting information from the internet, practically do not read newspapers. Attracting an audience depends heavily on the editors-in-chief, who must find new ways to present material. If young people need to be torn away from their tablets, then newspapers should use mobile platforms more actively," said Gennady Egorov.
According to him, the subscription level was affected by the reduction of district post offices and communication departments, as well as an increase in newspaper delivery tariffs. The largest decline in circulation occurred in Chashniksky, Dubrovensky, Lioznensky, and Tolochinsky districts. The highest level of district newspaper saturation per 1,000 people is in Ushachsky and Miorsky districts (212 and 198 copies, respectively). In the near future, the region's media and the regional executive committee will have to solve several issues, including improving the work of printing houses in Orsha, Polotsk, and Novopolotsk, as well as completing the renovation of the building on Gogol Street in Vitebsk by the beginning of May 2019, where the House of Press will be located. For guest channels included in the mandatory publicly available television package, the transition to HD broadcasting in the cable television system by November 1 of this year is on the agenda. And the chief editors of the television programs "Lepel Television" and "Postavy TV" will need to develop a development program until 2020.