Thankfully, we're not starving. State-run TV exploits every historic date to praise Lukashenka Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus - Media IQ
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Thankfully, we’re not starving. State-run TV exploits every historic date
to praise Lukashenka
Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus
(26/04/2021 – 02/05/2021)
The purpose of this monitoring is to study how the Belarusian state conveys its ideological
narrative. The most important mechanism for conveying its narrative is the evening
broadcast. Then the informational function of media is complemented, and sometimes
replaced by, the broadcasting of official ideological messages. We monitor the outputs of the
Agency of the Television News (ATN), which prepares the news broadcasts for the Belarus-
1 channel (“Panorama” and Sunday’s “Main Airtime”), the channel ONT (“Our News”,
“Saturday’s Edition” and “Contours”), and the channel STV (“24 Hour News” and “The
Week”).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Almost every holiday or memorable date is exploited by state TV for ideological
purposes — to glorify Lukashenka, praise the course of the state or to draw the necessary
historical parallels.
Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus Page 1 of 9
Issue 41 (26/04/2021 – 02/05/2021)
Last week came Easter and May 1, but the coverage of Chernobyl anniversary also
continued.
Lukashenka was linked not only to the achievements of the Chernobyl-affected areas,
but also to the order in the countryside and food security. State channels juxtaposed the
domestic "technological dictatorship" with the failures and crises abroad, fraught with mass
famine.
As part of the information campaign against the "conspirators", new stories were
published, as well as comments by pro-government columnists and foreign speakers, who
found parallels and a common concept between the Belarusian events and examples of
protests and revolutions in other countries. At the same time, they even tried to link the
reports on Tsikhanousky with the general theme of the latest "conspiracy".
State-owned channels again insisted their conspiracy documentaries had a huge
impact. They were also outraged by the “wrong” reaction from the non-state media and
opponents to official investigations. The latter were accused of trying to play down or
undermine the findings of the KGB and state-run TV.
Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus Page 2 of 9
Issue 41 (26/04/2021 – 02/05/2021)
In response to the failed coup, a new campaign was launched to demonstrate the loyalty of the security forces, who recorded a video for STV, where they promised to protect their leader. Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus Page 3 of 9 Issue 41 (26/04/2021 – 02/05/2021)
There were also threats of physical violence against the "bloodthirsty opposition"
from Karpenkov and the presenters. State-run TV called for vigilance to prevent a repeat of
last year's protests.
Key narratives can be found in APPENDIX 1.
The reform agenda would accidentally re-emerge in connection with the preparation
of amendments to the Constitution, a frequent topic of digitalization of the economy and
public administration, and improvement of the investment climate.
Incidentally, state channels would show screenshots from other media, including
non-state ones, on the air, but this is done purely for the sake of controversy.
Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus Page 4 of 9
Issue 41 (26/04/2021 – 02/05/2021)
The project “Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus” is implemented by Sense
Analytics in partnership with Press Club Belarus. The author of the weekly reports is Maxim
Stefanovich, the editor and coordinator of the project is Artyom Shraibman.
To see the full version of the report in Russian click here.
Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus Page 5 of 9
Issue 41 (26/04/2021 – 02/05/2021)
APPENDIX 1
KEY NARRATIVES
RUS-BY FRATERNITY
● “The similarity of protests in Russia and in our country has already been noted more than
once. Many political analysts tend to believe that the same organizing team is behind them."
● “The priorities of the Belarusian-Russian cooperation were laid out in detail the day before,
noting the restoration of mutual trade and the integration movement under union
programs. Digitization and the IT vector are also on the list of necessary joint projects."
● “The sanctions policy and the unfriendly rhetoric of the West are pushing Belarus towards
closer integration with Russia. In such conditions, it is natural to expand interaction with
those who remain faithful to the jointly developed principles, experts say."
● "The Russian special services have all the necessary evidence and confessions of the
participants in the conspiracy against the Belarusian authorities."
● “We continue to work on the package of integration documents — on April 23, we handed
over to the Russian party the projects of 26 union programs submitted by the Belarusian
side.”
ANTI-WEST NARRATIVES
● “This is a lengthy discussion of the nature of democracy. And perhaps it will be enough to
rethink and support the dictatorship of order and stability, observing the lawlessness of
democracy in Western countries."
● “We, Belarusians, have always lived only by our own labor. And those who do not like and
do not know how to work — the countries of the West — hate us for this."
● “The police cleared out the thousand-strong crowd rather quickly, using their full arsenal —
clubs, tear gas, water cannons. The authorities are not loosening their grip; society
continues to resist restrictions. In neighboring France, the scale of the protests was much
broader."
● “In Paris and Tel Aviv, thousands of people are demanding justice. They went to the protest
actions with an appeal to punish the murderer of Sarah Halimi. Let us remind you that the
Muslim severely beat his Jewish neighbor and threw her out of the window shouting "Allahu
Akbar!"
● “The North Atlantic Alliance continues to build up its military presence at the borders —
they plan to transfer large military contingents. They are trying to break the international
security built after the Second World War.”
● “Ukraine is again increasing gas tariffs for all households. Starting May 1, prices will rise by
almost 14%.”
PATERNALISM, DIRIGISME
● “Lots of good residential buildings, medical centers, kindergartens, schools and the
International Finance Center. The Minsk World complex is being built significantly ahead of
schedule."
Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus Page 6 of 9
Issue 41 (26/04/2021 – 02/05/2021)● “When, against the backdrop of a pandemic, a shortage of food was predicted in the world,
Belarus managed not only to keep the bar, but also to ensure the growth of production of
the main types of agricultural products.”
● “Mass vaccination continues in our country. Scientists are also working on the creation of
their own vaccine. The drug will be created according to the classic recipe. Simply put, the
virus will be killed and the full range of antigens necessary for the development of immunity
will be administered in the drug."
● “In the world rating of states' readiness for e-government, our country is in the top 40. And
according to the level of development of electronic services and services, it ranks 32nd
among 200 countries."
● “It seems impossible to recover from such a blow. But the Belarusians did it. Back in the 90s,
the president firmly decided — the affected lands need to be restored! Let it sink in — 5
Chernobyl-related state programs have been carried out just by ourselves! We did it step by
step. Everything has been done to bring the affected areas back to life."
● “Products of “Naftan” are now known in 30 countries of the world. The company employs
10 thousand people, the construction of a new complex has created 400 new jobs at the
company."
ANTI-PROTEST NARRATIVES
● “Obviously, the consultants are stationed far from Belarus. The trail clearly leads to the USA.
True, now each of the detainees interprets his role in the upcoming coup in his own way.
One more figure. The Tikhanovsky case. Links of one chain. What was his having 900
thousand dollars stashed in his all about ?!"
● “Moderators of gay sites and prostitutes, influencers and bloggers, editors and stylists,
ecologists, urbanists and drug addicts. They loitered the gateways of industrial companies,
using their shrill voices to call for breaking the backbone of the country."
● “The junta, which tried to form a conspiracy, did it out of despair, as they perfectly
understand that the incumbent president won the elections in Belarus”.
● “Chaos and fear among millions of Belarusians — those were the goals of those who wanted
to block the energy grid of the whole country.”
● “It got quite absurd. Some publications in their conclusions went as far as to suggest that the
special operation itself was a fake and accused the Belarusian special services of setting up
the whole thing."
● “Maybe it’s time these fellows and their supporters remembered the catch phrase about
“the bullet that clears the head, even if it hits the behind.”
● “The actions of Losik and Tsyganovich are qualified as inciting social hostility, organizing
pogroms, destruction of property and armed resistance. There is still ongoing investigation
into the absconded ones and other persons involved.”
FORCE-FEEDING PATRIOTISM
● “We are 9.5 million and this force is more serious, powerful and promising than if we were
divided and fragmented and began to look askance at each other, checking people we know
as friend or foe”.
Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus Page 7 of 9
Issue 41 (26/04/2021 – 02/05/2021)● “Several solemn rallies were held in Minsk at once with the laying of flowers at the
memorial signs and memorials”.
● “School of Active Citizen” — a project of the Ministry of Education. It is an open dialogue
platform for students to relate their concerns to politicians, public figures, writers and
athletes."
● “The laureate of the special presidential prize Alexei Talay spoke about how important it is
to preserve the national history, the value of peace, be loyal to Belarus and achieve
everything on one’s own”.
● “Tomorrow the House of Representatives will host parliamentary hearings on the territorial
integrity and national unity of Belarus. The deputies will discuss the historical and legal
aspects of the reunification of the Western Belarusian lands within the BSSR.”
PERSONALISM
● “Today there are many parishioners in the Turov church: it is Easter, and the president has
arrived. Two significant events for the holy land of Turov.”
● “Today, people from all over the region gathered in the central square to say thank you to
the president. For saving his life after Chernobyl. He is like an earthly guardian angel of
these lands."
● “Our president is a peasant. Greatness can only emerge from the salt of the earth, and the
antichrist civilization of slaves will never defeat us. And they will choke on their sanctions.”
● "An attempt at a coup d'etat and an attempt on the life of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his
family is the most discussed topic today by both Belarusian and Russian political scientists."
● “Our people trust their president. The choice was made in 2020 in August. We know that
under the leadership of the head of state, we will achieve all our goals. Internal troops are
the people. The army supports the head of state."
BELARUS AN IMPORTANT GLOBAL ACTOR
● “Success, the Belarusian prime minister is sure, is in the ability to find a compromise in the
priorities of joint integration of the five and the national interests of each country. The tasks
for the future are precisely detailed for the primary avenues of industrial cooperation for
the five-year period."
● “Eurasian integration and bilateral relations. In Kazan these days, a dialogue is taking place
at the level of the prime ministers of Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
The forum starts tomorrow. The focus is on the economics of the union and trade on an
equal footing."
● “Clear attempts from the outside to destabilize the situation in Belarus in order to illegally
change the government have become a threat to all members of the CSTO. The Secretary
General of the Organization stated this at a meeting of the Defense Ministers in Dushanbe."
● “We have a wealth of common issues on our hands. These are economic issues in relation to
COVID, and the free movement of labor, and the development of the space industry."
● “This year Belarus chairs the Commonwealth of Independent States. The presidents
discussed topical issues on the eve of the May meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic
Council."
Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus Page 8 of 9
Issue 41 (26/04/2021 – 02/05/2021)ALL STAKES ON LAW ENFORCEMENT
● “Citizen militia are on duty in the cities to help the police. Together they patrol the streets,
visit dysfunctional families, apprehend violators and solve crimes. Immediately after work,
they take up the service, which is also dangerous and difficult, while doing it in their own
time for free."
● “Our military, our militiamen, our security officers have remained faithful to their homeland
and people. The strongest intelligence services in the world have failed. They are disgraced.
Forced to get away. And we repeat again, as we did thousands of years ago: Carthāgō dēlenda
est."
● “To fight against international terrorists, we have special forces, anti-terror fighters, and we
are ready to fulfill the task of suppressing this group, teams, their followers who have
remained at large.”
● “We had 22 people injured, including 10 officers and only four GIs and two cadets. Warrant
officers and officers were always at the forefront. The troops saw that the officer was
leading by example: follow me, follow me. And the officers were shutting down the fighters."
● “I convey the words of every trooper and officer of the SOBR: the President has people to
protect him. We are standing together and we will stand for him and his family. Simply put,
you know what will happen if so much as one hair falls from the head of the president or his
family members."
PRESIDENT’S CONSTITUTION, TIGHTER ANTI-PROTEST LAWS
● “More than a thousand proposals on the most important chapters of the Basic Law! The
Constitutional Commission today considered the powers of the President and the Council of
Ministers."
● “The Basic Law proposes to spell out provisions that the president must have permanent
residence in the country for at least 15 years before the elections and have public service
experience. Also, the new version of the Constitution will consolidate the status and
guarantees of the president after the termination of his powers."
● "The minimum age threshold for the president is proposed to be hiked from 35 to 40-45 or
even 50 years."
● “Belarusians are also getting involved in legislative initiatives, for example, contributing to
the drafts to prevent the rehabilitation of Nazism and counter extremism.”
● “In the near future, the President promised to sign an instrument that would cut off the
ways of encroaching on the sovereignty of Belarus. The decree on the transfer of
presidential powers to the Security Council is a guarantee that in the ashes of other people's
ambitions we all will not have to mourn our own naivety."
Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus Page 9 of 9
Issue 41 (26/04/2021 – 02/05/2021)You can also read
