Khadasouski: Readers too should regulate subscription costs

Newspapers in Russia on May 21 did not come out with blank spots on the first pages, because the office of the Russian president stepped in to settle the conflict. Vyachaslau Khadasouski, the editor-in-chief of the private newspaper Belorusy i Rynok (Belarusians and Market), describes the situation when the president handles the issue to the advantage of the media as “impossible for Belarus”. He says that market and readers only should be involved in price formation in the media field.

The European Radio for Belarus reported earlier that newspapers in Russia were expected to come out with only five lines on the first pages:

“The speech freedom can be suppressed by various means. For instance, (it can be done) by raising sharply subscription tariffs”.

The action of publishers was designed to respond to the Russian Post which abruptly raised subscription fees, in some regions by 100 percent.

It was Russian president Dmitry Medvedev who settled the conflict. Publishers had sent him a letter on behalf of newspapers and subscribers. As a result, all possible decision-makers started preparing actions. Vladimir Sugorkin, the editor-in-chief of Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, said that “the organizers have achieved their goal of drawing attention to the problem without any actions. The decision was made not to waste the most expensive pages for that”.

Commenting on this incident in the Russian media field, Vyachaslau Khadasouski, the editor-in-chief of Belarusy i Rysnok newspaper and a board member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, notes the situation looks like nonsense through Belarusian eyes.

“I don’t think that it is possible in Belarus to see the office of the president to step in to settle a conflict to the advantage of the media, especially private. On the other hand, Russian media seem to be facing the problems that resemble the processes in Belarus: increased administrative pressure on the media and the restriction of speech freedom. Both Russian and foreign journalists note about those problems”.

Different from many civilized countries, subscription in Belarus is much more expensive. In Europe, subscription is cheaper, because publishers respect their subscribers as investors. In this regard, Vyachaslau Khadasouski notes that wrong people handle pricing for newspapers in Belarus.

“I think that market should regulated costs, including subscription tariffs. Newspapers should not be sold cheaper than their cost price. When they are sold cheaper their cost price, they have to compensate their expenditures from other sources, for instance, advertising. In Belarus, retail prices and subscription prices are heavily regulated. This seriously prevents the independent press from making enough money for their existence. Readers set prices. If newspapers become too expensive for them, they stop buying”.

Under the anti-trust laws in Europe, readers are entitled to choosing a delivery company and the costs. Meanwhile, monopolies continue to flourish in the post-Soviet spaces.