Zhanna Litvina and Joseph Siaredzich enter media coordination council

Zhanna Litvina, the chairwoman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and Joseph Siaredzich, the editor-in-chief of Narodnaya Volya independent daily, have been invited to join the public coordination council on the media. The official invitation was signed by Lilia Ananich, the first deputy information minister of Belarus.  Commenting to the European Radio for Belarus, Zhanna Litvina said the council was set up to coordinate actions between government agencies, public organizations and other subjects associated with media affairs. She stressed that it was important for the council not to remain just a consultative body.

Zhanna Litvina described the major issues which should be a priority for the council:

Litvina: The list of priority issues for the council includes the creation of equal economic conditions for both the state-run and private media organizations; a civilized media market in Belarus. These problems may emerge when the new media law comes into force on February 8.

According to Mrs Litvina, BAJ will propose a package of documents regarding various media, including the web-based news publications.

Mrs Litvina noted that she had no illussions over the operation of the council, but she would use it as an opportunity to speak out alternative views of the society.