Zhanna Litvina says authorities keep refusing to do anything to do with mass media

During the 7th congress of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, taking place in Minsk, its head Zhanna Litvina said the society, being deprived of information, is doomed to economic, political and social crisis.
According to Mrs.Litvina, free access to information keeps being the main problem of contemporary Belarusian journalism. ‘The authorities keep refusing to do anything to do with journalists, which is favoured by the Belarusian law on state service, obliging officials to coordinate any information to be provided to journalists with their superior officers. The accreditation is also used as a means of restricting information, which is especially typical of the journalists working with the foreign media,’ said Mrs.Litvina.
She also stressed that the dissemination of information is impaired by the state-owned monopolies – the Belsayuzdruk and Belposhta enterprises. 13 independent newspapers keep receiving refusals to their attempts to distribute their editions through the state-owned networks.