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Ales Asipcou: “In Our Country It’s Dangerous Just To Be A Human Being”Vitold Niauryda | Äîáŕâëĺíî: 12 íî˙áđ˙ 2007  I think that in our country in general it’s dangerous just to be a human being, who can think, analyze, has one’s own point of view that is different form the official one.
As far as journalism is concerned, to be a journalist is also dangerous. A journalist should perform the following professional duties: to inform the audience clear and easy for people to understand.
But our Belarusian reality has distorted this duty beyond recognition. A journalist has to be incredibly cautious in chose of form and style of presenting information. Everybody he writes about tries to show that “He should write about this things this way and about those things the following way!” Very often a journalist is blamed for the definite problems because he just writes about that problems. There is a danger to turn from objective journalism into the sphere of propaganda – to become a propagandist.
A journalist also has special relations with governmental bodies. We do not have clear and concrete legislation. Even if a journalist obeys the existing laws, it does not always help. That is why one should write carefully, avoiding hot and dangerous topics.
It is not difficult to get information. The most difficult thing is to confirm any fact – to get comments of the officials that are connected with the facts. The problem is that if there are no officials’ comments on the information announced, such a material would have not been considered as a completely objective one. Actually, the authorities have isolated themselves from the journalists who ask many questions. As a result, the information published on the pages of the state print media is far from reality. When reading, you are surprised about how our life good is.
I have not experienced direct pressure of the authorities, thanks God. But there is a feeling of the forthcoming pressure, it is true. There is a feeling of unsafety in general, that is a result of the nuances that a journalist has to work with. For example, in Mahileu, where there is no independent public Mass Media, it goes without saying that you are under special attention. It’s enough just to take a dictaphone, put a badge of a journalist on and start interviewing the passers-by – and you are immediately under attention.
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Ales Asipcou is a journalist. He started writing for the newspapers in 1996. Has worked with “Tydniovik Mahileusky” / “Mahileu Weekly” /, edited news circulation “A Week with Mahileu Region”. Ales Asipcou is the author of publishing projects “Terra Inkognita”, “A Hundred Destroyed Architecture Memorials of Mahileu”, “Without a Name”, “We Are”.
Cooperates with newspaper “Nasha Niva”, and “ARCHE” magazine. Writes articles for some Belarusian Internet editions
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