Siarhei Tsikhanouski reacted to Nasha Niva’s report on the celebration of his birthday, said how much he spent on the event and where he gets his funding, and also proposed reviewing Belarusian media outlets and bloggers. He published a lengthy post on the subject on Facebook.
Tsikhanouski was upset by Nasha Niva’s mention that he celebrated his birthday in Los Angeles “in grand style.” He clarified that he spent only $130 on soft drinks and alcohol, while his friends organized everything else.
Tsikhanouski named his sources of funding. According to him, he recently received nearly $40,000 in advertising revenue from YouTube that had been accrued in 2020. After his release, he was also supported by representatives of the Belarusian diaspora and business community.
Tsikhanouski proposes looking at the issue more broadly and raises the question of biased coverage of events in Belarusian independent media.
“One could laugh about it and forget. But the problem is that this is far from the first case when so-called independent Belarusian media outlets, in pursuit of clicks, use loud and provocative headlines that create an impression in the reader that does not correspond to the substance of the article. And the information itself is often presented one-sidedly — in a way that supports the narrative already set by the headline. I am not talking only about this particular publication,” Tsikhanouski said.
He believes that remaining silent in such a situation is not appropriate, as the issue concerns accountability to the audience.
The blogger separately addressed the issue of grants and said he had never received any for his channel.
“I do not receive grants for my channel and have never received them. At the same time, the work of some people on my channel was paid for through grant funding, the total amount of which was €10,000 per month, or €120,000 a year. Today, some of them prefer to say that this was exclusively a ‘salary,’ while withholding the source of this funding and at the same time telling their audience about grants that I allegedly received.
Zhenya, if you publicly claim that I ‘got a grant’ for my new poetry channel, show me that grant. Name the organization, amount and date. I am ready to publicly stand by my words and expect the same from people who make public statements about me,” Tsikhanouski wrote.
Tsikhanouski proposes informing Western partners and donors about the publication of inaccurate information in Belarusian independent media so that this data can be taken into account when making funding decisions.
“If media outlets and bloggers receive funding from European and other Western organizations, does society have the right to demand that they comply with at least basic journalistic standards? Should the organizations that provide this money know about cases of disseminating inaccurate information, manipulative headlines and systematic distortion of facts?
I believe they should.
That is why I am considering collecting specific examples and approaching our Western partners with a proposal to take into account the quality and accountability of recipients when making decisions on further funding,” Tsikhanouski said.
He asked readers to help him collect information and send links to specific articles.
“If there are enough such examples, they could be systematized and submitted to the organizations that make funding decisions. If necessary, a joint appeal or petition could also be discussed.
Freedom of speech does not exempt anyone from responsibility for what they say. And independent journalism should differ from propaganda above all in its attitude toward facts,” Tsikhanouski said.
