MINSK, 3 May (BelTA) – Reporters should be united in protecting public interests. The statement was made by Secretary General of the News Agencies World Congress, Director General of the Bulgarian news agency BTA Maxim Minchev during the conference held in Minsk on 3 May to discuss professionalism and responsibility of mass media in a changing world, BelTA has learned.
“Reporters need genuine solidarity despite our differences,” stressed Maxim Minchev. “All of us protect public interests.”
According to the secretary general of the News Agencies World Congress, news reporting tools change very fast, new technologies and ways of reaching listeners and readers become available. “If I come for the expo in Minsk in five years, discussion topics will be totally different,” remarked Maxim Minchev. “Opening such an expo on 3 May is very symbolical: the UN and UNESCO have declared the day as World Press Freedom Day. And it is very important because important questions concerning this line of work are asked here today.”
Maxim Minchev said that of all the topics raised during the conference he takes a close interest in mass media coverage of crises and conflicts. “Whether we want it or not, crises are starting to surround us and put pressure on us from morning till night. And mass media have to deliver news to the public very fast. News items are getting shorter because they follow each other closely and interest in each of them wanes rapidly since the public looks forward to the next one all the time. Sometimes readers don't need profound analysis. They don't want to speculate about reasons behind crisis phenomena. It is one of the serious challenges modern journalism faces,” believes the secretary general of the News Agencies World Congress.
The conference on professionalism and responsibility of mass media in a changing world was held in Minsk on 3 May on the sidelines of the 21st international expo Mass Media in Belarus.
The expo Mass Media in Belarus opened in Minsk on 3 May. The forum gathered Belarusian news agencies, publishing houses, and other kinds of mass media. Foreign guests have been invited to participate. Chinese mass media have been invited to participate as a guest of honor. Visitors are free to get familiar with editions published in the Union State of Belarus and Russia as well as editions published in association with Belarusian diasporas in Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, and Russia. The forum has been organized by the Belarusian Information Ministry, the national expo center BelExpo in association with the Minsk City Executive Committee, the Belarusian state television and radio company Belteleradiocompany, the Union of Publishers and Distributors of Printed Products, the House of Press, and the Belarusian Union of Journalists.
