MINSK, 3 October (BelTA) – The primary task of every press service is to promote state policy in the information space and to explain the important decisions made by the authorities, First Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Vladimir Pertsov said at a seminar-meeting titled “Topical Issues of Strategic Communications and Situational Response” for those responsible for working with the media, BelTA has learned.
The meeting featured representatives from all branches of government and continued a series of meetings dedicated to analyzing and improving informational work, strategic communications, and interaction between government agencies.
“Today, the primary task of every press service is, first and foremost, to promote state policy in the information space and to explain the important decisions made by both local and national authorities. The state is currently carrying out a colossal amount of work, and the public must be aware of it. In this regard, it is important to highlight the linkage between the press services of official government bodies and the mass media. In general, the key messages for press secretaries and media liaisons in government bodies and organizations are always roughly the same. The only thing is that over the past two years almost 50% of the press secretaries have been replaced, so we will discuss the practices that we have already been implementing quite successfully,” Vladimir Pertsov said.
According to the first deputy head of the Belarus President Administration, the rapid evolution of the media sector requires all professionals involved to continuously enhance their expertise and abilities. “This is why we hold relevant seminars where we discuss modern tools for information promotion, such as new media and, of course, convergent mass media, to more effectively communicate the country's policies across various sectors. After all, you - the mass media - understand better than anyone that you can no longer attract a modern viewer or reader with uninteresting press releases (“a meeting was held”, “an event took place”, “an award was bestowed”, and so on). People are interested in the decisions made by government bodies from the perspective of how their lives will change for the better,” he emphasized.
Vladimir Pertsov pointed out that state media outlets expect ministries and departments to provide topics that can subsequently be developed situationally and with a targeted focus. “This should not be done on an ad-hoc basis, especially regarding issues that are predictable year after year and can cause public resonance. Examples include the university admissions campaign, the harvest season, preparations for a new school year, the heating season, long queues at clinics during peak illness periods, the arrival of young specialists at their first workplace, the production cycle at large enterprises, and others. Relevant topics need to be addressed comprehensively and from the viewpoint of ordinary people,” he added.
As positive examples of government bodies setting trends with creative, educational content, the first deputy head of the Belarus President Administration cited the Emergencies Ministry, the State Border Committee, the Forestry Ministry, the Sports and Tourism Ministry, Belgospishcheprom, and Belneftekhim.
“All government bodies need to ensure their presence on the social networks most popular with the public, especially on TikTok. A modern press secretary is a communications strategist, a key link in shaping the positive image of their sector and the state, an SMM specialist, a PR manager, a guardian of their segment of the information space and of national interests. Everyone here is not only shaping the image of their own government body or industry but, in general, shaping the image of state authority in our country,” Vladimir Pertsov said.
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