Regional media in Belarus are being helped to find a more modern voice - to deal with the complex challenges presented by their belated entry to the Internet Age.
Thomson Foundation has delivered a programme to help regional newspapers and websites improve digital content and workflows to engage the growing younger audience while ensuring ethical best practices.
Challenges for regional media in Belarus are many - not just tackling the shift of readers to digital platforms. Increasing use of the internet also allows easy access, competition and influence by foreign media - particularly from Russia.
Recruitment is difficult due to low wages while in the state-owned newspapers - still the majority in regional media - there is often little integration between journalists on newspapers and those on their websites and social media. Many websites have been set up under separate brands to the print editions.
To help improve matters, Thomson Foundation's Deepening Digital programme took a two-phase approach: providing in-house mentoring to help news organisations develop a strategy for integrated newsrooms, followed by training journalists to use smartphones to provide eye-catching, but cost-effective, content to drive eyeballs to websites and social media.
Achieving Sustainable Models While television is the main source of news in Belarus, newspapers have a new opportunity with the internet achieving 6.7 million users by the end of 2017 - 71% of the population. https://www.internetworldstats.com/europa2.htm#by
Some of the media outlets continue to rely on traditional formats and practices so the challenge is to help them understand how to achieve contemporary sustainable models, says David Quin, Thomson Foundation's director of development.
Deepening Digital Phase 1: Mentoring Trainer Jamie Donald ran in-house mentoring workshops for editors and journalists introducing them to key aspects of digital best practise across desktop, mobile and social media. The aim was to deepen the digital involvement of all staff and users, improve audience engagement and attract new audiences and, importantly, revenue.
Newer media organisations are privately funded and need advertising. Some state media organisations also rely on advertising.
Deepening Digital Phase 2: Content Production This phase concentrated on mobile journalism where journalists use their smartphones to film and edit videos for their websites at low cost - regularly using softer feature stories as a way of increasing audience engagement.
Thomson Foundation's Head of Training Deborah Kelly worked with camera operator Siarhei Isakov, from the Press Club of Belarus, to provide four-day workshops in video story construction and technical skills working with phones on the Android and IOS operating systems.
The workshops ended with a screening of the video news packages which the journalists had researched, shot and edited on their smartphones to ensure they had grasped the basics. Thirty-six videos were produced by the journalists from the six news organisations participating in the programme.
The Deepening Digital project was funded by the British Embassy in Minsk.
Mobile Journalism videos - Belarus
-- Play
-- --
Making Up A Young Actor Prepares for the Stage.
-- Play
-- --
Mr Popular The headteacher who knows all his pupils by name
-- Play
-- --
The Trees of Slutsk Fighting to save the apple trees
All videos can be viewed on our You Tube Channel Related Content
Deepening Digital Kazakhstan. Building better relationships between Kazakh journalists and government officials.
How mojo has changed the way I tell stories Journalist Leonor Su rez on the smart phone reporting revolution.
Mobile Journalism - that blew my mind Why training to use a phone to film is central to the summer course.
Deborah Kelly Head of Training and Communications
About: Deborah plays a key part in developing and promoting our training programmes and is our specialist on gender in media. Her recent training projects have centred on digital and mobile journalism.
We get around. Explore our project map
Most recent headlines
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
01/01/2026
New year, new games, all with RTX 5080-powered cloud energy. GeForce NOW is kicking off 2026 by looking back at an unforgettable year of wins and wildly high fr...
30/12/2025
As the College Football Playoff Enters the Quarterfinals, ESPN Blows Out Its Meg...
30/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Original ArticlesTake a look back at all our coverage of big-time productions, game-changing technologies, and state-of-the-art new faci...
30/12/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Dec. 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its fourth quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, J...
30/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
30/12/2025
It marked the first civilian operational authorization for a HAPS flight in Europe, led by Space42's subsidiary, Mira Aerospace
The flight demonstrated HAP...
29/12/2025
San Francisco 49ers Strike Gold With Halftime Laser SpectacularStunning display caps $200 million renovation of Levi's Stadium techBy Dan Daley, Audio Edito...
29/12/2025
The Cup's Around the Corner: An Inside Look at Broadcast Preparations for th...
29/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Longform VideoWatch the standout keynote conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions from the year for free on SVG PLAY!By Brandon ...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
29/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
27/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today!By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
P...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's The Great Flood and Culinary Class Wars 2 Top Gl...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things By the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shap...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
Regional media in Belarus are being helped to find a more modern voice - to deal with the complex challenges presented by their belated entry to the Internet Age.
