
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
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
13/09/2025
ATLANTA Cox Media Group has announced that the company's vice president of news, Misty Turnbull has been inducted into the National Academy of Television Ar...
13/09/2025
AMSTERDAM Shotoku Broadcast Systems, a major developer of robotic systems, has announced plans to take studio robotics to the next level at IBC2025 by debuting ...
13/09/2025
At IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero Mini, the company's lightest and flattest wireless intercom beltpack to date. Designed to del...
13/09/2025
Shotoku Broadcast Systems, the international developer of dependable, userfriendly robotic systems, is taking studio robotics to the next level at IBC 2025 with...
13/09/2025
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, today released the 9th annual Video Developer Report 2025/26, offering an in-depth look at the evolvi...
13/09/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with StreamShark, the trusted video platform for enterprise...
13/09/2025
Ikegami has chosen IBC 2025 in Amsterdam as the launch venue for a major addition to its range of viewfinders. The new VFE-P711AD is a 7-inch high resolution OL...
13/09/2025
Founder-led Merger to Fast Track R&D, Asset Library Upgrades, Tools and More; No Disruption to Pricing or Support for Users
Today, KitBash3D, a pioneer in 3D a...
13/09/2025
With NDI certification, Atomos integration, Grass Valley collaboration, and a new Monitor app, at this year's IBC, Mavis is showcasing a series of powerful...
13/09/2025
Creamsource, maker of artisan LED lighting for film and television, has unveiled the Vortex24 Soft (V24S), a 1950W native soft light and the largest soft source...
13/09/2025
When international sports streaming service DAZN secured the global rights to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup football tournament, it set out to deliver an unmatch...
13/09/2025
Riedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface from Broadcast Solutions, bringing a powerful, vendor-agnostic control system to it...
13/09/2025
Building on its long-term relationship with audio metering specialist RTW, Calrec has integrated the company's brand new TMxCore metering platform across it...
13/09/2025
Calrec is expanding its family of future-ready self-contained Argo M control surfaces at IBC2025, with the addition of a brand new powerful 48-fader console. Co...
13/09/2025
Researchers find brain region that fuels compulsive drinking Study by Scripps Research scientists shows how the brain learns to seek alcohol for relief, not jus...
12/09/2025
College Football Kickoff 2025: Fox Sports Ups Look as Canon, Sony Power Shallow ...
12/09/2025
ABC/ESPN Excited For WNBA Postseason Coverage In Revamped FormatThe Finals moves to a best-of-seven series in 2025By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor
Friday, Sep...
12/09/2025
(L-R) Jade Croot, Rosy McEwen, and Bryn Chainey attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Rabbit Trap at Eccles Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park ...
12/09/2025
For fans, we know how important it is to stay plugged into music culture and dis...
12/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden and Shipley, United Kingdom, September 12, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability and analytics for service quality and customer expe...
12/09/2025
IBC2025 began on Sept. 12, with exhibits and conferences running through Sept. 15 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center. Explore the full TV Tech coverage of t...
12/09/2025
The Best Fictional Bands (and the Artists Who Make Them Great) With Spinal Tap II: The End Continues hitting theaters and songs from KPop Demon Hunters ruling...
12/09/2025
Industry veteran Tom Baldassare has joined Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, as a Se...
12/09/2025
Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, and more, today announced a...
12/09/2025
PlayBox Neo, a leading provider of media playout solutions, has partnered with AI-Media, pioneering developers of AI-powered captioning technology, to integrate...
12/09/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
12/09/2025
New alliance strengthens the IT channel in Germany and Switzerland in protecting business-critical SaaS data.
Keepit, the world s only independent, cloud-nativ...
12/09/2025
Fincons Group, an international IT business consultancy and systems integrator company with more than 40 years of experience in the market, is proud to announce...
12/09/2025
Following its acquisition of Telemetrics, EVS continues its push into robotics with an announcement at IBC2025 that it is acquiring XD motion....
12/09/2025
TORONTO The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) has announced the appointment of Eduardo Ruiz Sanchez, deputy director, broadcast operations at Telev...
12/09/2025
Ed Miller, a longtime broadcast engineer in Ohio and a former national president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, has died....
12/09/2025
AMSTERDAM At this year's IBC2025, the Advanced HDR by Technicolor initiative will be pushing broadcasters to adopt a more dynamic, frame-by-frame conversion...
12/09/2025
Feature-length retrospective from Studio Crook to air in 2026
Sir David Jason returns to the nation's favourite comedy channel, U&GOLD, for Open All Hours:...
12/09/2025
September 12th, 2025
Tribeca X and The Female Quotient to Host Powerhouse Em...
12/09/2025
Friday 12 September 2025
The Boomtown Rats, Nyah Grace, Soweto Kinch, Royal Ballet and Madness also announced to perform at the ceremony on Tuesday
Sky today ...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Unveils Ultra-Light Bolero Mini Wireless Intercom BeltpackAt IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero M...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Communications Acquires hi human interfaceRiedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface fro...
12/09/2025
Back to All News
New International Crime Series Road (WT)' Explores Twiste...
12/09/2025
Back to All News
First Look: Thai Crime Drama Everybody Loves Me When I'm ...
12/09/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Marks 10 Years in Japan, Announces Three New Series Th...
12/09/2025
CORE+ virtually removes distortion, setting a new standard for church sound and giving worship teams the clarity and confidence they need.
Read the full artic...
12/09/2025
The Late Late Show is back with a bang after the summer break, and Patrick Kielt...
12/09/2025
The World Athletics Championships, Ireland v France in the Women's Rugby World Cup quarter-final, the Irish Champions Festival, and two Sports Direct Men...
12/09/2025
The Records Show starts Sunday at 6.30pm on RT One and RT Player.
Katie Hanno...
11/09/2025
Report: Busy Live Sports Streaming Execs Have Low-hanging Fruit' in Front o...
11/09/2025
Inside Game Creek Video's Big Week as Ovation, Flagship Make NFL DebutsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, September 11, 2025 - 7:00 am
Pr...
11/09/2025
NFL Kickoff 2025: Prime Sports Starts New Season at Lambeau Field; Sets Sights o...
11/09/2025
College Football Kickoff 2025: NBC Sports Pushes HDR Image Quality, Aerial Drone...