Colonel Proleskovsky: Nobody Appointed Me a Journalist :: Charter'97 :: News

In the end of last year they replaced the head of the country’s leading news agency. The post of the BELTA director general was taken over by the high-ranking officer from the presidential Security service – colonel Oleg Proleskovsky. The man used to be in charge of press at his previous job. The newly appointed (personally by Lukashenko) BELTA director, sincerely ponders that “journalistic materials must be viewed as a means of social consensus, values and consolidation of the Belarusian society”. He told this in his interview to the newspaper “7 Days”, most exciting extracts of which you may find below.

- What’s your attitude to the critical voices?

- Let me put it this way: I positively regard constructive criticism from good-wishers, which is targeted at the improvement and sophistication of work. There is ill-wishing too. Feel the difference?

- As far as we, journalists, don’t chance to talk much with the former presidential bodyguard, it would be interesting to learn at first hand about the principles of work of this institution…

- Specifics of special services’ work in all countries is similar, a lot also depends on the national security concept and threats, posed to the head of state. Our president’s lifestyle is quite ascetic. He doesn’t live in opulence and there are no extra requirements in guarding him, except those, which are ordinary to all. The president assumes that things must be put in balance. Generally speaking, our Security service is a unique structure, where best professionals from various special services are employed.

Activities of the analytical department, which I was in charge of, are quite similar to the journalistic. And so, opposition voices, which claim that I have nothing to do with journalism, are mistaken. Moreover, I wasn’t appointed a journalist but rather the head of the agency, where, apart from journalists, there work photo-correspondents, editors and publishers. My task is to unite all of them into one force and work out the common strategy, coordinated with our main founder.

- When appointing you as the director general, the president must have mentioned his own vision of the oldest Belarusian news agency…

- Our agency, as pinpointed by the president, is first and foremost a conductor of the state policy. It must become sort of a country’s window-shop in the global information space. The state is doing a lot for the agency and by right counts on decent feedback. BELTA information production should in no wise remain something dry, indifferent in the form of a news update. Instead, we are called to promote anything of value, which exists in the country.

Up to date the basic criterion for defining the news “goodness” was its evil content. Even today we have numerous Internet sites and servers, which are dominated by negative information. Let’s not discuss this problem right now, but instead think how we can better reflect not only destructive passions, but also creative ones. Whereas in 60-80ies the TV channels and periodical editions were too pre-occupied with the former, in 90ies there emerged another extreme – certain vogue for negative signs of nature and human spirit. But is that right, I wonder?

The president required to formulate fundamental rules in information dissemination: poignancy, reliability, fullness, preciseness and verifiability. Especially this concerns the state information. Meantime, the head of state emphasized that information must be bright and creatively meaningful. Especially this is true with the regional information. We intend to widen our presence there, increasing our own correspondents’ network, and forming the so-called informational vertical.