Sviatlana Kalinkina: Most cruel and adamant battles happen on information battlefield

International monitoring and assessment of the standards of reporting on the conflict in Ukraine that BAJ is calling for is needed if only because the situation can be repeated in Belarus.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) called on international journalism organizations to monitor and promote professional standards of reporting on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The reason for addressing the International Federation of Journalists, the European Federation of Journalists, the Association of European Journalists, the European Broadcasting Union, the International Press Institute, and other professional organizations are the outrageous falsification of reality and manipulation of public opinion by the media.

The impact of the information war is reaching far beyond the borders of the conflict between the two countries. Through television and the Internet, the information war is directly influencing public opinion in neighboring countries, including Belarus. This is why the coverage of the ongoing events in eastern Ukraine demands urgent attention and assessment by international journalism organizations, assumes BAJ.

International monitoring and assessment of the standards of reporting on the conflict must immediately be launched in order to avoid the degradation of professional standards and its consequences on journalism and public opinion around the world, is said in the text of the appeal.

Have interviews of chained captives and hostages become normal in the situation of information war? EuroBelarus Information Service talked to Sviatlana Kalinkina, chief-editor’s deputy in Narodnaya Volia (People’s Will) newspaper, about the rules of journalistic ethics and the actuality of BAJ’s initiative, i.e. the monitoring of the standards of reporting on the conflict in Ukraine.

- Are rules of journalistic ethics working in the situation of information war?

- They are not working at all. And, of course, what we see now in reports on Ukrainian events often doesn’t have to do anything with journalism.

- What counteractions do journalists use?

- There are plenty of them, from absolute fakes to distortions on information and tendentious feed. It’s not journalism; it’s the information war. Unfortunately, only certain media are trying to work according to journalistic canons in this situation. And this is true for both sides.

On the other hand, it is unclear how we would be behaving if we come to be in such situation, especially if we put ourselves in Ukraine’s shoes.

- You mentioned certain media, which are trying to be objective. Could you name them?

- First of all, it is media that are giving both sides the opportunity to speak and represent different stances. In Russia these are TV-channel “Dozhd” (Rain), “Echo of Moscow”, “Novaya Gazeta” (New Gazette), TheNewTimes magazine, internet editions such as Slon.ru.

As to Ukraine, I like the work that UNIAN, “Observer” is doing.

- Russia is obviously winning in the information war against Ukraine. Could you give a piece of advice as to what independent journalists should do in order to defeat the stronger side?

- They are to check information that is being spread now and check the source of this information. And keep a cool head, of course, which is a difficult but right thing to do, especially for the Belarusan journalists. We still can remain sensible in this situation, and I would very much appreciate if we do.

- Can we expect the real results of the monitoring that BAJ is calling for? Would this appeal be heard?

- I really hope for that. As it is the first time that we are facing the situation when war is not exactly the war, and army is not a real army… And it is at information field where the most cruel and adamant battles are going on.

Anyway, the monitoring of this situation from all perspectives is needed. It might calm down the two sides and make journalists remember that they are not soldiers; they should give people unbiased information whether they like it or not, whether it is good or bad.

First of all, journalists should present different points of view. And secondly, monitoring can be a good lesson, as nobody is protected from the repetitions of such situation in some other country. And this is a new reality we should learn to live in.