Radio Racyja

We spend our last morning in Bialystock visiting a Radio Racyja, a Belarusian radio station that broadcasts from the Polish side of the border. Apparently it’s nearly impossible to do independent journalism in Belarus- the Belarusian KGB (as our host referred to them) had recently broken into an apartment in Minsk that was being used as sort of an “underground” headquarters for the station and made off with all of their files and electronics, luckily no one was hurt.

The whole experience was just inspirational. Inspirational for me as a (possible) future journalist- these guys have set up shop across the border to get people the information they need, but can’t access in their own country. That’s the kind of dedication to the truth that you just want to bottle up and give to every Western journalist who starts to take his or her freedoms and protections for granted. Also inspirational from a scholarly perspective- I’m really interested in the link between journalism and the news media and all the forces that come together to make democracy work- in countries where it’s the tried and true, established way of life, but especially in those places, like Belarus, where it hasn’t quite found its footing. The journalists we spoke with at the radio station said they did not expect to see a democratic Belarus emerge in their lifetimes, but nonetheless work tirelessly to lay the groundwork for such a change, risking their careers and sometimes their lives. I hope this experience sticks with me, and I can call upon it whenever I find myself questioning my purpose as a journalist or as an academic. The work these journalists are doing is so incredibly essential- and I want to do all I can to support it and study ways to bring it up from the underground.

Checking out the equipment

Wall in the newsroom (the photo is from a big protest in Minsk a few years back).
Hard to tell, but this is me doing a short interview with one of the Radio Racyja journalists.