BelaPAN facts for kids

The Belarusian Private News Agency, known as BelaPAN, is an independent news agency in Belarus. It is one of the most important news sources in the country. BelaPAN shares news about politics, the economy, and sports from Belarus. They provide news in Russian, Belarusian, and English. Many reporters and correspondents work for BelaPAN.

The company also works on projects like advertising and watching elections. BelaPAN owns an online newspaper called Belorusskiye Novosti. Since 2004, BelaPAN has been the only Belarusian member of CEE-BusinessLine. In 2019, Media IQ said BelaPAN was very good at being fair and not spreading government messages. The agency is known for giving balanced and objective news. They cover events from both Eastern and Western political areas.

History of BelaPAN

How BelaPAN Started

The agency began on November 19, 1991. It was founded by journalists Aleś Lipaj and Vital Cyhankoŭ. In 1992, Iryna Leŭšyna joined the team. She became the editor-in-chief by 2020. She remembers that BelaPAN's first office was very small. It had only one computer, one fax machine, and three desks. Besides Leŭšyna and Lipaj, three other people worked there. They would print the news and deliver it by hand to other newspapers in Minsk.

The company slowly grew bigger. In 1996, they rented an office from BelTA. In the early 2000s, they started a newspaper called Отдыхай (which means 'Rest'). But this project did not make enough money, so it closed down. By 2001, six out of nine FM radio stations in Minsk used news from BelaPAN. In 2002, the agency had many different departments. These included teams for analysis, advertising, publishing, and web design.

On January 1, 2002, BelaPAN launched its online newspaper, ‘Belorusskiye novosti’ (Naviny.by). This was the first online newspaper in Belarus. Unlike paper newspapers, it published news every day. In 2007, a separate team for multimedia was created. In July of that year, they started using infographics. By 2008, BelaPAN published at least 100 news articles daily. The company also had a news monitoring service and an advertising agency. Over the years, BelaPAN's journalists faced many difficulties. They were sometimes arrested or questioned. Their work was often made harder.

Challenges in the 2010s

BelaPAN's website was attacked by hackers on October 24, 2011. The attackers put a picture of Lukashenko on the main page. On December 20, 2014, the websites for BelaPAN and Naviny were blocked. On October 3, 2015, BelaPAN's server had a big DDoS attack. This happened after they published stories about a protest called ‘Pray for Belarus’. Other times the site was blocked were on March 27, 2015, and February 15, 2016. These blockages happened during important political events. Even though the government could block websites, they officially blamed hackers. Other independent news sites were also blocked at the same time.

The BelTA Case

Several journalists and the editor-in-chief of BelaPAN faced problems. They were accused of using news from a paid service of a government agency called BelTA. BelaPAN’s editor-in-chief, Iryna Leŭšyna, was held for three days. Groups that support human rights, the BAJ, and members of the OSCE said this case was meant to scare independent media. They felt the government's actions were too harsh.

Recent Events (2020s)

On January 14, 2021, BelaPAN's office was searched. Office equipment and documents were taken. This made it very hard for the news agency to work. On August 18, 2021, the police searched BelaPAN's office and the homes of six employees. Five journalists were held. These included director Iryna Leushyna, former director Dzmitry Navazhilau, accountant Katsyaryna Boeva, and correspondents Zakhar Shcharbakov and Iryna Turchyna. Also held was Aliaksandar Zaitsau, who was deputy chief editor. They were held at the Okrestina Detention Facility. The police also took BelaPAN’s servers and the journalists' personal devices.

In November 2021, the KGB said BelaPAN was an "extremist formation." In Belarus, creating or joining such a group is against the law. Leushyna and Navazhilau were accused of creating an extremist group. BelaPAN's websites, which were already blocked, stopped updating. The former team from BelaPAN and Naviny.by later started a new news agency called Pozirk. In October 2023, they announced their new website, Pozirk.online.

Awards and Recognition

BelaPAN has received many awards for its work, including:

• The Dźmitry Zavadski Prize "For Courage and Professionalism" (2004).
• The Zeit Foundation's Free Media Awards (2005).
• The Runet Prize for being the best online Russian language news source outside Russia (2006).
• Corporate Social Responsibility Award (2016).
• Editor-in-chief Iryna Leǔšyna received the Journalist of Year award (2018).
• BelaPAN’s reporter Taciana Karaviankova was given the Civil Society Champion prize (2018).
• Leader of Consumer Market Award (2019).