Press Club Belarus organised master-class for journalists with Galina Timchenko

On December 6^th, Press Club Belarus and TUT.BY organised a master-class with Galina Timchenko, former chief editor of Lenta.ru. She told about her new media project Meduza.io and about problems and challenges journlaism faced today.

According to Timchenko, today in the Russian media, “the amount of white noise has increased and there is very little meaning”. In this situation, Medusa has become an aggregator, which “gathers a picture of the day from the available sources” and promotes investigative journalism.

Timchenko explained why Medusa is an independent media. “We do not try to please everyone, we are not in the opposition, and we do not have the primary investor.”

Today, the media are experiencing a crisis of confidence (for which, according to Timchenko, the media themselves are largely to blame for) and the crisis of attention. “The only thing we can do to get the audience’s attention is to amuse”.

According to the editor, constant changes in the media is the norm and should not be feared. “The one who wins is not large and with horns, it is rather small, angry and crazy”.

“Do not lie and do try and look for an interesting story to tell” – one does not need a formal training to become a journalist. Timchenko said journalism is a “skill brought to perfection”. A journalist should be inquisitive.

According to Timchenko, information can also be found in the biased media: “Propaganda will remain the propaganda, but a fact will be buried in it. It just needs to be peeled off.”

The master-class was broadcasted online and the video is available here.

More information in Russian.