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Operating largely from exile after being blocked in Belarus and disrupted by the war in Ukraine, Tribuna.com has rebuilt itself as a global, remote sports media platform. The piece shows how it adapted to displacement and political pressure by combining journalism, technology, and fan communities into a resilient, product-driven media model.
Nastassia Rouda, director of Belarusian outlet Nasha Niva, shares how her team continues reporting from exile in Vilnius. Using creative content, humor, and social media, they stay relevant inside Belarus despite political repression and economic hardships, keeping audiences engaged and preserving free media for Belarusians across generations.
Larysa Shchyrakova from Homiel worked at Belsat almost from the very beginning, since 2008. The journalist did not have a quiet life even before 2020, but after the protests and mass repressions began, life turned into a waiting game — when will they come for her? Larysa says that when they really came, she exhaled, because she could no longer be afraid.
The collection tells the story of the laureates of the “Voice of the Freedom Generation” award, founded by the Belarusian PEN in partnership with the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, the Belarusian Association of Journalists, Press Club Belarus and Free Press for Eastern Europe endowment fund.
For decades, Belarus was considered a “blank spot” on the international map of investigative journalism. Its government consistently ranks as the least open in Europe. Despite this, investigative journalism is in its best state ever, with the Belarusian Investigative Center (BIC) at the forefront.
The Belarusian-Ukrainian publisher has grown to over 200 employees in 28 countries, fuelled by community features and a new tech platform in its bid to challenge established players. As traditional media business models falter, publishers are searching for new ways to engage audiences and generate revenue. For the sports media network Tribuna, the answer lies in a major technological and global expansion.
Independent media can be destroyed, journalists can be imprisoned — but they cannot be forced into silence. The starting point of the newest Belarusian history was August 9, 2020 — the day of voting in a presidential election that never truly happened. That day marked the beginning of a total purge of Belarus’s democratic society.
A February 2025 report from the Inter‑American Dialogue outlines a comprehensive roadmap for protecting independent journalism in closed and repressive environments. Drawing on insights from media practitioners and experts, it sets out strategies to strengthen legal guarantees, sustainability, safety and resilience, offering actionable ideas to support journalists and news outlets under threat at home or in exile.
In the final quarter of 2024, there was a rise in the criminal prosecution of journalists, both domestically and in absentia, along with more frequent searches of journalists’ homes and offices, and a wider scope of censorship. The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) has documented these alarming developments in a recent statement.
41 Belarusian journalists remain behind bars since 2020, punished for covering protests against presidential election fraud that gave Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in power. Their prison sentences range from 3 to 15 years, simply for doing their jobs — reporting the news. Hundreds more have fled the country. Yet they continue their work. Why?
The sports outlet «Tribuna» is actively expanding its network of apps and services – cutting-edge not just for Belarus, but for the entire region. Belarusian Association of Journalists spoke with Tribuna’s director, Maksim Berazinski, about how modern technologies are being integrated into their journalistic and editorial work.
The autocratic playbook of abusing or introducing economic laws to curtail journalists and newsrooms by attacking their credibility and financial viability is sharply outlined in a new report by WAN-IFRA and the IAPA.
The role of journalism in authoritarian and conflict-affected regions remains as crucial as it has ever been. While technological advances provide new opportunities for newsgathering, there are still plenty of pitfalls for those who are trying to convey the truth.
What has happened to the Belarusian media and journalists since the day of the presidential elections — from 9 August 2020 until today — is an unprecedented case of the eradication of independent journalism in a single country, in the centre of Europe, in the 21st century.
Threats, repression, conflict, and unrest: across the world, these and other factors are pushing journalists into exile in record numbers. In a striking development, exiled or soon-to-be exiled journalists now make up more than half of the people CPJ assists. While exile is a global issue, three countries — Russia, Iran, and Afghanistan — stand out as places from which journalists flee only to face further insecurity. Below, find case studies on each country.
Reporters Without Borders has ranked Belarus as the worst country for press freedom in Europe. Maria Savushkina, a Belarusian journalist currently living in Berlin, reaches tens of thousands of people back home with her political satire.
The International Press Institute has urged Poland’s Foreign Ministry to reconsider its decision to cut the financing of Belsat, a flagship Belarusian-language broadcaster operating within Poland’s public television service (TVP), amid growing concern about the survival of exiled Belarusian media. With the budget slashed, Belsat is not alone in being in a precarious state.
They left Belarus to work in freedom as journalists. But three years after the disputed 2020 election independent Belarusian journalists abroad are struggling to survive financially.