VZCZCXRO2220
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSK #0154/01 0511506
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201506Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5675
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000154 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO OEXC SCUL PREL BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY IN BELARUSIAN STATE MEDIA SPOTLIGHT: COVERAGE 
PREPOSTEROUS BUT PERSISTENT 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) The Belarusian state media landscape remains challenging, 
with a clear anti-USG and anti-Western agenda.  State-owned media 
outlets, both broadcast and print, have continued their negative and 
inaccurate reporting about U.S. Embassy activities; post management 
and Embassy officers -- particularly from POL/ECON and PAS -- have 
become minor celebrities, featured in state TV broadcasts several 
times each month.  While preposterous, these reports remain 
persistent, even if state media hacks don't believe what they're 
saying or writing.  Rather than seek to counter every report, we 
prefer to take the high road and reach out to a broader and younger 
audience to educate Belarusians about American culture, society and 
values.  End summary. 
 
Motivation, Strategy and Desired Results 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) State media has the natural motivation of persuading 
average Belarusians, who have little or no access to alternative 
sources of information, that the United States, European Union and 
other Western institutions are engaged in activities that are 
detrimental to the stability of Belarus.  Moreover, at every 
opportunity, state media outlets will intertwine opposition 
activities with the USG and Western institutions to create a 
perception in the mind of viewers and readers that they are one and 
the same.  As for the desired results, these are obvious, but what 
is not clear is how effective this propaganda campaign is. Anecdotal 
evidence and some polling data suggest that it reaches their 
audience and has some lasting effect.  On the other hand, this same 
evidence suggests that many viewers and readers see these reports 
for what they are; pure propaganda meant to discredit the USG and 
Western institutions.  Unfortunately, it appears that the ability to 
differentiate between state media fact and fiction wanes as one 
moves from Minsk and the major cities into the more rural parts of 
the country. 
 
So You Want to Be in Pictures?  Bid on Minsk! 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Media scrutiny has become so persistent that Embassy Minsk 
management is tempted to replace standard bidding practices with a 
screen test.  The Ambassador, DCM, POL/ECON and PAS officers, USAID 
officer, DATT, and other Embassy employees inevitably attract state 
TV cameras and "journalists" when traveling outside Minsk, and often 
when in the capital itself.  This is most insidious in rural areas, 
where "local" journalists -- clearly dispatched by the Belarusian 
KGB -- appear spontaneously at private meetings.  The following 
paragraphs detail some recent examples of media interest in mission 
personnel. 
 
The Marshall Center: A Spy Factory? 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Belarusian state television aired an hour-long "expose" on 
December 9, 2006 entitled "Documentary Detective: Secrets of 
Garmisch" in which outlandish claims were made about the Marshall 
Center.  "The Marshall Center for Security Studies located in 
Garmisch, Germany was created specifically to solicit secret 
intelligence information from the military experts from the former 
Soviet Union countries," reads the voiceover from this absurd 
report.  The author of the report concludes the expose by stating 
"the Center has been and continues to be one of the primary 
intelligence-gathering tools directed against the former Soviet 
countries."  Footage included grainy views of the DATT at a 
MOD-organized visit to a truck factory, and interviews with numerous 
active duty and retired Belarusian military officers who attended 
the Marshall Center.  One of the retirees claimed that the DATT 
(then a Foreign Area Officer trainee) had kept him under observation 
while sponsoring him during a course in 1997. 
 
Opposition is Equated with USG and West 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) Belarusian media generally portray the opposition together 
with the U.S. Embassy to foster the state propaganda that the 
opposition would not exist without Embassy support.  For example, on 
January 7, State television aired a 15-minute report on Embassy 
activities over the past several months leading up the January 14 
local elections.  According to the author of this segment, "With the 
coming of Ambassador Stewart in September, the principles of the 
diplomatic mission's work here remained unchanged, though the 
political context was revised.  While the opposition was considering 
its participation in the elections, the diplomats began schooling it 
for the campaign.  After a brief familiarization tour, they [U.S. 
diplomats] held meetings with representatives of the Belarusian 
Popular Front, communists and social democrats.  Journalists were 
not allowed to attend the meeting.  Now well-versed in business 
trips, they [the U.S. diplomats] paid a visit to the representatives 
 
MINSK 00000154  002 OF 002 
 
 
of local opposition groups.  They were not received very warmly, 
accused of having come empty-handed."  The report included cameras 
shots from various angles of Embassy staff in separate meetings with 
opposition figures. 
 
Election Monitoring - A Foregone Conclusion 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) On January 21, Belarusian state TV aired a 17-minute report 
focusing on the local elections and the U.S. Embassy's "involvement" 
in the campaign period and election monitoring.  According to the 
report, "Experience shows that Embassy officers are only interested 
in the information they would like to hear."  Moreover, the report 
concluded by saying that "U.S. diplomats are aware of the true 
rating of the Belarusian opposition.  Knowing in advance that their 
pet would lose the elections, the Embassy acted preemptively and 
declared the elections undemocratic.  And as can be concluded from 
the remarks of Deputy Chief of Mission Jonathan Moore, the very 
course of the elections was of no interest to the Embassy as the 
statement about its undemocratic nature was ready as early as in 
summer."  Footage in this case included shots of the DCM meeting 
democratic opposition leader Aleksandr Milinkevich at the front door 
of his apartment. 
 
Laughable, Yet Serious; It's Not Personal, It's Just Business 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) State media "professionals" are generally Belarusians 
simply trying to make ends meet.  Anecdotal evidence indicates that 
most do not believe what they write or say, but it is clear that 
they are compensated relatively well for their handiwork.  For 
example, one correspondent who contributes to state print media 
outlets confided to an Embassy staff member that he was envious that 
he (the staff member) had studied in the U.S. on an academic 
exchange program.  His respect was genuine and it was clear that 
these were his true feelings.  However, the interlocutor in question 
is also one of the most vitriolic in the State media, specializing 
in negative and inaccurate reporting about Embassy programs. 
Another example of this "schizophrenic" behavior may be seen in 
state television figure Yevgeniy Novikov. A regular fixture on 
outlandish exposes and segments covering the U.S. Embassy, Novikov 
was a Democracy Commission grantee in 1998, who has since joined the 
GOB media apparatus. 
 
Engaging (and Responding to) State Media 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The presence of the state media is a fact of life here. 
While we can be 100% certain that interviews will not be broadcast 
or reported accurately, brief interviews seem to be preferable to 
the alternative (shots of Embassy staff furtively departing the 
scene, having refused to speak).  Unless asked directly by the 
independent media to comment, we almost always ignore the outlandish 
accusations of the state media; given the highly proscribed reach of 
the independent media, responding to GOB criticisms only perpetuates 
them.  To combat GOB accusations, post has expanded efforts to reach 
out to a wider and younger audience to better educate Belarusians 
about American culture, society and values. 
 
Conclusion 
---------- 
 
¶9.  Belarusian state-controlled media will continue its negative and 
inaccurate biased reporting against the Embassy and both U.S. and 
Western institutions in general, with special attention paid on the 
occasion of major opposition, USG, UN, or EU events and activities. 
As long as Belarus' dictator continues to rule, we can expect to 
remain in the spotlight of his "journalist" stooges.  However 
optimistically, we can hope that all of the attention paid to us -- 
including coverage of our visits to parts of Belarus where 
Lukashenko never appears -- may supplement the freer information 
that trickles from independent media sources, and helps the 
Belarusian people reach their own conclusions about the state of 
their country. 
 
Stewart