Radio 101.2 was a radio station in the

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian capital of

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

. In 1995 and 1996 the radio station, which is at the frequency 101.2, was broadcasting news and was not affiliated with the national government. The editorial staff was assembled mostly by hiring the journalists of the closed station .

Soros Foundation Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the st ...

helped to buy the equipment for newly started radio in 1995. The station was closed on formally technical reasons and was transferred over to the

Belarusian Republican Youth Union The Belarusian Republican Youth Union ( (БРСМ), (БРСМ, ''BRSM'')) is a youth club, youth organization in Belarus. Its goals are to promote patriotism and to instill morality, moral values into the youth of Belarus, using activities such ...

, who still uses the radio today. The government has claimed that the station, and its frequency, was interfering with the radio communications of the Minsk police force. Independent groups claimed that this was another method by the government of

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

to suppress the

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

inside Belarus. The technical problems that were claimed to be the reason to close the broadcast never happened again. On July 9, 1997, Lukashenko authorized giving 101.2 frequency to the state-controlled Radio Style.

Broadcast

Radio 101.2 was commercially successful, it had a wide audience and attracted big sponsors. Its analytical programmes criticized the authorities, the news blocks published information about the demonstrations, names of the detained. However, the media strived to be objective, it published governmental releases and invited the state officials to comment the actual issues.

Reception

Music journalist Źmicier Padbiareski said in 2000 that the example of Radio 101.2 showed the public that the Belarusian can be profitable, since “the matter is in the quality of music and professionalism of DJs.” Many experts described Radio as the only independent broadcast in Belarus of that time. When the news about closure came out, the listeners brought flowers to the Radio’s office and cars honked around all Minsk as a sign of support. Its closure marked the beginning of a crackdown on the media in the country.

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15 гадоў таму ўпершыню выйшла ў эфір Радыё 101.2
Radio stations in Belarus Mass media in Minsk Radio stations established in 1995 Radio stations disestablished in 1996 Defunct mass media in Belarus {{Belarus-media-stub

Broadcast

Reception

See also

References

Sources

External links