Brest courier. "Brest Courier"

Culture
International Theater Day in Brest presented its heroes with gold awards
March 28, 2019 - 07:13 p.m.

03/28/2019 Lyubov Alexandrova, “Brest Courier” Photo: BrestNote It’s nice that on March 27, on a professional holiday, the Brest Academic Drama Theater this year held a traditional “cabbage show” and summed up the results of two years of the intra-theater competition “Golden Poster” and its shadow analogue - “Golden cone.” It's doubly nice that large-scale project"A Night at the Theater," first shown last year, […]

Uncategorized
Peaceful photo - between two world tragedies...
March 23, 2019 - 11:56

This photograph has already been published - in Vasily Sarychev’s wonderful first book “In Search of Lost Time”, God bless him. It was given to me not so long ago - a scan from the original - by the family of descendants of the Brest lawyer V. Pantelevich. I was very interested in the back of the photo, where the names of the people in the photo were indicated, students of the Russian gymnasium in Brest-nad-Bug, members of the brass band of the middle […]

Memory
Vladimir Gubenko: “Brest of My Memory” became a book of drawings and memoirs
March 22, 2019 - 20:36

03/22/2019 Lyubov ALEXANDROVA “Brest Courier” On March 21, at the Brest Museum of Saved Art Values, a presentation of a book of author’s memoirs and drawings by Vladimir Gubenko about Brest in the 1930s – 1960s (Poligraphika publishing house) took place. This is one of the most wonderful gifts for the Millennium of Brest, and respect to everyone who had a hand in its publication. Background of the book Brest waited for more than ten years [...]

Culture
The steps will be mastered by those who walk - from St. Petersburg to Brest
March 21, 2019 - 8:24 am

In March of this year, Brest young pianists took part in Russia in the International Competition of Classical Performers “St. Petersburg Spring”. For the third year now, Brest residents have been trying their hand – and with success! – in this prestigious competition. From him a project was born for a similar competition, of course, in its own format, in Brest. So, on April 12-14, 2019, on the basis of the Brest State Educational Institution “Children’s Music […]

Culture
Brest was reflected in the mirrors of books and the destinies of writers by Nikolai Alexandrov - poet and historian
March 18, 2019 - 17:32

On March 15, the regional museum of local lore held its next event – ​​the 12th! – a meeting of his historical project “18th Quarter”, dedicated to the Millennium of Brest. The theme was literary names of the 19th - first half of the 20th centuries associated with the city above the Bug. Five years ago, as part of the “Family Tree of Brest” project, which was run by the newspaper “Brest Courier”, Nikolai Alexandrov prepared and published […]

Memory
Eduard Kufko, artist with burnt wings
March 4, 2019 - 20:32

Today, March 4, is the birthday of the Brest artist Eduard Stanislavovich Kufko (March 4, 1921 - October 18, 1998). The artist is no longer with us, but his legacy in the art landscape of Belarus remains bright, noticeable, and undying. And the very fate of Eduard Stanislavovich, reflected in his canvases, absorbed the tragedy of the era through which his life line stretched. Expulsion to early age […]

Story
On the way to the Millennium of Brest, the “12 Artifacts” project is enriched with unique documents
March 2, 2019 - 6:19 pm

03/2/2019 Lyubov PAVLOVA, “Brest Courier” On March 1, within the walls of the Brest Museum of Local Lore, the presentation of the third artifact from the museum’s repository took place - the original Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Bolshevik government of Russia dated November 13, 1918 on the annulment of the Brest Peace Treaty - known to everyone as the Brest Peace Treaty. In Brest’s anniversary year, the regional museum has already held two presentations of historical treasures […]

Persons
The son of a native of Brest determined the modern appearance of Warsaw
February 21, 2019 - 19:39

I believe that lovers of the personal history of Brest will be interested in the following information. The current appearance of the Polish capital was largely determined by the director of the Warsaw Development Bureau, architect, and urbanist Jan Rutkiewicz. The fate of his birth is dramatic and unique. He was born in 1944 in a Gestapo prison in Warsaw. His mother, a native of Belarusian Brest, Maria Rutkevich (Maria […]

Exhibitions and Presentations
An exhibition of drawings by Brest resident V.N. Gubenko opened in Vologda Belozersk
February 11, 2019 - 16:32

In the early days of February in the Vologda region, the exhibition “Brest 1930-50s” opened in the exhibition hall of the Belozersky Museum of Local Lore. in the drawings of Vladimir Gubenko." This happened thanks to the creative collaboration between the Brest “Museum of Saved Art Treasures” and museum colleagues from the Vologda region. The opening was attended by students of the Belozersky Industrial and Pedagogical College, teachers, cultural workers and local residents. Big interest called those present […]

Spiritual life
Choirs from the Brest diocese took part in the festival in Terespol
February 3, 2019 - 19:22

On January 26-27, 2019, the XXIV International Festival of East Slavic carols was held in Terespol, Poland. According to one of the organizers of the event, Andrzej Bobley, 56 applications for participation were submitted, of which 27 teams were selected: 11 from Belarus, 8 from Poland, 5 from Ukraine, 3 from Russia. The festival took place on the last weekend of January, its organizers […]

Story
To the history of Brest customs
February 2, 2019 - 20:50

MIRKOVICH Yakov Stepanovich (1743 – 1817) – state councilor, head of Brest customs (1796-1799). Awarded a diploma for hereditary nobility (at the request of December 21, 1797). Father A.Ya. and F.Ya. Mirkovich, who in his notes said that such persons as Field Marshal Suvorov, Prince Bagration and others stayed in their house: “There was a wonderful camaraderie of educated nobles who had in the area […]

Exhibitions and Presentations
The vanishing frost of Vologda lace at the exhibition in Brest “Spasenka”
January 28, 2019 - 10:03 pm

01/28/2019 Lyubov ALEXANDROVA, “Brest Courier” S last days January to February 25 in the Brest Museum of Saved Art Treasures you can admire “Wonderful patterns of Vologda lace” - this is the name given to the exhibition of authentic lace weaving works brought to Brest from Russian Vologda. By the evening of January 28, bobbins in the hands of folk craftswoman of the Vologda region Luiza Selyanina began to rattle and crackle in Spasenka […]

"Brest Courier" - the firstBrest a newspaper in every sense. It was she who paved the way for development print media in our city. It was she who became the first independent publication in Brest. Appearing in 1990, she was a sip fresh air not only for residents of the city, but throughout Belarus. About the history of the creation of the newspaper, the rise and fallen ah, the threat of closure and about journalism in Belarus, we talked with the editor-in-chief of the Brest Courier, Nikolai Alekseevich Alexandrov.

Pre-Courier era

I graduated from the Moscow Literary Institute and did not plan to work in journalism. After serving in the army, in the late seventies, I moved to Brest with my wife. I immediately started looking for work. As I remember now, I was walking along Komsomolskaya Street, and the building of the editorial office of the newspaper “Zarya” caught my eye. I come in with the thought that perhaps they have a literary department and need a worker there.

I’m walking down the corridor, looking for an editor, and a short man is walking towards me. As it turned out, this was it Chief Editor“Dawn” - Pyotr Petrovich Sutko. He invited me into his office for a conversation. I told him that I graduated from a literary institute and can write - I’m a writer after all.

The editor offered me a place in the culture department and immediately gave me a combat mission: to go to the milkmaid, hero of socialist labor, Galina Skakun, in the village of Borisy, Brest region, and write a report about her. It was November. I immediately went there in full dress, wearing shoes - I was interested in plunging headlong into journalistic work.

I approach the farm, and there is an impassable swamp. I go inside, knee-deep in mud, and the hero of socialist labor is yelling obscenities at the tractor drivers who screwed something up. I took an interview and produced my first material on a typewriter. It came out as is, without smiles and pathos.

Izmail Lazarevich Agranovsky, a journalist who looked after me, said that this was a wonderful text, but not for Zarya, but for Radio Liberty.

He warned that the editor would cut out half and leave what was needed. And so it happened. As a writer, I began to accompany each of my material with epigraphs. Other journalists began to adopt this technique from me, and as a result, epigraphs began to appear even before materials about collective farms.

A wonderful team worked at Zarya. I wrote about what I wanted: social and cultural topics, investigations. The most memorable material was an article about a 12-year-old boy who hanged himself in the Stolin district. It was very difficult to prepare him: to understand, to delve into the nuances of the reasons for his death. I tried to make it sound. The article was called “Messenger over the Abyss,” and after its publication there were no objections or refutations to the material.

I also wrote an article about a man who was hiding in the Polesie forests from 1944 to 1986. All this time he lived in dugouts. The article caused a resonance, and it was reprinted by Moscow and foreign publications. Work at Zarya was filled with creative joys, friendship and vacation trips. However, despite great team, the work atmosphere began to tire by the end of the 80s.

Nikolay Alexandrov with Lev Leshchenko and Igor Luchenok

The Zarya newspaper was the most circulated publication in the republic - 123 thousand copies. But the lack of feedback from readers, the inability to give full implementation to my topics was boring. Combine operators with smiles, topics for readiness lines, plans for regional party committees - all this had to be written.

It was difficult to believe in the idea of ​​communism when my grandfather's brother was shot in 1937.

We didn’t believe in perestroika just as we didn’t believe in what we were writing. It was wonderful cynicism within reason.

Perestroika made it possible to receive information from various media. The newspapers “Consent” from Lithuania, “Baltic Wave”, and “Kommersant” began to appear for sale in the city. There were also enough of our own newspapers. If you remember, it will be a whole cemetery of publications of that time. Naturally, this gradually prompted the idea of ​​creating our own print media.

"Brest Courier". Start

The catalyst for the appearance of the Brest Courier was the invitation of Robert Zinovievich Svyatopolk-Mirsky to create a magazine. Robert Zinovievich is a film playwright, writer and a big fan of board and mind games of all times and peoples. Together with him they began to make a leisure magazine called “Brownie”. Three issues were published. The first edition was 100,000 copies, the second – 200,000, the third – 150,000. We printed it in our printing house, but the magazine instantly spread throughout the Soviet Union.

In parallel with the magazine, we decided to create a newspaper. The magazine was like a hobby, and the newspaper needed a return. I wanted to write, communicate with people, make statements about time and events. In June 1990, we decided to release the first issue. There were three people in the team: me, Vladimir Romanov and Nikolai Kopchenov - my colleagues at Zarya. We prepared four pages of the newspaper, but we were not allowed to print it: we were not yet registered as a media outlet and the local authorities were playing it safe.

Nikolai told us about his friends in Lithuania who were ready to print for a few cans of gasoline. Then we loaded a roll of paper for 10,000 copies into the trailer and set off for Vilnius. We arrived without incident: there were no borders, everything was calm. In Vilnius we are greeted almost with hugs at the sight of gasoline. The director of the printing house, whose last name was Lomonosovas, wanted to extract more from us. Nikolai spoke about this - he is from Vilnius and understands Lithuanian perfectly. However, they did not do this and in two days they printed the first issue for us.

We arrive in Brest, but we are not allowed to sell the newspaper. As a result, we simply distribute 10,000 copies on the street. They sell out like hot donuts. This pilot number created room for maneuver. In August of the same year, a press law was passed, which allowed us to legally print and sell the newspaper.

Before the editorial office settled on the street on September 17, we changed many premises. Kosmonavtov Boulevard, Kovalevka, Masherov Avenue, Pushkinskaya - addresses of our editorial offices from 1990 to 2000. For example, August putsch We met in 1991 at the registry office on the Embankment. I remember coming to work in the morning, and they told me that there was a coup in Moscow and they could close us down: repressions against the media had already begun in Moscow. I'm calling my classmate Vladimir Sungorkin ( CEO COMPANY " TVNZ” – approx. ed.) and ask what is happening there. He told us everything in detail.

By that time we had created our own team.

Our correspondents themselves were eager to get to hot spots, fortunately it was inexpensive to get there then.

And when the putsch happened, our journalist Oleg Shipov took money from me and fled to Moscow. At the same time, we began preparing the newspaper for printing. It turned out to be a gorgeous room. It was he who helped us enter the readership. The issue was printed, and the next day a rally gathered in Brest, on Lenin Square. We'll go straight there. There they distributed half of the newspaper's circulation.

This was the time when the team of authors was formed, many people came to us with interesting ideas and materials. It was around then that our motto arose: “Nothing, the weather will clear up!”, which was proposed by Professor Albert Aleksandrovich Bogdasarov, a big fan of Vysotsky. We adopted the motto, deciding that we would replace it when the weather cleared. But, as we see, this has not happened yet.

Regular work, capacity expansion

IN last years work at Zarya, I created a club for young journalists, “Karavella”. I was interested in working with young people; they had fresh ideas. On the last page of the Brest Courier we published young journalists who were members of this club. It produced worthy journalists, for example, Ekaterina Vysotskaya, who was the editor of the closed newspaper “Imya”.

From the first days of work, we began to acquire friends and journalists. One of the first to come was Oleg Suprunyuk, he is still with us. Many letters were sent to the editor. If a person declared himself to be a creative person, then we invited him to our place. Some of the people from “Evening Brest” started with us: Tamara Glushchenko, Ivan Orlov.

Oleg Suprunyuk

“Evening Brest” appeared a year after us. Apparently, we gave some kind of impetus, people saw how the newspaper was being sold out. Then a large and wonderful team led by Vladimir Shparlo went to “Evening”. I remember how on the first page we gave an ad with congratulations to the newspaper. In it we indicated that we needed a good sparring partner.

From the very beginning, we focused on reader requests. People suggested topics to us and corrected our work through calls. The standard of a certain culture was set: no nonsense, lies or bending under power.

Nikolai Alexandrov and Stanislav Shushkevich

The editorial policy was based on weekly planning meetings. We outlined themes on them and enriched them with details. In addition to planning, we discussed current issues. They constantly flogged themselves for weak material. They graded each other without sparing, but at the same time in such a way as not to humiliate the person.

The creative staff then numbered 33 people, most of them journalists. We even attracted authors from Minsk. There was no such competition among print media back then. All discussions within the broad creative team yielded good results.

Golden times of the Brest Courier

The 90s were the golden times of the newspaper. The largest circulation is 28,000 copies. After the first two years of work, we went from ten to twenty thousand copies. Development came from the sale of newspapers, but from the first issues we focused on advertising. In the early 90s there was a boom in entrepreneurship and interesting enterprises were opening in the city. We were already attracting business back then. Journalists contacted businessmen. They, in turn, invited us to their parties, and from there we extracted our dividends.

From the very beginning, people who worked with advertising came to us. Zinovy ​​Borisovich Ilyevsky, Felix Petrovich Münder - the advertising direction of the newspaper was based on them. A little later we created an entire advertising department, but these two people were irreplaceable.

We were also the first in the republic to introduce a street sales system. People came to us, took newspapers and sold them on the streets. Then it was completely unique phenomenon, and approximately 70% of our circulation was sold on the streets. It was beneficial for everyone. The seller received 20-25% of the proceeds from the sale, and we received money weekly, unlike Soyuzpechat, which sent money once a month.

Then we could pay good salaries and have no debts with the printing house.

We stood firmly on our feet and believed that we would not need help.

However, initially the founders included Brestcombank. It was headed by Ivan Ivanovich Patsovsky, who now heads a branch of the National Bank. When he moved there, we left the bank's patronage.

There were external cash injections, and significant ones at that. However, more valuable were the trips to seminars where we learned the practices of European newspapers. Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden, Norway – the geography of our trips. The three-week visit to the USA was especially memorable. There we got acquainted with the work of American editorial offices: from the smallest and provincial ones in Iowa to large ones like “ The New York Times” and “Chicago Tribune.”

Prestigious award, warnings, ban on printing

1999 turned out to be a landmark year for us - we received the prestigious “Young Press of Eastern Europe” award. It was awarded to three newspapers. In addition to us, the prize was received by a journalist from the Kommersant newspaper and one of the Ukrainian publications. This was a complete surprise to me. We have not submitted any applications. At one point, the OSCE office called me and asked if I would mind the newspaper taking part in the competition. I agreed, and in May 2000 there was a trip to Hamburg for the award ceremony. There I gave a speech that the Germans really liked.

At the award ceremony in Hamburg

It was a story about how swans spend the winter. One day I saw a wormwood with 15 birds in it. I watched how it narrowed with frost, and the swans warmed the water, preventing it from freezing. Not everyone survived until spring. But when the weather began to warm up, the swans continued their full lives. This situation reminded me of our independent media, which with their bodies warm up the space of our unfreedom, saying that spring is inevitable. The award allowed us to move into the building on September 17th Street and renovate it.

There were plenty of problems in the 90s. One day, after another warning, the authorities decided to cut off our oxygen. Lukashenko was on his way to the city, and at that moment the printing house terminated the contract with us. The motive was the first warning. Legally, the printing house does not have the right to do this. All higher authorities shrugged their shoulders - an order from above.

As a result, a fuss arose: the regional executive committee received letters from international human rights organizations, the newspapers “Narodnaya Volya” and “Belaruskaya Molodezhnaya” told readers about our situation. In order not to miss the publication of the newspaper, we printed it in Russia in a smaller circulation - 10,000 copies. A week after that we are allowed to go into print again.

In addition to warnings, there were also lawsuits.

I am proud that we are the only newspaper in the republic that has sued the Ministry of Information.

It was the late 90s, the lawsuit was related to the incorrect identification of the organization. The Belarusian Association of Journalists helped us then; they had very good lawyers. We won the case, and the Ministry of Information paid all the costs.

All high-profile materials were previously passed through lawyers. According to investigations and political materials Everything was clear and neat with us. We knew that the Grodno newspaper “Information Exchange” was suspended because of a careless phrase: “Does the president have a conscience?”

We did not allow ourselves this and understood that there should be no emotional moments in publications - only clear and verified facts. At the same time, we never limited ourselves in the severity of the topics.

We were the only ones in the city who wrote about the chairman of the regional executive committee Dolgolev and fatal accident involving his car.

There were also funny incidents, after which we were given warnings. For example, in one of the issues a crossword puzzle with erotic content was printed - they did not finish watching it. Calls to the editor and accusations of immorality began. The question about caressing a penis with your lips was probably one of the most innocent.

As a result, they wrote a complaint against us - and, as a result, a warning from the Ministry of Information. After the apology was published in the next issue, the editorial office heard phone call. On the other end of the line is an indignant chemistry teacher.

The children, instead of studying in class, solved our crossword puzzle. I explained to her that we had already apologized in the newspaper and asked her specifically for forgiveness. She accepted the apology and at the end of the conversation asked: “Tell me, I can’t guess one question here...”. We laughed and I promised that this wouldn't happen again.

The difference between a newspaper and other publications

We are the only newspaper in the city that has a historical and cultural focus. Yes, other publications also write in historical topics, we do this purposefully and on an ongoing basis. We pay a lot of attention to literature. A real department of Belarusian writers (not Cherginets) meets in the editorial office once a month.

With Jerzy Hoffman

IN last issue we published a whole page in memory of the late Ales Kasko, there are his poems. We try to keep the bar high so that it is tasty and of high quality. Literature is in demand, but not among a wide audience. As Joseph Brodsky said: “Poetry is loved and read by about three percent of the world’s population.”

For me personally, history is now a priority. I have been studying the personalities of the city for 15 years and created the encyclopedia “Family Tree of Brest”. The newspaper has a section with the same name, which appears in every issue. The encyclopedia consists of 4 volumes that contain more than 8 thousand personalities born in Brest or related to it. By the millennium of the city, the encyclopedia will be published both in electronic and printed form.

We have never limited ourselves to just the newspaper. Were engaged publishing activities: About 8 books by our authors have been published. We first discovered the artist Yakov Balgley in Brest. We scanned high-quality illustrations of his paintings from a book of reproductions and organized an exhibition in the Belart gallery, introducing city residents to the artist. We helped Andrei Dolgovsky, a now famous collector of old photographs. We released two parts of posters dedicated to the natives of Brest - 50 pieces in each. We are going to publish two more parts, the posters are ready.

About journalists, columns, turnover

Our “Timer” column was led by Mikhail Mikhailovich Yanchuk. Our legend, which readers still remember. We really have no one to replace him. He is a sage like few in journalism. He had a special style, with which he sometimes overdid it, and readers paid attention to this. In addition to being a wonderful journalist, he is also a very good prose writer and poet. From the very beginning of the 90s, he constantly led the column, never missing it. Even in the hospital, when he was lying with a heart attack, he managed to write efficiently and without any concessions for himself.

Mikhail Yanchuk

Artist Vladimir Chuglazov, our cartoonist, is the most talented in the country. He has graced our newspaper for many years. Now he lives in his homeland in Polotsk, but he constantly sends cartoons. At one time, we prepared an album with his cartoons, but we could not publish it in our country: state printing houses did not undertake it. Vladimir always has topicality, and he has a completely kind outlook on life and an excellent sense of humor.

Our most important columnist was Mikhail Yanchuk. I hope that Vladimir Glazov will soon return to our ranks. Many journalists left the newspaper. This is a normal, common process that occurs in many publications. People gain experience, grow, and leave.

Vladimir Glazov

A lot of people passed through us: Valentina Kozlovich, Alexander Mityukov went to SB, Viktor Marchuk, who worked in the advertising department, created Brestskaya Gazeta. This is a man with great ambitions, and, having gained experience, he decided that he was capable of creating his own product. I am in no way jealous and do not blame him for this. Everything worked out for him, I see that he successfully runs a newspaper, which gives us a head start. Marchuk now has a good young team, and the fact that he is gaining experience at seminars and trainings is an honor and praise to him for this.

On the level of journalism and the role of print media

There remains a large segment of print readers around the world. For example, in Denmark, on the island of Funen - Andersen’s homeland, a beautiful regional newspaper, which is just increasing its print circulation. She knows how to find a common language with readers and establishes feedback with them. Additionally, in Denmark the government subsidizes 30% of the cost of printing a daily newspaper.

The level of journalism has always depended on who works in it. It's possible that now The general trend reader interest is shaped by print and electronic media. It is noticeable that the younger generation is inclined towards fast, informative journalism and does not like longreads. This indicates a decline in the level of culture. Is it bad or good? I don’t dare to judge. People are leaving for an environment where the language of computers speaks more than the printed word.

I am sincerely sorry, because good journalism has always coexisted with literature. She was a companion and carrier of culture. It's a pity when she becomes a carrier of information, and not the information itself best quality when it becomes consumer and does not enter the spiritual spheres.

With Evgeny Yevtushenko

At one time I invented a “Christmas tree”, which showed what the newspaper should be built on. Information, communication, Feedback, and at the top is a spiritual man. This “herringbone” is gradually crumbling and only the informative component remains. She gives tips on where to buy what, where to go, how to stay safe, etc. It’s bad when the core of culture leaves journalism and the core of consumerism remains.

We had a discussion on this topic with the editor of the Intex-Press publication, Vladimir Yanukevich. They conducted a survey of readers, and among the topics they put on last place history.

I countered by saying that we have accustomed our readers to history by constantly publishing materials on these topics.

In my opinion, print and electronic media should educate the reader, motivate him, and at some points even impose him.

What now and what next?

In previous years, 60-70% of our revenue came from advertising. Now, at best, this figure reaches 20%. Our crisis economy has forced entrepreneurs to slow down advertising, and the crisis has affected all newspapers. We currently have 10 people on our staff, including 5 journalists. All these people are driven by their love for the newspaper, their profession, and the history of the city. What remains is that reliable backbone with which you can and should make a newspaper, getting out of all the problems. I am now both a Swede and a reaper: I take care of the website, administer it, decide financial questions and interact with partners.

It is difficult to implement advertising in electronic version site. Perhaps I do not have enough managerial skills to attract advertising and place it on the site. I'm a print traditionalist and love my newspaper the way it is. I find it difficult to refocus on the network. I would like to keep the printed version, because there is an audience for it - lovers of leisurely reading, those who like to rustle with the newspaper.

I would like to attract more columnists. We are now actively discussing where the newspaper should go. It is impossible for all newspapers to follow the same hymnal.

We should probably reformat ourselves towards history and culture, a culture of reflection, columnists to provide guidance to our readers and users.

There is no point in going out on information content alone - we still won’t get ahead of the sites. We have the highest competition among print media in our city. Is it worth catching up with each other? We need to move towards analytics – what consumers of print media need.

We are developing new forms of work, looking for partners, working with advertising. I don’t really believe in crowdfunding - it is more suitable for one-time projects. We have resumed the work of the newspaper, two issues have already been published since the delay, and it will continue to be published. The problem remains, but I am making every effort to solve it. After all, in the two weeks before the newspaper went to print, the editor received many concerned calls from readers. They were the ones who helped me not to fall into depression and understand that you cannot abandon your brainchild and your readers.

Photo - Roman Chmel, from the hero’s archive

Why is the Brest Courier newspaper not published? The editor-in-chief of the publication, Nikolai Alexandrov, responded to him by asking readers to support the newspaper during a difficult period for it.

"Dear reader friends! Without your support, the release of the Brest Courier may be interrupted.

IN days gone by When two issues of our newspaper were not published in a row, my editorial phone rang almost incessantly. I tried to answer all calls if I was available. I explained to readers and subscribers the reason for my absence and reported on our future prospects. In the 27 years of existence of the Brest Courier, this is the first time such a failure has occurred. But our publication has already become part of the history of the city...

Almost all of the callers expressed their concern about the fate of the newspaper and expressed the most good words addressed to her, for which I sincerely thank everyone. In fact, it was a hot wave of popular support, which all of us in our editorial office felt heartily. And they did everything possible to ensure that this forced pause was interrupted.

Why didn't the newspaper come out?

Now about what actually happened, causing inconvenience and anxiety to our readers, for which I sincerely apologize to everyone, including the postal service, which was also hit by a flurry of calls about the non-delivery of the newspaper by subscription. Some of the callers asked the question: “Have the authorities really shut down the newspaper?” I answer: no, the authorities have nothing to do with it. The real reason for the break is economic circumstances that forced us to take a “time out”.

The fact is that last year and this year, when the Belarusian economy was experiencing serious problems, our newspaper, like many others, experienced a sharp decline in advertising financial revenues. The purchasing power of the population has also decreased, which has led to a decrease in the sold circulation of the publication and, accordingly, in income. In addition, the competition of printed publications in Brest is high, like nowhere else in other regions - 6 local newspapers are published here, and there is also whole line electronic media. Increasing payments for utilities, for other services, for Consumables etc. also affected the sustainability of the newspaper enterprise. But you still have to pay very significant taxes on time. These are the realities.

In general, the whirlwind of this whole “kitchen” led to the fact that the newspaper accumulated a debt to the printing house for previously printed editions of “BK”. Unfortunately, we did not immediately react to this situation and belatedly took countermeasures to optimize the publication’s costs in order to both pay off the debt and continue to publish a high-quality newspaper: we reduced the volume of the publication from 32 to 24 pages, reduced the editorial staff and switched to a 3-day working week, took other measures to save the budget, as well as to intensify advertising and journalistic work. This, in principle, although with difficulty, allows us to pay for current issues.

However, we were unable to certain deadlines repay all debt to the Brest Regional Printing House from current revenues from advertising and sales of newspaper circulation, which led to current situation. I cannot blame the Brest printing house for anything, which set a condition two weeks ago: until you pay off the previous debt, we will not print the newspaper. She, the printing house, also has obligations to its partners, suppliers of newsprint, paint and other things.

I won't go into details, I'll just say that in two weeks of our “time out” we managed to close two-thirds of the debt to the printing house. Of course, it was necessary to do this much earlier, so as not to lead to the newspaper not being published. But what happened happened.

Once upon a time, Elena Dovlatova, the wife of a wonderful writer and editor of the Russian-language newspaper " New American”, published in the USA, wrote in her memoirs: “We invested so much energy, strength and, perhaps, recklessness into our newspaper, into our brainchild! It was a unique time that cannot be repeated... We really needed a business manager who understood the situation. We seemed to find such people, but things didn’t work out with them either - we couldn’t escape from the tight financial clutches. The team was good, the creative forces were powerful, and business qualities did not have".

The time in the history of the Brest Courier can also be called unique- it was not a burden, but a constant joy for us, newspapermen, and for readers. In addition to publishing the newspaper, we constantly implemented cultural, historical, publishing, and exhibition projects. And a hot flurry of calls to the editor confirms that readers need our newspaper as a close and dear interlocutor, a conductor of culture, an adviser, a translator of their opinions, an assistant in solving pressing issues. Feeling this, we cannot let down the reader’s trust and “put down our oars.” We need to get out of the financial whirlpool. One increase in the price of a newspaper from 60 to 70 kopecks, which we made for this issue, is, of course, not enough. The remaining debt to the printing house slows down our progress and puts our subsequent publications at risk. What to do?

Request for help

“The pride that hides the inability to ask for help is unjustified,” I think the thought of the British writer Katherine Price is correct. In addition to this, there are the words of Plutarch: “If it is commendable to do good to friends, then there is no shame in accepting help from friends.” To be honest, I resisted for a long time the advice of a number of our readers, friends of BC, who are aware of financial situation in the newspaper - to appeal to a wide audience with a request for ruble support. But now the situation is such that we cannot do without it.

Our readers are our like-minded people. We are proud of you and thank you for remaining faithful to the newspaper all these difficult years. You are our support. And at this difficult moment we ask for your support. Any financial assistance is important to us now - even if it’s just a few rubles. For those who wish and can provide us with feasible financial assistance, we inform our bank details:

Account BY19 BLBB30120200010763001001 in the directorate of OJSC Belinvestbank for the Brest region. Bank address: 224030, Brest, st. Sovetskaya, 50, BIC BLBBBY2X, UNP 200010763. Voluntary donation to support the newspaper “Brest Courier”.

You can clarify questions that are unclear to you in the accounting department of our editorial office by phone. (8-0162) 21-22-08 or by contacting us by email. mail: This address Email protected from spam bots. You must have JavaScript enabled to view it.

There is great hope that with yours and God's help We will be able to overcome this crisis and continue to come to you with full-fledged editions of the newspaper.

With respect and gratitude to you

Nikolay ALEXANDROV, chief. editor of the newspaper "Brest Courier"

Information and analytical newspaper
"BREST COURIER"

"Brest Courier" dates back to the newspaper "Brest-Litovsk Courier", published in the city above the Bug from 1913 to 1915, until the period of occupation of Brest-Litovsk by German troops in the First world war. The Brest-Litovsk Courier was published daily in two editions - morning and evening - at the Rakov printing house. The population of our city, which was then part of the Grodno province, numbered 50 thousand inhabitants.
The first issue of the revived Brest Courier was published in June 1990 - it was the first non-state publication in the Brest region. From the very beginning the newspaper had a clear democratic orientation. In 1991 her special correspondents were sent to Vilnius and Riga during the aggravation of the situation in the Baltic states, as well as to Moscow in connection with the putschist events.
“Nothing, the weather will clear up!”- this line from Vladimir Vysotsky’s song “Brest Courier” was once chosen as a motto, constantly placed above the newspaper headline. In its activities, the newspaper is guided by high professional standards, principles of objectivity, universality, efficiency in covering events. The marketing and sociological research conducted by the Brest Courier allows the newspaper to study the readership more fully and deeply, determine its interests and, in this regard, improve the content and design of the publication.
In 1994, Brest Courier became a member of the European syndicate of independent publications (Project syndicate), created by the Institute open society(Prague, Czech Republic). This organization includes newspapers from most European countries; every year the editors of these publications meet in one of the European capitals to discuss their professional issues and problems.
In 1999, the newspaper was awarded the international prize of the Zeit Newspaper Foundation “Young Press of Eastern Europe”.
The thematic and genre range of the Brest Courier is wide, but at the same time the newspaper does not strive for omnivorousness. Its pages constantly contain news and comments, reports from the field, investigative journalism, analytical reviews of economics and finance, opinions of politicians and social scientists, articles on urban problems, agro-industrial complex, farming development, letters from readers, cultural, sports and crime chronicles, advisory materials, etc. The newspaper also regularly publishes reports from authorities local authorities, all TV programs, exchange rates, private announcements and advertising.
For the eighth year in a row, mass city mini-football tournaments have been held under the auspices of the Brest Courier.
The level of the Brest Courier is determined by its professional staff. Since the creation of the newspaper, it has been led by editor-in-chief Nikolai Alexandrov, combining creativity and administrative management, not forgetting about his literary muse. His first deputy, Oleg Suprunyuk, heads the news service and oversees socio-political topics, and his second deputy, Valery Molochnikov, handles issues of economics and finance, the social sphere, and law enforcement structures. The strengthening of the newspaper's solid image is also actively influenced by the journalism of Mikhail Yanchuk, rural essays and correspondence by Anton Adamovich, articles on social issues by Larisa Volynchuk, materials on economics and entrepreneurship by Ivan Gomonov, investigative reporting by Alla Lebedyuk, international reviews by Boris Filkin, articles on confessional topics by Gennady Levchuk , photo reports by Yuri Makarchuk, drawings and caricatures by Vladimir Chuglazov. A significant amount of work in the newspaper is also carried out by executive secretary Sergei Semashkevich, commercial director Mikhail Kovalchuk, chief accountant Valentina Zalevskaya, head of the information input and processing department Galina Telnova, senior technical editor Irina Morozova, advertising managers, proofreader Nina Goretskaya and other employees.
The founder of the newspaper "Brest Courier" is the editorial staff. According to the newspaper sociological research, among the readers who give preference to the Brest Courier, people with a fairly high educational level predominate (59% of them have higher or secondary special education), located in the most social active age(18-25 years old - 30%, 26-45 years old - 46%). The most active readers of this publication are employees of management structures, businessmen, scientific, technical and creative intelligentsia, and youth. But this does not mean that the content of BK is designed exclusively for these categories - the newspaper’s employees strive for universality.
Brest Courier began to create its own network of public distributors in the second year of its existence. We started with advertisements in the newspaper, inviting children, pensioners, the unemployed, and people with low income to sell the newspaper. At that time, this was new for people - Brest (and other Belarusian cities) did not yet know street newspaper sellers. It was important to start and lay the foundation, to get the city used to selling newspapers on the street. And the network of public distributors then began to grow on its own based on the principle of street advertising for this type of income.
IN this moment of the total one-time circulation, public distributors sell 70% of newspapers, the remaining thirty percent are sold on trains, at post offices, sent to subscribers, sold in Belsozpechat
Today, the circulation of the Brest Courier is 17-20 thousand copies, the frequency of publication is once a week, the volume of the newspaper is 24 A3 pages, the distribution region is Brest and the Brest region, the publication languages ​​are Russian and Belarusian.