Honorary Title Difference Day 2022
BELARUSIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS
FROM THE LAUDATIO:
Every year on the occasion of Difference Day & World Press Freedom Day, our two universities ULB and VUB award the Honorary Title for Freedom of Expression.
Every year we award extraordinary, inspiring and courageous contributions by journalists, writers, or organisations to the freedom of thinking, the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press. This year we are awarding two titles.
The first one goes to an organisation that for more than 26 years has been serving journalists and media, fighting for their rights, holding solidarity campaigns, and providing legal support. Where? In Belarus. The organisation we are awarding this evening is the Belarusian Association of Journalists. For more than 26 years the association has been defending the rights of Belarusian journalists and independent media, threatened and persecuted by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.
The Belarusian Association for Journalists is one of the most important NGOs in Belarus. It was founded in 1995, one year after Alexander Lukashenko came to power. It is an independent association of media workers, fighting for freedom of speech and independent journalism in Belarus. This is not an obvious struggle. I would like to refer to the honorary doctorate both our universities awarded last year to Svetlana Alexievich, the Belarusian journalist, historian and writer who was previously awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Svetlana Alexievich left Belarus in 2020 and lives in Germany now.
All independent media organisations and journalists in Belarus have been facing extreme repression since the 2020 presidential elections. The Belarusian Association of Journalists documented more than 500 arrests and dozens of criminal cases and prison sentences against reporters, editors and media managers. Many were forced to stop publishing or flee the country to work in exile. The Belarusian authorities also launched a repressive campaign against our laureate. That’s the reason why the Belarus Association of Journalists operates from Lithuania. A member state of the European Union.
The association’s strong belief in the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression, and their strong belief in independent, fact-based journalism, reflects everything Difference Day stands for. It reflects everything our universities stand for. And what we all stand for.
It is a real honour to award the Difference Day Honorary Title for Freedom of Expression to… The Belarus Association of Journalists.
THE FIX
FROM THE LAUDATIO:
Our two universities ULB and VUB are awarding the second Honorary Title for Freedom of Expression this evening to another organisation, another courageous team.
The Fix is an international organisation by and for journalists. Its aim is to look for solutions to the business, technological and organisational problems of the media industry. They literally fix problems. The Fix has deep roots in Ukraine. Several contributors and team members are Ukrainian. One of the co-founders, Jakub Parusinski, who is here with us this evening, is the former CEO of the Kyiv Post.
At the beginning of the Russian invasion, of Russia’s aggressive and brutal war against Ukraine and its people, The Fix immediately mobilised all possible resources. With only one goal: to support their colleagues in the Ukrainian media. The Fix can count on a coalition of organisations and media NGOs and on the support of a wide range of publishers. According to The Fix, their financial support is allocated in the first place on the basis of the urgency of the needs, and then it is distributed proportionally. The Fix is in contact with a network of 100 publications throughout Ukraine.
“In war situations”, and I quote Jakub Parusinski, “in war situations, crucial decisions have to be made within hours, sometimes minutes. The money is going out as fast as it is coming in.”
So far, The Fix has been able to raise several million euros – more and more every day – for general support of Ukraine’s media sector, and also – more specific – for The Kyiv Independent, Ukraine’s English-language media outlet. The Fix works closely together with The Kyiv Independent.
The strong belief of The Fix and its team in the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression, and their strong belief in independent, fact-based journalism reflects everything Difference Day, our university community and all of us stand for.
It is a real honour to award a Difference Day Honorary Title for Freedom of Expression to… The Fix.