Media Expert

Mass media are frequently used as an instrument of political struggle, including to discredit the opponent. This instrument is quite effective, but it is not always pure. To ensure its purity another special "toolkit" can be used: protection of violated rights in a free and fair court. However, if all the instruments are concentrated in one hands, the struggle appears too unequal. On 15 August 2003, the Obozrevatel' weekly published an interview of its correspondent A. Muravskaya with Leonid Levin, Chairman of the Union of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Belarus. The following insulting suggestion in the form of a question was used as a headline for the material about the present-day activities of the Jewish community: "Are deputies Kostyan, Novosyad, and Frolov anti-Semites as far as their personalities are concerned?" (Aleh Hulak, Professional ethics: the cost of responsibility, fragment)