"We Have No Choice But to Write the Truth and Stay True to Ourselves"
Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich on Media Challenges in the Post-Soviet Countries
Svetlana Alexievich
Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature, was the featured guest for the third edition of ADAMI Focus – Online Talks on 30 July. Yuri Makarov, Editor in Chief of Ukraine’s National Public Broadcaster, moderated the discussion, which was attended by international participants.
Yuri Makarov
Svetlana Alexievich sharply criticized the media landscape in the post-Soviet countries as serving authoritarian or corporate interests and exploiting fear. She applauded the living language of today’s bloggers, stating that journalists in the post-Soviet countries must work harder to produce authentic and engaging stories and „drag their people into the larger world.“
Alexievich and Makarov also touched on media coverage of COVID-19 and the mass protests against police brutality in the US. When asked how stories on cultural diversity can be used to heal divisions, Alexievich stressed that „suffering is the primary method of conveying information. Only through suffering can we understand something about a person and life. For this reason, (the storyteller) must have a soul.“
You can watch the video recording here: