Resilience in Belarusian repression: How Dev.by stays afloat as an independent publisher

The media landscape in Belarus has significantly worsened due to political repression following the presidential elections in 2020. Independent media have been shut down, websites blocked, and journalists arrested for speaking critically about the political situation. Now, they are divided into two groups: those operating from abroad and those spending time in jail. The government aims to replace independent reporting with state-controlled propaganda, forcing many journalists into exile. Independent outlets rely almost entirely on grants and reader support, as it is too dangerous for advertisers to place ads for fear of government retaliation.

One of the media outlets that has survived in exile is Dev.by, a publisher dedicated to the IT industry in Belarus and the world, producing news, interviews, reports, and analytics. The organisation operates in spite of constant threats and lack of funding. Dev.by’s CEO and founder Artiom Kontsevoi shared with The Fix how they manage to operate in such unstable conditions.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Who is Dev.by writing for – and why it is important

Dev.by was created in 2008 as a niche portal for those working in the IT sector in Belarus, an industry that initially included around 20,000 people. Over time, technology became an important topic for a broader audience, and Dev.by’s site grew in popularity, attracting around 1,000,000 visitors monthly. According to Kontsevoi, “By 2020, the IT industry became big and influential, and everyone was interested in what was happening inside it. People started increasingly seeking jobs in tech-related fields, using the IT sector as a social lift. This is why we became so popular. Our mission is to unite and strengthen Belarusians in a context where all horizontal ties within society are being dismantled. Through research and distinctive expertise we are recognized as a sector leader. The community actively shares insights, salaries, and plans”.

Despite the outlets’ growth, 2020 brought significant challenges. Due to the protests against the rigged results of presidential elections, which were covered by independent media, Belarusian authorities began retaliating against journalists and detaining ordinary protesters, including IT specialists. Surprisingly, advertising revenue continued to grow even after the elections. However, it abruptly halted in February 2022 with the onset of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, causing Dev.by to lose 94% of its revenue in one month. Only after this drastic reduction did the team begin to rely more heavily on donations.

Like other independent media, Dev.by always struggled with advertisements due to state control. It was always risky for businesses to advertise with independent media because of government oversight, but this model at least functioned to some extent until February 2022. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to the Belarusian IT industry ceasing investments in the country and many IT workers leaving. They fled because they feared the escalating regional situation and were uncertain how the war would affect Belarus. Additionally, Belarus became a toxic jurisdiction for Western clients, who were the main source of orders for Belarusian IT companies. In February 2022, missiles were launched into Ukraine from Belarusian territory, and Russian troops entered Ukraine on tanks from Belarus. Dev.by was also forced to leave because it became impossible for the team to continue practising independent journalism. Consequently, its team had to relocate and recreate their business model to survive in these challenging conditions.

How the newsroom survives

The repressions and the war forced Dev.by’s leaders to revise major costs, leading to several painful decisions for the whole team. These included a hiring freeze, suspension of the bonus system, salary reductions across the company, limiting software development and support to only critical security and maintenance tasks, and eliminating most non-essential roles that were not directly involved in content production.

The organisation also launched several projects for the Belarusian IT diaspora, which allowed them to attract advertisers from businesses that had relocated abroad. This enabled Dev.by to continue paying salaries to their workers. “In 2021, we launched a website for Ukrainian IT workers, which helped us generate new independent revenue streams. Additionally, we are fortunate to have a loyal audience, with at least 250 people supporting us monthly. However, we need more long-term financial support to ensure we can consistently pay our employees and organise the internal processes of our editorial team without disruptions,” Kontsevoi added.

Dev.by’s team consists of 24 people scattered across different cities, mainly in Poland. The team includes 14 journalists and editors, with the rest being managers, social media specialists, and administrative staff.

Currently, Dev.by funds 30% of its operations through generating revenue like ads and reader support, with the remaining 70% coming from external support, which appears only intermittently and is unstable.

Dev.by’s current audience 

Focusing their publications on both people inside the country and the diaspora, Dev.by has managed to stay relevant and informative thanks to reader support. Kontsevoi added that nearly 40% of their editorial articles are created with reader help. The CEO highlights their broad reach: “Overall, we have 2 million monthly reach on the website and social platforms, with our audience evenly split between men and women. We are not yet on YouTube, but we plan to change that when we have enough money.” Dev.by publishes on all major platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, and Instagram.

What is the survival strategy if outside support stops?

In February, Dev.by’s domain was blocked by Belarusian authorities, which reduced the audience to 500,000 people. As Belarusians inside the country were not able to visit the site, the support also decreased. Kontsevoi noted ironically that their only hope is to believe that things will change in time due to outside support. They are trying to find other sources of income to reduce their dependence on outside money, but this is not currently feasible. “We are looking for new advertisers in the EU markets and working with communities abroad. Additionally, we plan to enhance reader support, increase income through affiliate and programmatic advertising, and host offline events. It’s obvious that Belarusian independent media сouldn’t survive without readers or partners because we are not operating in a market environment.”

In the future, Dev.by aims not only to survive but to become sustainable without extra funding. They plan to expand their audience, which currently consists mainly of people aged 30-40, and create content for younger readers. “We plan to do this by adding new topics such as education, careers, mental health, family relationships and politics, with a particular focus on human rights and the personal impact of decisions at the highest level. Besides this, we want to focus more on video content production. We are actively working with short videos in Reels, and TikTok, planning a YouTube relaunch, and it seems we are one of the few Belarusian media outlets actively working on LinkedIn –- we have 92,000 followers there. Another direction is engaging the diaspora, primarily in Poland, as a significant part of our audience has moved to that country. If we maintain a community of engaged readers, our struggle for freedom of speech will continue,” Kontsevoi noted.

He emphasises that this is also about the survival of the current generation of journalists. “Those who move abroad often leave journalism because of low pay and constant instability. They shift to other, more stable professions. If we do not preserve the opportunity for them to work in newsrooms now, we risk losing an entire generation of journalists. There are already so few left in independent Belarusian journalism, which is why it is crucial to help them stay in the profession.”

Source of the cover photo: generated by ChatGPT, DALL·E

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