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report: January 2009 |
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social issues & initiatives | Ukraine | by Dörthe Ziemer, Christoph Kersting | 2008-09
Ukraine: the press is free but it can be boughtJournalists in most of the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) do not have an easy life. They battle against censorship, difficulties strewn in their path by the authorities, and even at times against physical threats and violence. A cliché? To some extent admittedly, as the situation in Ukraine appears to be different: in Europe's largest country there is something resembling freedom of the press.The late news is being broadcast on Channel 1 of Ukrainian TV. One of the themes is the Chernovezki case: Chernovezki, the mayor of Kiev, was successful in the local elections in May and remains in office – although before the elections massive accusations of corruption were made against him. A balanced critical commentary such as this is inconceivable in the television service of the neighbouring state Russia, where almost all the media are under state control."Thankfully Ukraine is far removed from a situation like that" says Nico Lange from the Kiev office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. "Since the Orange Revolution there has been a level of press freedom here of a kind not found in any other country in the CIS region." In contrast to countries such as Russia, Belarus and also Georgia there exists in Ukraine pluralist and critical reporting on all political themes, as well as a balance before the elections "that even in many Western democracies cannot be taken for granted. In this region Ukraine is a shining example." The freedom of the press in Ukraine is one of the few achievements of the Orange Revolution of 2004. Following weeklong protests about electoral rigging at that time Viktor Yushchenko was made President of Ukraine. His predecessor, Leonid Kuchma, was accused (among other things) of massive restriction of press freedom. Initially Yushchenko's opponent Viktor Yanukovych emerged as victor from the fraudulent voting but when the election had to be repeated he lost to Yuschenko. Today little survives of the mood of change that was much talked about back then. In the past few years governments in Kiev have collapsed several times, the former fighters for democracy and freedom, Viktor Yushchenko and Julia Tymoshenko, are at loggerheads with each other. But although one could declare the Orange Revolution a failure it is a gain for the civil society Nico Lange maintains. "Civil society is today far further developed than its politicians." The citizens, he maintains, now know what their rights are in a democracy. And they take this knowledge (rather than bribes) with them when they go to the authorities. And freedom of the press also forms part of what Ukrainians regard as their basic rights. "They are an important motor for the change of elites", says Ukrainian journalist Ivan Gayvanovytch. Jeans journalism But on taking a closer look the shiny appearance of Ukrainian press freedom seems somewhat tarnished. It is true that all important political forces in the country are represented in the media. But this is due largely to the fact that so far the political parties have had the funds necessary to achieve this. Political reporting, above all in TV, is generally paid for by the respective protagonists, Nico Lange knows from working locally: "When a politician wants to appear in a talk show there is a clear statement from the broadcaster about how much is going to cost." Consequently the political forces of the country are reflected in the media only as long as there is a balance between the funders. Nico Lange: "There are three groups of oligarchs who finance the media. When one group grows stronger this represents a danger for press freedom." Corrupt journalists do the rest. "Dschinza" – jeans, is the name commonly used for the system of paid contributions, as the money vanishes immediately into the jeans pocket of the journalists. That this practice forms part of everyday journalistic life is an open secret among those working in the media in Ukraine. Volodymyr Mostovoj, editor-in-chief of the critical political weekly newspaper "Zerkalo Nedeli", also complains about the dubious work methods of many of his colleagues. He believes that one reason for the attitude of many journalists to professional ethics lies in their poor training. "When I studied journalism in what was still the Soviet Union there were three faculties in the entire Ukraine where I could study. Today there are, believe it or not, 41 – of questionable quality." Mostovoj quotes a recent study according to which the need for journalists for the next 400 years is covered if masses of journalists continue to flood the market. Editor-in-chief Mostovoj regards the loss of importance of critical reporting as even more worrying. Freedom of the press means for him also that a free press is given due recognition. So it is initially not a problem to criticise Viktor Yushchenko or other high-ranking politicians. "But what good is this, when those who are in power simply ignore this criticism and nothing changes? When you write what you want but nobody listens to you?" This in turn becomes a problem in the editorial offices. Mostovoj's weekly newspaper "Serkalo Nedeli" is confronted primarily with the problem that the journalists do not know what they should write about. "We already wrote about all the current political scandals two or three years ago, without anybody showing any interest." On the other hand, says Nico Lange from the Adenauer Foundation in Kiev, social themes such as Aids or minority problems in Crimea find no place in the Ukrainian press. Change of elites The frequent political scandals and the reports about them also have an effect on the interest of the readers. They have grasped that politicians, even their idols from the Orange Revolution, do not balk at lies and deception in politics. And consequently they are not interested in reading any further details about this. Whether hostilities between Tymoshenko and Yushchenko's are reported or not does not raise or lower their ratings in the popularity polls, Ivan Gayvanovytsh from Kiev has observed. But it is precisely this impression of politicians that is conveyed in the Ukrainian press that offers the starting point for change. Nico Lange: "The middle classes, the backbone of the Orange Revolution, are turning away from Yushchenko and Tymoschenko. They are looking at what their politicians are actually doing now." And they are searching for alternatives, for people who may not be as dazzling as the heroes of the Orange Revolution but who talk to each other and can find positions they agree on. The freedom of the Ukrainian press is a basic precondition for this gradual change of elites. Christoph Kersting is a free-lance radio and print journalist in Berlin who concentrates on Eastern Europe, science and culture. In addition he lectures on forms of journalistic presentation in the media management department of the FH Würzburg. Dörthe Ziemer is a reporter for n-ost, the network for reporting from Eastern Europe. She is responsible for the article service and for the further journalistic development of what is offered; before this she worked as editor for the daily newspaper "20cent" in Cottbus. related articlesrelated galleriesrelated projectsrelated events» Back to report |
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