ANNUAL REPORT October 1, 2014 – September 30, 2015
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UKRAINE MEDIA PROJECT (U-Media) ANNUAL REPORT October 1, 2014 – September 30, 2015 USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 WAYNE SHARPE CHIEF OF PARTY Josh Machleder, Vice President, Europe, Eurasia, and Asia Programs Internews Network www.internews.org 1640 Rhode Island Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 Phone: +1 202 833-5740, Fax: +1 202 833-5745 E-mail: [email protected] SUBMITTED: OCTOBER 21 , 2015 Page 1 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2014 – September 30, 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acronyms ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Approach to Implementation ................................................................................................................ 6 Media Environment ............................................................................................................................... 9 Key Activities and Results in Response to the Latest Challenges ................................................... 15 The Parliamentary Elections of 2014 15 The Information War 22 The Conflict and East/West Reconciliation 23 The Reforms Agenda 25 Key Activities and Results by Objective ............................................................................................ 25 Objective 1: Support and Promote Freedom of Speech and Media Independence 25 Objective 2: Increase Variety of News Sources and Improve News Quality 30 Objective 3: Improve the Enabling Environment for Media and Freedom of Speech 34 Objective 4: Improve Organizational capacity of Ukrainian Media CSOs 39 Media Research .................................................................................................................................... 41 Media literacy research 41 Media Audience Research 44 Journalists’ survey 45 Communication & Coordination ........................................................................................................ 48 Challenges ............................................................................................................................................. 51 Other Activities .................................................................................................................................... 53 Appendix 1: List of Sub-Grants.......................................................................................................... 57 Attachment 2: One of a Series of articles for Ukrainska Pravda by Internews Ukraine Attachment 3: U-Media Objective Four: Diversification of Partner Funding – 2011 to 2015 Attachment 4: Organizational Development Plan for Internews Ukraine 2015-2016 Attachment 5 (in excel): Monitoring and Evaluation Plan Page 2 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2014 – September 30, 2015 Acronyms Acronyms AUP NGO Academy of Ukrainian Press (www.aup.com.ua) CSO Civil Society Organization CUA United Action Center UA CURE Center for Ukrainian Reform Education (www.cure.org.ua) DG Democracy and Governance EC European Commission EU European Union GoU Government of Ukraine IAB Independent Association of Broadcasters (http://www.nam.org.ua/) IMI NGO Institute of Mass Information (http://imi.org.ua/) IMTUU Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (http://nmpu.org.ua/) IPC NGO Information Press Center (http://www.ipc.crimea.ua/) IR Investigative Reporting IUA NGO Internews Ukraine (http://www.internews.ua) IWP Institute for World Policy (http://iwp.org.ua) LCD Local Capacity Development LPC NGO Lviv Press Club (http://pressclub.lviv.ua/) MLI NGO Media Law Institute (http://www.medialaw.kiev.ua/) PACT Implementer of UNITER program (www.pactworld.org) PMEP Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Plan RPDI NGO Regional Press Development Institute (http://www.irrp.org.ua/) SF “Suspilnist” (Society) Foundation TK NGO Telekritika (www.telekritika.ua) UAPP Ukrainian Association of Press Publishers (http://www.uapp.org/) U-Media Ukraine Media Project (previously the Strengthening Independent Media in Ukraine program) (www.umedia.kiev.ua) USAID US Agency for International Development Page 3 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2014 – September 30, 2015 Introduction Internews is pleased to submit the Ukraine Media Project (U-Media) Annual report for October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015. The Ukraine Media Project was awarded by USAID to Internews in August 2011 and launched on October 1, 2011. The Ukraine Media Project follows the eight-year USAID media support program, Strengthening Independent Media in Ukraine, also known as U-Media and implemented by Internews. U-Media is implemented according to the following program objectives: 1. Support and Promote Freedom of Speech and Media Independence; 2. Increase the Variety of News Sources and Improve News Quality; 3. Improve the Enabling Environment for Media and Freedom of Speech; and 4. Improve Organizational Capacity of Ukrainian Media CSOs. Internews would like to highlight key accomplishments for the reporting period: On May 15, 2015 Law #1076 “On Public Broadcasting in Ukraine” came into force. Implementation of public service broadcasting reform required the continuous advocacy and expertise of several U-Media partners. U-Media partners contributed to the draft law, raised public awareness of public broadcasting through public seminars, including a critical gathering of key government and non-government stakeholders in March 2015 to discuss strategy in advance of the Parliament vote to transition the state TV and Radio network (First National channel) from a government mouthpiece into a true broadcaster for the citizens of Ukraine. On June 16, the Parliament of Ukraine approved by 240 votes in first reading a draft law # 1831 amending some laws of Ukraine to ensure the transparency of media ownership and implementation of the state policy principles in the field of television and radio ownership. The bill obliged the subjects of information activity, i.e. broadcasters and program service providers, to disclose their actual ownership structure and provide information about the final beneficiaries. A mechanism for monitoring the accuracy of such information was introduced. The National Television and Radio Council of Ukraine will request additional information about the ownership structure of the subjects of information activities. Also, those companies which disclose their final beneficiaries will get advantages during the tenders for licenses. U-Media partners – Media Law Institute, Institute for Mass Information and Independent Association of Broadcasters – were substantially involved in drafting and lobbying for this law. Suspilnist Foundation (SF), Internews Ukraine (IUA), Media Law Institute (MLI), Center UA and First National Channel united their efforts to organize the nationwide project “Parliamentary Debates 2014.” Zurab Alasania, Director General of First National, and Voice of America journalist Myroslava Gongadze, moderated the debates. Twenty-eight of 29 political parties participated in the debates, which were broadcast on Page 4 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2014 – September 30, 2015 seven nights from October 14-24, 2014. (The Communist Party of Ukraine refused to participate.) On Election Day, First National broadcast a 4.5-hour marathon called “Ukraine Tomorrow.” The program featured discussions about the Parliamentary Election results, upcoming reforms and the economic situation in Ukraine. The marathon became one of the highest ranked special projects on Ukrainian TV, with an average audience rating of 0.50% (source: Nielson Ukraine), or 1,567,077 viewers. In late 2014 and early 2015, the Independent Association of Broadcaster’s (IAB) media lawyers represented “Chernivtsi TRK” TV channel in a Supreme Court case lodged against the National TV and Radio Council of Ukraine to annul the results of the 2011 tender for digital broadcasting licenses. IAB lawyers managed to convince the National Council to support the position of the regional broadcaster and cancel its previous decision to deny a digital license to “Chernivtsi TRK.” A lawsuit requesting the elimination of all of the 2011 tender results is currently being considered by the European Court for Human Rights. Academy of Ukrainian Press (AUP) intensified its efforts to train teachers in media literacy. In cooperation with the Institute of Innovative Technologies, AUP held a series of training events for teachers and education officials in the regions, and developed model lessons, teachers’ books and methodological aid for all secondary school, college and university levels. To encourage schoolchidren to create their own media content, AUP supported media creativity events where students made their own newspapers and wrote essays about media literacy. In July, AUP and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine formed a working group on Integration of Media Education into Teaching Humanities. The working group will develop a comprehensive curriculum integrating media literacy into humanities studies. The first model lessons were developed for inclusion in the history curricula during this reporting period. In