SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 (based onNGODetector(based Media’smonitoring) results IN2014-2017 UKRAINE PROCESSESPOLITICAL IN COVERAGE OFSOCIO- MAIN TRENDS INMEDIA (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 NGO Detector Media SPECIAL REPORT Kyiv Kyiv 2017
1 1 NGO · Detector Media· Kyiv - 2017
2 MAIN TRENDS IN MEDIA COVERAGE OF SOCIO-POLITICAL PROCESSES IN UKRAINE IN 2014-2017 (based on NGO Detector Media’s monitoring results)
Over the years, NGO Detector Media has been monitoring the quality of the news broadcast by central and regional TV-channels. Our organization considers monitoring not only as a tool for the news content quality improvement but also as a means of promoting media literacy among population, which is aimed at increasing its ability to resist media manipulations and impacts. Since only the demanding audience is able to inspire TV-channels to consider the interests of the owners along with the interests of society. After all, the constant political and informational turbulence, in which Ukraine appears to find itself in the past few years, raises new challenges and imposes additional responsibilities on the media.
This analytical report presents the 2014-2017 monitoring results of central private TV-channels; former state-owned TV-channels being crystallised into public broadcasters; a snapshot of Russian propaganda. A several years overlook gives a more extensive and clear picture of the media. There are several key factors that can significantly influence the format of the news aired by the Ukrainian TV-channels. These are the political environment that defines the position of media owners, the Russian propaganda that often brings transformation to the information field (regardless of the ability of Ukrainian journalists to resist this scenario) and the indulgent audience. Moreover, when interpreting the same facts in different ways, Ukrainian TV-channels create various realities, and this in no way assists the Ukrainian society to overcome the today conflicts.
These media issues are likely to be addressed by the Ukrainian community in the years to come. They require complex solutions and cannot be fought with efforts of an organization or a responsible media outlet.
NGO Detector Media • 2017 3 4
NGO Detector Media •2017 SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Photo by:Pixabay Government. the Media; Detector conclusions and NGO views expressed in of this report might responsibility not reflect the sole official standpoint of the the German is publication this of content The Germany. of The special report was prepared by NGO Detector Media supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diana Dutsyk General editorship: Petro Burkovskyi Antonina Mnikh Diana Dutsyk Authors: Special Report.–Kyiv:DetectorMedia,2017.-42pages. monitoring results). in Ukraine2014-2017(basedonNGODetectorMedia’s Main trendsinmediacoverageofsocio-politicalprocesses events inUkraine. the about reporting their in trends main and media propaganda Russian of assessment the to paid was attention Special owners. editorial policybythepoliticalenvironmentandinterestsofmedia newsroom the on impact the with along broadcasters, public into reform the undergoing those including TV-channels, Ukrainian by report outlines main trends in the The coverage of socio-political news results. monitoring channels radio and TV Ukrainian the on based report final special a prepared has Media Detector NGO Yana Dobrianska Design andlayout: © Yana Dobrianska–designandlayout,2017 © NGODetectorMedia,2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 28 20 6 (Petro Burkovskyi) Russian propaganda about eventsinUkraine:2014-2016trends. (Diana Dutsyk,AntoninaMnikh) Public Broadcasting System:2014-2016trends. Information contentofTVandradiochannelsinvolvedinthe (Diana Dutsyk) reporting policyofUkrainianTV-channelsin2014-2017. Impact ofpoliticalenvironment onthesocio-politicalnews TABLE OFCONTENTS
NGO Detector Media •2017 5 5 6 IMPACT OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 and unbiasednews. is inpower.Therealackofhigh-quality interests oftheirowners,regardless ofwho been andiscurrentlybeingdefined by the private centralTV-channelsinUkraine has For manyyears,thepoliticalstandpoint of
IMPACT OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT ON THE SOCIO-POLITICAL NEWS REPORTING POLICY OF UKRAINIAN TV-CHANNELS IN 2014-2017.
BACKGROUND
On 3 September 2012, when inaugurating the 64th World Newspaper Congress and the 19th World Forum of Editors, the then President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych made a revealing slip of the tongue in his speech. "I urge journalists to maintain high ethical standards, adhere to the principles of objectivity and political prejudice." – he said [1]. This lapsus linguae demonstrates the way in which for many years the media’s role has been treated and understood not only by Viktor Yanukovych and his entourage, but in a broad sense by the Ukrainian political establishment, regardless of the party identification.
The Ukrainian media system was formed under the pressure of permanent political transformations. The establishment of the leading TV-channels in Ukraine, as well as large media holding companies, took place in the mid-1990s of the last century when the financial-industrial groups (named as oligarchic ones today), which accumulated their primary capital in a way often far from honest, were legitimized. Over the years of independence, these groups have matured and grown starting to influence lots of processes in the country; in effect, the business has merged with the politics. Those media that were bought or created by the mentioned oligarchic groups turned out to be a tool in the political struggles: in order to protect/hold power, to fight opponents/ Diana Dutsyk competitors, or to blackmail each other and state authorities [2].
Some Western experts come up with false conclusions assuming that the main bulk of pressure on the media and their editorial policy in Ukraine comes from the public authorities (no matter what political period is referred to). However, they discount the fact that the key mediaholdings comprising the largest TV-channels (according to all sociological surveys, television still remains the main source of socio-political news for Ukrainian citizens) are owned by oligarchs with their business-political interests, often competing with themselves, simultaneously adapting to and shaping the current political environment. As such, including media world, we observe the creation of conditional pluralism, or, according to Carothers, "formless pluralism" where "the competition between politico- economic groups and their political superstructures exists not exactly as a form of a widely recognized game, but as a survival strategy in a certain environment. In addition, several existing centers of power competing with themselves for authority and influence produce constant tension and confrontation" [3].
NGO Detector Media • 2017 7 8 IMPACT OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 remained unchanged.Specifically, thelargestofthemare (June2017update)[4,5]: authorities often turntothepowerofTV-channels. is asignificantmargin[7].To influencethesociety, thepoliticiansandstate affairs inthecountry, theonlinemediaare inthesecondplace-40.7% which central UkrainianTV-channelsas themainsource ofnews coveringthestateof at the request of NGO Detector Media, 87.1% of the respondents mentioned the International InstituteofSociology (KIIS)from 3December to12December, 2016 Ukraine: according tothefindingsofsociologicalsurveyconductedbyKyiv television remains the main source ofsocio-politicalnewsfor thecitizens of by thecentralTV-channelsisacrucialissue.Since,asmentioned above, Ukraine, ontheotherhand,havingcontrol overthequalityofnewsbroadcast a strong publicbroadcaster, ontheonehand;hybridRussianwaragainst As such,intheconditionsofoligarchic mediasystemandtheabsenceof owners ofsomemediahaveremained shadowedsofar. Despite theadoptedin2015lawonmediaownershiptransparency, thereal Though, theyare notstrong enoughtocompetewiththeoligarchic media. TV Recently founded byjournalists andsupportedbyWestern donorsHromadske subject ofintensespeculationwhoitcouldbelongto[6]. channel whichdidnotdiscloseitsultimateowner, andtherefore hasbeenthe still ownedbyPetro Poroshenko, thecurrent President ofUkraine;112Ukraine one way or another influence the political discourse in the country: Besides that,afew TV-channelsshouldnotbeleftunmentioned,sincetheyin owner isthedeclared wantedoligarch SerhiiKurchenko). owners are Viktor PinchukandOlenaPinchuk); a substantialshareholding); agreement, SerhiiLiovochkinhasonly9%oftheshares); Khoroshkovskyi keepsa substantial shareholding, despitetheannouncedsales is underway). denationalization ofthistypemedia(currently, thefirststageofreform the adoptedLaw"OnReforming StateandMunicipalPrintMedia"envisaged affiliates) starteditstransformation intoapublicbroadcaster. Also,in2015, Broadcasting", theNationalTelevision CompanyofUkraine(NTCU)(withallits In 2014,following theadoptionofLaw"OnPublicTelevision andRadio in thenationalmediamarket:actually, thestatewaiveditsmediaownership. impact onthechangeofthisenvironment asawhole. often poorqualityandgeneralinconsistencyare unabletohaveasignificant belonging to small owners or editorial teams, who due to their limited audience, be presented asacombinationofsmallmedia(bothtraditionalandon-line) the otherhand,itisarotten systemofthenationalmedia.Thethird playercan numerous audiences,andthusdefinetheUkrainianmediamarkettrends. On On theonehand,theseare severallargeoligarchic mediagroups thathave against UkraineinDonbas,withamixed(bytypeofownership)mediasystem. of the Crimea annexation by Russia and the beginning of the Russian war from 2010to2014,withtheonsetofRevolutionDignity. entourage failed in theirattempttomonopolizethemediaspaceinperiod media resources managementinUkraine.Viktor Yanukovych andhisimmediate Actually, this did not allow any of the state authorities to build a rigid vertical of UMHgrouphasthelargestportfolio ofprintmediaandradiochannels(the StarLight Media including STB,ICTV and NovyiTV-channels(the MediaGroupUkraina(theownerisRinatAkhmetov); 1+1media(theultimateownerisIhorKolomoiskyi,Surkisalsokeeps InterMediaGroup(theultimateownerisDmytro Firtash,Valeriy For overthree years,from 2014to2017,there havebeenseriouschanges Thus, Ukraineentered 2014,theyearofRevolutionDignity, theyear However, theoligarchic mediasystemandthekeyoligarchic mediagroups and Hromadske Radio do not fit into this oligarchic coordinate system.
Channel 5 IMPACT OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Impact ofpoliticalenvironmentonthesocio-politicalnewsreportingpolicyUkrainianTV-channelsin2014-2017. COMPONENT: PROFESSIONAL SUPPRESSED INTHE NEWS ARE VIOLATED AND TOPICS THE WAYS STANDARDS Key Trends of2014-2017 Methodology to protests onMaidaninKyiv, andlaterinother cities.On29November, the to suspendtheEU-UkraineAssociation Agreement preparation process. Thisled November, 2013theUkrainian governmentheadedbyMykolaAzarov decided comparison. broadcaster’s contentquality, seethenextsection ofthisanalyticalreport) for The infographics containthedata onUA:Pershyi (for detailsonthepublic the periodfrom 2014 to May2017:1+1,Inter, Ukraina,ICTV, STB,Channel 5. TV newsbroadcast by centralTV-channelswiththelargestaudienceover ability toresist mediamanipulationsandimpacts. as ameansofmedialiteracypromotion amongpopulation,thusdevelopingits considers monitoringnotonlyasanewscontentqualityimproving toolbutalso the newsbroadcast bycentralandregional TV-channels.Ourorganization Section (availableat:http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/methodology/). MediaSapiens web-platform (osvita.mediasapiens.ua) in the Methodology A detailed description of the methodology can be found on the and completenessoftheinformation presented. of views,efficiency, reliability, separatingfacts fromopinions,accuracy 3) information journalismstandardsobservancebyTV-channels:balance 2) importanttopicssuppressedinthenewscasts, 1) materialsfeaturing invitedmaterials(censorship), The monitoringsurveytracks: audience). (the unprimednewscasts–morning,noonornightdonotreach thewidest from thenewscasts.Themain (final) prime-time newscastsare evaluated For manyyears,NGODetectorMediahasbeenmonitoringthequalityof The eventsoflate2013–early2014 isthestartingpointfor thisreport. On21 This report isasummary ofthemonitoringresults obtainedfrom daily The monitoringsurveyiscarriedoutonthebasisoftranscribedtexts NGO Detector Media•2017 9 9 10 IMPACT OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT
SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 (before 2015–Pershyi Channel violation atmay featureinvited(orcensored)materials: Overall numberofpieceshavingtheprofessionalstandards (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 name UА:Pershyi Channel 5 Channel) Ukraina Inter ICTV 1+1 SТB 100 125 150 175 200 210 50 75 108 2017 MAY February 123 2017 34 43 17 11 12 4 2 2016 July 94 110 March 2016
October 143 2015 12 42 37 13 18 17 4 138 2015 July April 2015 January 2015 October 2014 September 2014 2014 July 2014 May March 2014 January 2014 Impact of political environment on the socio-political news reporting policy of Ukrainian TV-channels in 2014-2017.
207 210 171 200 175 105 150 93 81 78 125 74 100 52 75 50
Channel MAY February July March October July April January October September July May March January name 2017 2017 2016 2016 2015 2015 2015 2015 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014
65 53
48 29
39 27
11 13
21 31
13 12
10 6
NGO Detector Media • 2017 11 12 IMPACT OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT
SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 imposing onthesocietyanideaofpossibleearlyelections). Yanukovych teamwidely"tackled"theissueofParliament’sincapacity, political events,TV-channelsownedbytherepresentatives oftheformer Viktor February-2017 October-2015 politicians); of custom-madematerials("jeansa")promoting certainpoliticalpartiesand election; traditionally, duringtheelectionperiod,mediaincrease thenumber October-2014 "extremist activity," etc.); restrict thefreedom ofspeech,introduce suchnotionsas"foreign agent", the parliamentaryprocedure, adoptsthedictatorial "Lawsof19January"that during theRevolutionofDignity;Verkhovna Rada,materiallybreaching January-2014 periods ofhighestpoliticalactivity: now byPetro Poroshenko [8]. invited ("jeansa").Channel5hadthebestperformance, ownedthenaswell this channeltohavethelargestnumberofmaterialswithsignsbeing channel wasthefirstviolatorofprofessional standards; theexpertsreported order tosurvive[11]. owning oligarchs) tomimicandquicklyadaptthe political environment in reaffirms thethesisonabilityofpoliticalestablishment (includingmedia and appointmentofOleksandrTurchynov as the actingPresident. Thisfact only neutral inafew daysliterallyaftertheYanukovych runawayfrom thecountry in oppositiontothethenPresident. former membersofYanukovych team,whilstKolomoiskyiandPoroshenko were line withthepoliticalviewsoftheirowners.Firtash,Liovochkin, Akhmetovare TV-channels [9,10].Theeditorialpolicyofthesewas completelyin the otherside,thoughnotsofranklyandasmuchpro-government openly tookuptheprotesters’ positions,sothemisbalancehere wasfalling to (owned byIhorKolomoiskyi)andChannel5Petro Poroshenko) of thethengovernmentandPresident Yanukovych. Quitetheopposite,1+1 Rinat Akhmetov) Inter (owned by Dmytro Firtash/Serhii Liovochkin), Ukraina (owned by of Maidanprotests in 2014. PershyiNatsionalnyichannel(state-owned), custom-made materials. change ofpowerin2014,itsnewsbecamemore qualitativeandalmostfree of ones, butwhenitstransformation intothepublicbroadcaster startedwiththe Natsionalnyi during theentire periodindicated.In the Maidanprotests period,onlyPershyi team memberswere anti-ratingleaders(i.e.theworststandards violators) show thefollowing trends: analyzed yet. this dramaticperiodofUkraine’shistoryhasnotbeensufficientlyevaluatedand and parliamentarypower. Therole ofthemedia(bothnegativeandpositive)in ended with Viktor Yanukovych runaway to Russia andthechangeofpresidential to theKyiv streets. Thethree-month confrontation withtheactingauthorities the nightof30November–01December, leadingthousandsofpeopletotake beaten bytheBerkut,specialsquadron oftheMinistryInternalAffairs, on was crossed whentheprotesting activistsandstudentshadbeenseverely summit. This decision fueled public protests. However, the point of no-return then President Viktor Yanukovych refused tosigntheAgreement attheVilnius Thelargestnumberofprofessional violationswere recorded duringthe In 2013, prior tothe Maidan events, the state-owned Pershyi Natsionalnyi TherhetoricofPershyiNatsionalnyi, InterandUkrainachannelschangedto Thelargestnumberofmanipulationsandviolationsrelate tothecoverage Inter Consequently, themonitoringsbyNGODetectorMediain2014-2017 and Ukrainachannelsownedbytheformer Viktor Yanukovych channel, state-ownedatthattime,wasaheadoftheabovenoted (this periodisremarkable for the shootings on MaidaninKyiv (the countrygoesthrough thelocalelections); (the countrygoesthrough theextraordinary parliamentary (an exceptiontotherules,sincethismonthdidnotanynotable presented information in a harsh unbalanced manner, in favor
IMPACT OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Impact ofpoliticalenvironmentonthesocio-politicalnewsreportingpolicyUkrainianTV-channelsin2014-2017. COMPONENT: POLITICAL a totalamountof$18.5million[17,18]. attempting toobtainpermitsfor titaniumextractioninIndiawiththebribesfor in Austriafor corruptioncharges;intheUnitedStateshehasbeenaccusedof environment oritsowners,sinceoneofthem–Dmytro Firtash–wasarrested Ukrainian leadersincorruption,whereas stayingsilentaboutPutin'scorruptive also havingatargetedcampaign(liketheRussianmedia)for accusingthe the damagecausedbyeconomic"blockadeofDonbas".Thechannelis viewpoint. Thus,Interbroadcasts themostpro-Russian messagesabout coverage ofdecommunizationrelated topics,theDonbaseventsandRussia’s channel was a leader here. The pro-Russian position was most apparent in turned out to be the broadcasters ofRussian propaganda messages. Inter a showcaseevent[15,16].. conflict around Ukratransnaftacompany, ortheonerelated toPrivatBank,was relationship directly inthenewscastsoftheirTV-channels, eitherbecauseofthe between the Firtash/Liovochkin and Kolomoiskyi groups sortingouttheir settle accountswithpoliticalopponentsorbusinesscompetitors.Thewar return for certainpreferences. assume thatthesepersonsmightbeinagreement withlargemediaownersin Minister Groisman, becometrends of2016-2017[13,14].Thisgivesgrounds to ly uncriticalcoverageoftheactivitiesPresident Petro Poroshenko andPrime using neutralterminologytowards separatists. repeating the mistakes made when covering the Crimea annexation issue, by manipulative termsimposedbyRussia. as "unknown",or"green men",or"self-defense oftheCrimea",infact using followed theleadofRussianpropaganda whencallingRussianmilitaries journalists’ sympathytoPetro Poroshenko [12]. Although, theanalysisofnewscaststhatperioddemonstrated when theTV-channelskeptapartfrom "jeansa"storiesinnobody’sfavor. OWNER’S INTERESTS CORRELATED WITH CHANNEL THE WAY EDITORIAL IS POLICY major mediagroups. pursued bytheirchannels.We will demonstrate thisontheexamplesoffour between theinterests oflargemediaowners-oligarchs andtheeditorialpolicy of eventsandprocesses, andsocietyhasnotyetlearned tooffsetthisprocess. defending theirbusinessesandpoliticalinterests, imposingacorresponding vision or person.Channelownersare constantlytakingadvantageofmediapowerwhen compared withtheevent itself,thusformatting asociety'sideaaboutthisevent form anirrelevant picture ofreality. Interpretation ofeventsgainsinimportance such aspublicbroadcasting and themainTV-channelsofcountryoften However, intheabsenceofpowerful,popularalternativesources ofinformation used by politicians and oligarchs around the world. Ukraine is not an exception. that havethegreatest influence onpeople'sconsciousness.Thisfact isactively consciousness. Andtheseare media,themainsuppliersofmessagesandsymbols, the mostimportantsource ofinfluencetodayistransformation ofhuman information (network)society, inhisworkCommunicationPower, notedthat Following thebanofRussianTV-channels,UkrainianTV-channelsoften Throughout thewholeperiod,TV-channelownersusenewscaststo Strong overallcriticismofthegovernment,andatsametime,absolute- With developmentsbeingunfolded intheeast,TV-channelskepton At the outset of the Crimea annexation, Ukrainian channels unknowingly Thepresidential election2014wastheonlyoverlastdecade The monitoringsbytheexpertsof NGODetectorMediashowclearcorrelation Manuel Castells,awell-knownsociologistanddeveloperofthe theoryof
NGO Detector Media•2017 13 13
14 IMPACT OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT
SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 with thestandpoint ofitsowner. and presentation ofNarodnyi Front inInternewscastswere absolutelycorrelated news, andhehimselfhadnoinfluence ontheeditorialpolicy. Nevertheless,thetone the MinisterofInternalAffairs Avakov, theydidnotbroadcast anypro-Russian spotlight. Specifically, Firtash believedthatthechannel suffered intimidationfrom politicians repeatedly exchanged accusations against each otherinthepublic every monthofAprilandMarch. Thechannelownersandthe aforementioned broadcast 16 news piecesagainst this political force, with 12 piecesbroadcast Avakov, theMinisterofInternalAffairs [23].Thus,inMay2017,thisTV-channel Front Party),andaboveallelse,ArseniiYatsenyuk, theex-Prime Minister, andArsen connected withMaidanshootings. separatists, ortheOppositionBlocrepresentatives whohadtojustifytheiractions frankly patrioticposition,unlike,for example,RinatAkhmetovwhocoziedupto and from thestartof the Russianaggression inDonbas,Kolomoiskyitooka political component.Afterall,duringtheMaidanevents,orCrimea annexation, large numberoffacts from unproven sources [21,22]."Oligarch wars"hadalsoa views, hadnumerous harshjournalistic conclusionsandevaluationsalongwitha materials, beingofafranklyaccusatorynature, completelylackedthebalanceof the Privatgroup before thePrivatBanknationalization,oragainstUkrnafta).These either directly againstKolomoiskyiandhispeopleorbusiness(against Kolomoiskyi. The newscasts of this TV-channel often suggested pieces targeted Akhmetov, makes up a conditional coalition opposing another oligarch, Ihor wealth ofitsowner, aswellthecorruptionchargesagainsthiminUSA. matter ofpoliticalnature. TheTV-channelhasbynomeanseverrevealed the a rear guest)are frequently observed.Hisarrest inAustriawasdescribedasa Party ofDevelopmentandtheInstituteNewUkraine. items aimedatpromoting newpoliticalprojects created bySerhiiLiovochkin–the broadcast byInter. Inaddition,incertainperiodsthechannel'snewscontained on Interchannel,7-Ukrainachannel).Anyotherpoliticalforce isnotsomuch Bloc wasonthePRtoplistamongotherpoliticalforces: 41pieces(34ofthem frequent visits as commentators [19, 20]. For example, in May 2017, the Opposition basis inthechannelnewscasts;particular, YuriyBoikoandOleksandrVilkul paid political force commentingalleventsinUkrainewere shownalmostonadaily Bloc sinceitwasfounded following the Yanukovych's runaway. Deputies ofthis Yanukovych, ispresently amemberof theOppositionBloc. of thePartyRegions,former headoftheadministrationPresident Viktor in Austriaoncorruptioncharges.HispartnerSerhiiLiovochkin,anex-member RosUkrEnergo, ascandalousgasdistributioncompany, iscurrently underarrest Dmytro FirtashandSerhiiLiovochkin Inter Groupanditsowners Another constant target of criticism at Inter channel was Narodnyi Front (People’s Inter, togetherwithTV-channelsbelongingtoViktor PinchukandRinat The on-airvisitsbythechannel’sowner, Dmytro Firtash,(SerhiiLiovochkinis TV-channel Inter wasin the leadasto the politicalstandpoint of the Opposition Dmytro Firtash,oneoftherichestoligarchs inUkraine,theco-founder of
IMPACT OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Impact ofpoliticalenvironmentonthesocio-politicalnewsreportingpolicyUkrainianTV-channelsin2014-2017. and іtsownerIhorKolomoiskyi 1+1 media market [28]. is theownerofUIA–monopolistinUkrainianairtransportation Ukraine cheaplow-costersobviouslybecauseofthefact thatKolomoiskyi in theairtransportationmarket:channeldisputedintroduced in pieces aimed at protecting its owner’s business interests, for example, the thenheadofNBU[27].Traditionally, 1+1newscasts produced put uponthegroup [26]. TheTV-channelalsocriticizedValeria Hontarieva, associated with the bank’sposition,focusing ontheinfowar and pressure covering thistopic,thechannelomittedreasons for nationalization Ihor Kolomoiskyi,thesetrends were onlyreinforced in1+1releases. When the Firtash-Boiko-Liovochkingroup. against thegovernmentandanumberofotheroligarchs, firstofallagainst several fronts, insuchawayprotecting hisbusiness andowninterests – to thecriticalapproach. Infact, withhismediaKolomoiskyiranawaron these eventschangedtheinitialchannel'sloyalty thecurrent government arrest andinfavor ofKorbanhimself[24,25]. supported withPetro Poroshenko’s criticaljudgments concerningthesaid almost theentire newsrelease tothisevent,whichincluded comments Land AgencySerhiiRudyk.On31October2016,theTV-channeldevoted of anorganizedcriminalgroup andthekidnappedchairmanofState companion, businessmanHenadiiKorban,arrested for theallegedcreation interests orprotect business. particular RinatAkhmetovandhispeople,for theDonbaswar. "radical Uke"whosweptintopower. a governor. HealsobecamethecharacterofRussianasepitome March 2015),theKolomoiskyi’smediaactivelypromoted hisactivitiesas Dnipropetrovsk oblastinMarch 2014(heheldthispositionfor ayear-until of hisTV-channel1+1.Following hisappointmentasthegovernorof sometimes evenradicalposition,andthiswasfollowed bythenewscasts In 2016,duetothenationalizationofPrivatBank,whichbelonged to Kolomoiskyi’s resignation from thegovernor’s post,Korban’sarrest – For example,1+1extensivelydefended Kolomoiskyi'spartnerand Kolomoiskyi alsoactivelyusedhismediatopromote hispolitical Consequently, both Kolomoiskyi and 1+1 blamed other oligarchs, in Starting from 2014,IhorKolomoiskyitookaproactive, patriotic, NGO Detector Media•2017 15 15
16 IMPACT OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT
SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 and іtsownerViktorPinchuk Star LightMedia in 2014[32]. battalions carryinghumanitarianaidprovided bytheAkhmetovFoundation criticize thelatter, asinthecasewithblockingvolunteer transport Ihor Kolomoiskyi.ThenICTVandUkrainaTV-channelswouldunanimously Pinchuk’s andRinatAkhmetov’spositions,namely, inthe confrontation with eastern Ukraine,evenifthere are noseriousreasons todoso. fact, heoftenprovides commentsontheeventsrelated tothesituation in Leonid Kuchma, whoisthememberofMinsknegotiationgroup. In forgot toreport thisfact [31]. was ignored bythetopUkrainianpoliticians.However, Pinchuk’schannels Luhansk Oblasts]andabandontheideaofjoiningEUNATO, thisevent hold electionsintheORDLO area [SeparateDistrictsofDonetskand Journal where he proposed to compromise with Russia, in particular, to year, following Viktor Pinchuk'scontroversial columninTheWall Street cultural. TheexampleistheDavosUkrainianbreakfast. Though,this2017 advertised Pinchukandhisfamily, includingallhisprojects, politicaland the PrimeMinisterVolodymyr Groisman [30]. individual politicalforces orpoliticians,suchastheOppositionbloc[29], in particularperiodsICTV-channelusedexcessivePRpracticesfavor of were betteratcomplyingwithprofessional journalisticstandards, though trying tomaintainneutrality, and,incomparisonwithInterandUkraina, TV-channels comprisingthegroup: ICTV, SТBandNovyi.Theywere also opposed totheactinggovernment,unlikeownersofInterandUkraina. the former President LeonidKuchma, triedtorefuse from beingsofrankly At somepoints,there were somesituationaloverlapsofViktor Pinchuk’s channelsextensivelycovertheactivitiesofhisfather-in-law, To thisend,wheneverpossible,theseTV-channelsappeartohave As such,thispositionwasrepresented inthenewscasts ofthethree In recent years,theoligarch Viktor Pinchuk,whoistheson-in-lawof
IMPACT OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 CONCLUSIONS Impact ofpoliticalenvironmentonthesocio-politicalnewsreportingpolicyUkrainianTV-channelsin2014-2017. channels tocater totheneedsofaudience ratherthanjusttotheirowners. be activelypromoted.Itwould raisethesociety'sdemandfor thehigh-qualitycontent,thusencouragingTV- the publicbroadcastingsystem channels.Inparallel,medialiteracyamongvarioussocial statusgroupsshould the dominanceofoligarchicmedia inthemarket,thereisagreatneedtoexpedite reforming processof confidence intheUkrainianmedia isnegative,showingadrop:from+26%in2010to+2% in2015. of thesociologicalsurveycarriedoutby the IlkoKucheriv Democratic InitiativesFoundation, the dynamics of Ukrainian TV-channelsinrecentyears,asconfirmedbyvarious sociologicalstudies.So,accordingtotheresults in combination withthenews quality decrease hasledto a significant decline ofconfidence in the central interests oftheirowners,thus,leadingtoadistortedpresentation ofreality. For theveryreason,thissituation clearly demonstratethatprivateTV-channelsdisregardthe interestsofsocietyandgivethefirstplaceto Apparently, inthecontext ofaggressiveinformational spaceUkrainehasbeenexperiencingrecentlyandwith The monitoringsofthemainnationalTV-channelscarried outbyNGOMediaDetectoronaregularbasis and itsownerRinatAkhmetov TV-channel Ukraina country liesalsowiththeirowner. part ofresponsibility for thedramaticeventsunfolded intheeastof 35, 36].However, notevenoncedidthechannel’sjournalistssayonairthat the humanitarianaidbrought bytheFoundation totheregions inwar[34, of 9piecesinoneissue)advertisingRinatAkhmetov’sFoundation and of Regionsonthewhole. interests oftheOppositionBlocandrepresentatives oftheformer Party together withotherRussianmythologemes[33]. even fake newswere spread aboutthe"burnedaliveBerkutofficer" inLviv, flags, thejournalistscalledfor "establishingadialoguewithSouth-East", repeatedly hostedtheparticipantsofseparatistmeetingswithRussian aggression intheeasternUkraine.Specifically, theon-airbroadcasts in 2014, from the beginning of the Crimea annexation, and later – Russian with themessagesofRussianpropaganda) were broadcast bythischannel The bulkofmanipulationsandinterpretations (whichwere alsocorrelated Donbas", wasalsoexpressed inthenewscastsofTV-channelUkraina. Akhmetov, whoeffectively supportedseparatistsandurged"tohear false decisionswhichcosthimpersonallyaswellthewholecountry. found himselfinaveryuncomfortable position,but hemadeanumberof influence onViktor Yanukovych. Following thelatter'sescape,Akhmetov the mainsponsorsofPartyRegions,andwasonewhohadagreat having thestatusof"master"Donbas,RinatAkhmetovbelongedto Every day, thechannel’snewscastshaveoneorevenfew (withtherecord Today, TV-channelUkraina,aswellInter, activelypromotes the At thebeginningofwarinDonbas,politicalstandpointRinat Being nearlytherichestUkrainianoligarch withanodiousreputation, NGO Detector Media•2017
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SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/advocacy_and_influence/inter_zmagaetsya_za_zvannya_pyatoi_koloni/ column"? "fifth a of title the for competes Іnter Burkovskyi. Petro 18. http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/advocacy_and_influence/inter_bizhit_poperedu_rosiyskikh_parotyagiv/ horses. Russian the before carriage the Petroputs 17. Іnter Burkovskyi. borotba_za_ukrtransnaftu_v_novinakh_matyuki_psevdonimi_ta_zaslugi_pered_vitchiznoyu/ Motherland. the for merits and nicknames language, vulgar news: in Ukrtransnafta for Fight Andreitsiv. Іryna Dovzhenko, Оtar 16. http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/zdavalosya_b_do_chogo_tut_kolomoyskiy/ 15. Оtar Dovzhenko. One would think what Kolomoiskyi has to do with it? ing_overview/groysman_usomu_golova_yak_zvit_uryadu_peretvorivsya_na_reklamu_premerministra/ stunt. PR ister's 14. Yaroslav Zubchenko. Everything is headed by Groisman: How the Government's report turned into the Prime Min ing_telenovin_za_611_bereznya_2017_roku/ http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/poroshenko_stav_zirkoyu_parketu_monitorAvailableat: - 2017. 13. Poroshenko Monitoring of TV newscasts became for a March "parquet" 6-11, star. 2017. diasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/telekanali_bilshe_simpatizuvali_poroshenku/ Poroshenko.to sympathetic more were TV-channels 12. yanukovicha_nadeli_budenovku_tolko_posle_begstva_svoego_patrona/ http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/vlast_menyaetsya_kanaly_ at: Available - February. 28 aSapiens, escaped. had patron their after Powerhelmets "The pointed 11. Yanukovych'son Changing": put is channels vitsya_inter/ http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/kreschenie_ognem_glavnym_propagandistom_vlasti_stano at: 10. "Baptising with Fire". Inter becomes the main propagandist of power. ua/monitoring/daily_news/pro_scho_movchali_novini_v_sichni2014/ 9. The issues suppressed in January-2014. standartiv_u_novinakh/ news. for standards professional http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/5_kanal_lidirue_u_dotrimanni_profesiynikh_ with at: Available - up keeping in leader the is 5 Channel 8. http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/mediaprosvita/research/yak_rosiyska_propaganda_vplivae_na_suspilnu_ dumku_v_ukraini_doslidzhennya/ at: (research). Ukraine Available in opinion public affects propaganda Russian way The 7. kriv-kintsevogo-benefitsiara-a-zik-pokazav-petra-diminskogo-dopovneno/ http://detector.media/rinok/article/124812/2017-04-04-zmini-mediavlasnosti-informkanaliv-2016-112-ukraina-ne-vid (UPDATED)Dyminskyi Petro showed ZIK and beneficiary, ultimate its disclose to failed Ukraina 112 2016: - channels informational of ownership media in Changes MaryanaZakusylo. 6. ara/ http://detector.media/rinok/article/125552/2017-04-28-radiostantsii-umkh-nazvali-novogo-kintsevogo-benefitsi at: 5. Maryana Zakusylo. UMH radio stations named a new ultimate beneficiary. lezhit-svitlani-pluzhnikovii/ article/124768/2017-04-03-11-zminiv-strukturu-vlasnosti-pered-natsionalizatsieyu-privatbanku-a-inter-bilshe-ne-na no is Pluzhnikova. Inter Svitlana and by PrivatBank, owned of nationalization longer before structure ownership its changed 1+1 Zakusylo. Maryana 4. graph/Yu. Matsiyevskyi. -Chernivtsi:Books-ХХІ,2016.552pages. V. 3. Matsiyevskyi Yu. In V. a Hybrid Trap: Transformation Zigzags of Political Regime in Ukraine (1921-2014): a mono 2. DianaDutsyk.Political Journalism. -Kyiv.: Publishinghouse"Kyiv-Mohyla Academy",2005.-138pages // Available at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flvNBurHtcc Editors Worldof Forum19th the and Congress WorldNewspaper 64th the Yanukovych'sat Viktor speech of Video 1. REFERENCE LIST: (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 - MediaSapiens, 29 March 2015. - Available at: http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/ at: Available - 2015. March 29 MediaSapiens, - - MediaSapiens, 28 February 2017. - Available at: http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/monitor at: Available - 2017. February 28 MediaSapiens, - Dtco Mda 3 pi 21. Aalbe t http://detector.media/rinok/ at: Available - 2017. April 3 Media, Detector – - MediaSapiens, 17 February 2014. - Available at: http://osvita.mediasapiens. - MediaSapiens, 23 May 2014. - Availablehttp://osvita.me - Mayat: 2014. 23 MediaSapiens, - - Detector Media, 4 April 2017. - Available at: Available - 2017. April 4 Media, Detector - - MediaSapiens, 26 April 2017. - Availableat:- April2017. 26 MediaSapiens, - - MediaSapiens, 19 May 2017. - Available at: Available - 2017. May 19 MediaSapiens, - - MediaSapiens, 26 July 2014. - Available at: - MediaSapiens, 20 January 2014. - Available - Detector Media, 28 April 2017. - Available Mdaain, 3 eray 07 - 2017. February 13 MediaSapiens, - Mdaain, 9 coe 2013. October 29 MediaSapiens, -
- MediaSapiens, 18 March - Medi ------IMPACT OF POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 ovue_povinnist_pered_akhmetovim/ http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/monitoring_overview/monitoring_ukraina_odnomanitno_vidprats at: Akhmetov. to duty its practices monotonously Ukraina Monitoring: 36. http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/weekly/golub_miru_akhmetov_i_dzhinsa/ stories. jeansa and peace, of dove the Akhmetov, Lefter. Serhii 35. novin_gumanitarka_akhmetova_ta_glibina_padinnya_televiziynikiv/ http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/monitoring_overview/monitoring_tele at: Available - 2014. December fall. broadcasters’ of depth the and aid humanitarian Akhmetov’s newscasts: TV of Monitoring 34. ua/monitoring/weekly/akhmetov_pogrozhue/ 33. Maryna Dovzhenko. Akhmetov travels. able at:http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/weekly/oligarkhi_privitalisya_cherez_vlasni_telekanali/ 32. Serhii Lefter. Oligarchs 32. "exchanged Serhii greetings" Lefter. via their own channels. varti_imidzhu_khazyaina/ 2017. http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/monitoring_overview/telekanali_viktora_pinchuka_na_ January at: 30 AvailableMediaSapiens, - – image. owner’s the guard TV-channels Pinchuk’s Victor Zubchenko. Yaroslav 31. groysmana_na_tizhni_bilsh_za_vse_lyubili_na_ictv_monitoring_telenovin_510_grudnya_2016_roku/ 2016. 30. Zoia Krasovska. This week Groisman was mostly Monitoring disliked of on TV ICTV. newscasts for 5–10 December na_ictv_monitoring_telenovin_38_zhovtnya_2016_roku/ http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/dzhinsove_zagostrennya_ at: Available - 2016. October 16 2016. October 3-8 for newscasts TV of Monitoring ICTV. at recurrence "Jeansa" Andreitsiv. Іryna 29. view/11_proti_loukostiv_yakscho_tse_ne_loukosti_kolomoyskogo/ 8 Yrsa Zbhno 11 gis lwcses O te rvs ta tee o-otr d nt eog o Kolo to belong not do low-costers these that moiskyi. proviso the On low-costers. against 1+1 Zubchenko. Yaroslav 28. eva_ne_dogodila_plyusam_monitoring_telenovin_za_914_sichnya_2017_roku/ http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/chim_gontar at: Available - 2017. January 21 diaSapiens, 22. Іryna Andreitsiv. To 2016. August 22–27 for newscasts TV of Monitoring bottom. the to Pryvat send Andreitsiv. Іryna 22. http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/zdavalosya_b_do_chogo_tut_kolomoyskiy/ 21. Оtar Dovzhenko. One would think what Kolomoiskyi has to do with it? http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/inter_piarnik_opobloku_ta_novikh_ opozitsiynikh_politsil/ at: Available - 2016. forces. political opposing new and Oppobloc for platform PR a is Іnter Andreitsiv. Іryna 20. at: http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/inter_ostatochno_stav_pressluzhboyu_opobloku/ 19. Іryna Іnter Andreitsiv. finally became the press service of Oppobloc. Impact ofpoliticalenvironmentonthesocio-politicalnewsreportingpolicyUkrainianTV-channelsin2014-2017. 27. Zoia Krasovska. How did Hontarieva displease Pluses? Monitoring of TV newscasts for 9–14 January 2017. January 9–14 for newscasts TV of Monitoring Pluses? displease Hontarieva did How Krasovska. Zoia 27. itoring_telenovin_za_1924_grudnya_2016_roku/ Available- 2016. December http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/pristrasti_za_privatom_monat: 31 MediaSapiens, - 2016. December 19–24 for newscasts TV of Monitoring Pryvat. Passionsfor Krasovska. Zoia 26. www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/agrarni_pristrasti_y_biy_za_korbana/ Korban. for fight and passions Agrarian Andreitsiv. Іryna 25. monitoring/daily_news/korbaneyro/ 24. Іryna Andreitsiv. Korbaneiro. 24. Іryna Andreitsiv. nyuka_na_narakh_a_ne_v_nbu/ http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/monitoring_overview/inter_vvazhae_scho_mistse_yatse at: Available - 23. Yaroslav Zubchenko. Іnter believes Yatseniuk should be in jail rather than in NBU. toring_telenovin_2227_serpnya_2016_roku/ http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/vtopiti_privat_moniat: Available - 2016. September 4 ens, Mdaain, 7 eebr 06 - vial a: http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/ at: Available - 2016. December 17 MediaSapiens, - - MediaSapiens, 23 May 2017. - Available at: http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/monitoring_over Availableat: - May2017. 23 MediaSapiens, - - MediaSapiens, 8 November 2015. - Available at: http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/ - MediaSapiens, 6 April 2014. - Available at: http://www.osvita.mediasapiens. - MediaSapiens, 10 January 2016. - Available at: http:// Availableat: - 2016. January 10 MediaSapiens, - - MediaSapiens, 6 February 2015. - Available at: Available - 2015. February 6 MediaSapiens, - NGO Detector Media•2017 - MediaSapiens, 6 September 2015. – Available - MediaSapiens, 9 February 2015. - Available - 2015. February 9 MediaSapiens, - - MediaSapiens, 26 July 2014. - Available at: - MediaSapiens, 25 December 2014. – Avail - MediaSapiens, 15 March 2017. - MediaSapiens, 13 March13 MediaSapiens, - - MediaSapiens, 29MediaSapiens, - - MediaSapiens,- - MediaSapi - - Me ------19 19
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NGO Detector Media•2017 SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 around commonvalues. importantly –consolidation oftheUkrainiansociety and– justas standards, objectivereflection ofreality Broadcaster tobeamodel forobservingprofessional aggressive Russianpropaganda,itisuptothe Public degradation, and theinformationproductquality relevant. Amidtheoligarchizedmediamarket Public BroadcasterinUkrainehasbecomeparticularly The needforstablishinganindependentand efficient Ukrainian media. tomonopolizethe and, therefore,madealotofeffort considered themediaasatoolforholdingpower the presidencyofViktorYanukovych whosepeople in principlewasimpossibletobeimplementedunder politicalwill,and years, duetothelackofsufficient This reformhadnosuccessintheViktorYushchenko derived fromthesystemofstate-ownedbroadcasters. for theestablishmentofapublicbroadcasterbeing newopportunitiesopenedupinUkraine of Dignity, With the change of power the in Revolution2014, after 2014-2016 TRENDS PUBLIC BROADCASTING SYSTEM: INTHE CHANNELS AND RADIO INFORMATION CONTENT OFTV
INFORMATION CONTENT SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Information ContentofTVandRadioChannelsinthePublicBroadcastingSystem:2014-2016trends Antonina Mnikh Diana Dutsyk How ItStarted Public BroadcastingReform: changed overtheperiodfrom2014to2016 and radiochannelsundergoingthereform The news:howbroadcastingoftheTV be professional andobjective"[2]. promising road from PershyiNatsionalnyitoBBC.Hopefully, thenewswillalso democracy", thePresident said. genie outofthebottle.Thisispricethatgovernmenthastopayfor the and thought that introducing thepublictelevision simply meant releasing the since thegovernmenthasalwayssoughtfor control overthemediaworld lacked thewillorthere wasalmostalwaysnodesire todealwiththisissue, establishment ofPJSCNPTRCU[1]. Radio Broadcasting ofUkraine"(DraftlawNo.1357)whichinfact enabledthe signed the Law "On Amending Certain Laws of Ukraine on Public Television and to UA:Pershyi aswelltheUkrainskeRadio’scallsign. brand UA:Suspilne wasintroduced then,theTV-channel’slogowaschangedlive advertising, legalstatus,etc.ofthePublicBroadcaster. amended in2015/2016.Theseamendmentsregulated theissuesofproperty, Public Television andRadioCompanyofUkraine. transformed intoapublicjointstockcompanyandmergedwithPJSCNational with amendmentstothelawonpublicbroadcasting addedinMay2016,shallbe of Pershyi,Promin andKultura. Inaddition,SEStudiaUkrtelefilm,inaccordance channels UA:Pershyi andKultura, 26regional affiliates,andtheradiochannels both centralandregional. Atpresent, PJSCNPTRCUincludes:centralTV- PJSC NPTRCU)evolvedfrom anumberofstate-ownedTVandradiocompanies, Stock Company"NationalPublicTelevision andRadioCompanyofUkraine",or 2014. According tothislaw, thePublicBroadcaster (formally –thePublicJoint the Law"OnPublicTelevision andRadioBroadcasting ofUkraine"on17April Ukraine wassetupbytheVerkhovna Rada[Parliament]withtheadoptionof evaluation criteriaare: the methodologydeveloped by theexpertsofNGODetectorMedia. Thekey elected ZurabAlasaniaaChairman–author’snote). April 2017, the Supervisory Board of PJSC NPTRCU based on the contest results team headedbyZurabAlasania,theelectedchairmanofPJSC NPTRCU (on10 a publicbroadcaster’s systemisoneofthechallengestobemetbyanew broadcaster. Theelaboration ofguidesfor thejournalistsintendedtoworkin requirements tothequalityofinformation contentproduced byapublic broadcasting system. broadcast ontheTV and radiochannelstobereformed intothe public Detector Media(formerly Telekritika) hadregular monitoringsofthenews balance ofviews,separatingfacts from opinions,reliability); absenceofsuppressed topics; adherence totheprofessional standards (accuracy, efficiency, completeness, Furthermore, Petro Poroshenko mentioned:"Nowweare startingavery "Ukraine hasbeenwaitingfor thislawfor 23years. Eitherthegovernment During thispresentation, Petro Poroshenko, thePresident ofUkraine, On 7 April 2015, the Public Broadcaster was presented to the public. A new The Law"OnPublicTelevision andRadioBroadcasting ofUkraine"was The regulatory frameworkfor theestablishmentofpublictelevisionin However, theevaluationofnewsqualitywascarried outinlinewith As oftoday(atthetimedraftingthisreport), there are nouniform formal During thespecifiedperiodoftime,non-governmentalorganization NGO Detector Media•2017 21 21
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NGO Detector Media•2017 SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 ПЕРШИЙ UA:Pershyi Ukrainian government[3]. only thoseexpressing extremely mildanddiplomatic assessmentsofthethen countries to the Ukrainian situation, the journalists of Pershyi Natsionalnyi used principally orcompletelysuppressed. Whencoveringthereaction ofwestern the responses from theoppositionorrepresentatives oftheprotesters were way) presented variousstatementsbytheauthoritiesmembers,whereas of protests, PershyiNatsionalnyiuncritically(inparticular, inanunbalanced security forces ratherthanamongtheprotesters. Also,duringthewholeperiod people). Theconfrontation chronicles focused more onthedeathtollamong forces tothejudicialprosecution ofthewoundedandoftensimplyrandom of usingfire-arms andunjustifiedviolenceagainstthosedetainedbysecurity the excessiveuseofforce againstprotesters bythegovernment(from thefacts of Pershyi Natsionalnyi completely or almostcompletely hid thefacts showing authorities inthepersonofViktor Yanukovych. Intheirnewscasts,thejournalists they wouldnotcontradicttheofficialversionofeventspresented bythe TV-channel appeared tochoosetopics,facts andcommentsinsuchawaythat reporting oftheMaidanprotests inKyiv duringtheRevolutionofDignity. This However, the adherence tostandards wasstill inquestion,andfrom timeto time number ofsuppressed topicsreduced, thechannelimproved itsnewsquality. line in2015and2016:theairwas fullycleared from custom-madematerials,the although thecomplaintsabout qualityofnewswere stillobserved[6,7]. this TV-channel, the journalists also tried to adhere to professional standards, "black PR"tobeusedagainstcertaincandidates.Whenreleasing newscastsat TV-channels, completelyrefused toacceptinvitedstories("jeansa"),aswell election campaignofApril-May2014,PershyiNatsionalnyi,unlike theoligarchic newscasts produced by PershyiNatsionalnyi.Assuch,duringthepresidential Arsenii Yatseniuk (electedasPrimeMinisteron27February 2014). National Television Company of Ukrainebythe new government headed by and mediacommunity, wasappointedtothepostof Director Generalofthe contingent) [5]. (in particular, being described as rebellions attended by a radical marginal majority of state-owned TV and radio broadcasting companies in the regions news coveragewere somewayrevised. the process ofreformation intothepublicbroadcasters. Theapproaches tothe situation altered after the change of power: the state-owned channels entered the wayofreporting aboutthekeysocio-politicaleventsofcountry. The leaders (governors).Hence,thisapproach determinedtheireditorialpolicyand owned televisionandradiobroadcasters were alsoinfluencedbyregional controlled bythegovernmentandpresident. Thelocal(regional) state- President Viktor Yanukovych toRussia,thenationalbroadcasters were totally to work,sincethenewgovernmenttookpowerafterRevolutionofDignity. previous periods,evenintheabsenceofpressure couldnotchangetheirattitude working underthe"officialdiscourse"alwaysimposedbygovernmentin It istherefore evidentthattheTV-channeljournalistswhowere accustomedto lots oftopicsrevealing theoffences committedbytheprevious government[4]. views tiltedtotheirside.However, atthattimePershyiNatsionalnyisuppressed predominantly containingopinionsofnewofficials,andthestandard ofbalance when hewasinopposition).PershyiNatsionalnyistartedproducing materials by theactingPresident OleksandrTurchynov (whom theyrecently biased completely change its position heading towards the new power as represented absenceofmaterialsfeaturing invitedmaterials("jeansa"). Pershyi Natsionalnyi(since7April2015–UA:Pershyi) hadasymptomatic Finally, PershyiNatsionalnyi, andlateronUA:Pershyi, managedtostickthis NGO DetectorMedia’sexpertsstartedtrackingpositivechanges inthe On 25 March 2014, Zurab Alasania, who was greatly supported by the public The eventsofthewinter2014were covered inthesamewayby Although, inMarch 2014,ittookthenationalTV-channelafew daysto Before thechangeofpowerinUkraine2014following theescapeof
INFORMATION CONTENT SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Information ContentofTVandRadioChannelsinthePublicBroadcastingSystem:2014-2016trends at UA:Pershyi: As such,overathree-yearperiodthefollowing changeshavetakenplace set thehigheststandards for ourselves"[8]. public broadcaster thatwouldleadthewayinmediaenvironment, wemust though shebelievedthisshouldnotbeanexcuse,since"ifwewanttobuilda of completeness and balance because it took time to collect all viewpoints, However, sheexplainedthatitappeared difficulttocomplywiththestandards to getridof"jeansa":"To getridof"jeansa",youshouldsimplynotproduce it". Yurovska, DeputyDirector GeneralofUA:Pershyi, saidthatitwasquiteeasy 2015, whensharingthoughtsabouttheprocess ofraisingstandards, Daria by thejournalistsofUA:Pershyi. Atthepress conference heldon22October as well as separation of facts from opinions, was in thenewscasts produced that thepoorest compliancewiththestandard ofcompletenessinformation, an example,in2015,the monitoring conductedbyNGO Detector Medianoted of theactivitiesPresident, thePrimeMinisterorotherhighofficials).As experts noticedtheso-called"parquet" inthenewscasts(uncriticalcoverage al NationalTelevision andRadioCompanies] (formerly–RNTRC[Region Regional affiliates through reforms, and thus to change approaches to working with news content. support (themilitaryaswell)toseparatistsintheeasternUkraine. having inspired theRussian Federation tofueltheanti-Ukrainiansentimentsand contingent; thiscouldnotbutaffect thepublicmoodinconcernedregions presenting theseevents asarebellion callingtheirparticipantsaradicalmarginal television andradiocompaniesintheeastsouthofcountry continued Viktor Yanukovych. Evenupon the endofMaidanprotests, thestate-owned the central channel Pershyi Natsionalnyi, playing nice with the then regime of companies reported abouttheeventsofwinter2014insamelightas channel presented areally completenewspicture ofthedayin2016; was abandoned; the distanceremaining relatively neutralincoverageofthesocio-politicalnews; content ofUA:Pershyi, thejournalistsofthisTV-channelmanagedtomaintain desire ofrepresentatives ofthegovernmentorpoliticalforces toinfluencethe retirement ageorinexperiencedyouth); wants to work in this system, the staff normally retained is either of pre- market whichinthedollarequivalent variesfrom $100 to$200permonth);; attributed toextremely lowwages(withthelowestrate ofsalariesinthemedia information content. a crucialissue; fuzzy orovergeneralizedreferences toinformation sources) standards remains details andfacts aboutaparticularevent)andthereliability (alargenumberof with thecompletenessofinformation (thiscommonlyrelates tothelackof officials);; coverage of the activities of the President, thePrimeMinister or other high the number of suppressed topicsgradually reduced every year, theTV- placement of invitedmaterials political orcommercial nature ("jeansa") therelations withtheauthoritiesunderwentchanges:despiteinertial thelackofpositiveteamcompetition (becauseoflowwages,hardly anybody insufficientprofessional leveloflocaljournalists,whichcanpartlybe onthewhole,TV-channelstilldemonstratesinsufficientqualityofits improvements inthestandards observance,thoughthefailure tocomply however, expertsrecord theso-called"parquet" inthenewscasts(uncritical The mainreasons for thatare: It ismuchharder for theregional broadcasters, unlike UA:Pershyi, togo As already noted,themajorityoflocalstate-ownedtelevisionandradio NGO Detector Media•2017 23 23 - 24 INFORMATION CONTENT
NGO Detector Media•2017 SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 a "jeansa"type. and radio companies covered by the monitoring in the reporting period were of On thewhole,from 19to25%ofthenewsbroadcast onthefour regional TV Poroshenko Bloc when presenting the Presidential Strategy-2020 in Vinnytsia. featured, thistimeonthe background ofabanner withthesymbolsofPetro Yatseniuk governmentandthePrimeMinisterhimself.Volodymyr Groisman also region) Petro Poroshenko, hiswife visitingtheATO zone,theministersof beamed down.Theyshowed(asarule,withoutanyreference toaspecific mostly ofa"parquet" type[9]. Thechannelsbroadcast "parachute"scenes - didnotuse"jeansa"atall.Therest oftheRNTRCsproduced "jeansa"issues one ofthefiveassessedregional state-ownedTV-companies–SumyRNTRC just mentioneditssubject,etc. affiliates, andinsteadofcoveringtheissueaddressed inarespective meeting, region orcity, accompanied intheirtripsbyjournalistsfrom theregional signs ofinvitedmaterials:nowthesepiecespresented theleadersofaspecific local officials.We therefore notethemimicryinnewsproduction withthe names ofpoliticians,politicalflagsandcentersinfluencechanged. owned broadcasters afew monthsaftertheRevolutionofDignity–with and provided novaluableinformation for theresidents ofcertainlocalities. newscasts were usually incomplete, unbalanced, irrelevant to the local audience broadcasting ofpiecesdevotedtotheactivitiestopofficials.These being accustomedtoworkingwithplaybooks,reversed tothoughtlessdirect having recovered from socialupheavals,thestate-ownedbroadcasters different channels),thoughfor ashortwhile.Within afew comingmonths, number ofcustom-madematerials.Theyreduced byhalf(upto5-16%on stories, and even the presidential campaign 2014 could not increase the 2014 andaggressive publicrefusal toaccept thepro-government "jeansa" repeatedly observedinthenewsoflocalbroadcasters. materials promoting thetoppublicofficialsandlocalinfluentialpoliticianswere broadcast bytheregional affiliatesratherthan tothenewscastsofUA:Pershyi. needs oflocaleditorsoffices),andthebroadcasters seenoharminthat. revenues tolocalbroadcasters, whichallowstomeetcertainextra-budget lack ofcriticalcoveragetheauthorities’actions); local andcentralgovernmentalbodies(thisleadstotheself-censorship, "jeansa"practices(producing custom-madecontentthatbringsadditional theneedtosurviveinconditionsoflong-termpoliticalpressure putby The monitoringof thelastweek’snewsofthen parliamentarycampaign For instance,according tothemonitoringresults ofOctober, 2014,only However, this time theregional broadcasters prioritized the interests of their As such, the political "jeansa" returned to the screens of regional state- For alittlewhile,thesituationwasimproved duetotheeventsofFebruary Experts record thatduringtheperiodfrom 2014to2016theoutright"jeansa" So theexpertsofNGODetectorMediahavemore commentstothenews
INFORMATION CONTENT SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Information ContentofTVandRadioChannelsinthePublicBroadcastingSystem:2014-2016trends 1 benefit oflocalauthorities representatives. political "jeansa"replaced withthepro-government "parquet", mostlyfor the A decrease incustom-madecontentandachangeof its nature: theoutright Consequently, themain trendsof2014-2016are: compliance atthelocallevel. commitment from themanagementstaffofregional companiesrequiring strict the criteriaofinformation journalismperse,buttheylackedefficiencyand TV-companies demonstratedthegrowing awareness ofjournalistsabout 1.7 to5.2(outofsixpossiblepoints)withaverages3.9-4.4 points.These standards compliancelevelhadnotsignificantly improved, rangingfrom with thestandards ofinformation journalism,theexpertssay. abandonment ofthecustom-madecontent,there wasnoprogress incompliance affiliates. interests, suchstorieswere almostinlowregard among theNTRCregional and viewpointscompletenessofinformation. of information journalism standards, in particular, ensuringa balance of opinions because oflackprofessionalism inthenewspreparation alongwithneglect not becauseoftheapparent intentionofjournaliststopleasetheofficials,but experts ofNGODetectorMedianotedthatthematerialsthiskindcameout Khmelnytskyi colleaguesshowingsimilarresults, etc. Kharkiv; theunbiasedcontentwasconstantlybroadcast byUA:Sumy withtheir news produced bytheDoTeBe channelfrom DonetskandOTB channelfrom "parquet" nature. Andduringsomemonths,theexperts notedthe"jeansa"free with thesignsofaninvitationhardly vanished,buttheywere mostlyofa news contenttheycreated, weseetworemarkable tendencies:thematerials party –thePetro Poroshenko Bloc“Solidarity”. forces, in2015theexpertsnotedmore piecesinfavor ofthepro-government presented almostnostoriesaimedatpromoting theinterests ofcertainpolitical The newscastspromoted officialsaswellclosetothempeople'sdeputies. state-owned broadcasters explicitlymadeitclearwhowasmasterinthehouse. depending ontheextentofinfluencegovernorshadinregions, the over theRNTRCresource justbefore thelocalelectionsinOctober2015.So, the format of"it(i.e.theauthority)works"migratefrom monthto[10]. meaningful. "Reporting"piecescoveringthemeetingsattendedbyofficialsin the newsrelated tothecentralauthorities,becameevenlessmotivatedand custom-made materialskeptin2015.Thepro-government "parquet", especially in theirinformation policy:therecorded previous year’srateof10-25% Kherson, CherkasyandDnipropetrovsk oblasts,theexpertsnotednochanges January news content of the regional television companies in Odesa, Kharkiv, or thePresident. theMayor,actually isthemaintruthholder:i.e., theGovernor, thePrimeMinister broadcasts from numerous meetings.Normally, theyhaveonespeakerwho was brought tothelevelofofficialstatementsmadebyauthorities,or format ofreporting aboutthe officials ofallranks.Moreover, suchinformation the authority’s actions. The RNTRC journalists often practiced the "parquet" this isastrictself-censorshipappliedtoallissuesconcerningthecoverageof regional specifics,allthesechannelshadseveraltrends incommon.Firstofall, companies: Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Sumy, ZaporizhzhiaandVinnytsia. Despitethe ed.) hadsymptomaticfindingsaboutfiveregional state-owned TV andradio (the earlyparliamentaryelectioninUkrainewasheldtheautumnof2014– The 2014-2016newsmonitoringresults showedthattheprofessional Despite the progress demonstrated by regional broadcasters in the gradual As for the"jeansa"contentwhichcouldpromote somebody'scommercial Nevertheless, theshare of"parquet" materials wasstillcritical.However, the However, in2016gradualchangeswere underway. Whenconsideringthe Whereas rightaftertheRevolutionofDignityRNTRC’snewscasts It wasalsoevidentthatthegovernmenthadnointentiontoloseitsinfluence The tendenciesoflate2014prevailed alsoin2015.Whenanalyzingthe NGO Detector Media•2017 25 25 26 INFORMATION CONTENT
NGO Detector Media•2017 SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 CONCLUSIONS (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 professional approaches intheformation ofinformation content commonfor thepublic servicetelevision. work as well as methodological assistance, trainings, professional master-classes, etc., in order to establish broadcaster system, ameticulous analysis andpublic coverage ofachievementsand shortcomings intheir the conditionallyinvitedcontentarebeinggraduallyabandoned. broadcaster format. The newsroomsmadesomepositiveprogressinintroducingthenewsreportingstandards, Therefore, quiteevidentisaneedfor furthermonitoringofthecontentchannels withinthepublic However, thepaceofthesechangesisextremelyslow, andtheresultsachieved areunstable. From 2014to2016,thereformed NTCU anditsregionalbrancheswere progressivelyapproachingthepublic 6 5 4 3 2 Ukrainske Radio did notreceive thislogoduringthespecifiedperiod broadcaster isthenewsqualitystandard observance).Therest ofthecompanies 1 January2016(themainrequirement for obtainingsuchalogobylocal Company ofUkraine–beganbroadcasting underthelogo"UA:Sumy" since Only oneofthelocalcompanies–SumyaffiliateNationalTelevision quality. No progress in the professional standards observance, the news are still of low "jeansa" totoleranceandfriendshipwiththegovernment. homogeneous, haveregional peculiaritiesandrangefrom totalrejection of management positionastocustom-madecontentbroadcasting are not The regional broadcasters’ information policyandtheTV-companies Insignificant volumeof"jeansa"intheNTRCregional affiliates’newscasts. to thelocalaudience. A decrease inthenumbernewspiecesabouttoppublicofficialsirrelevant programs [13]. Detector Mediaexperts made a number of comments to the line of information of evaluativejudgmentsusedbythejournalistsintheirnewscasts[11,12]. (normally, infavor oftheauthorities),monitoringrecorded alargenumber in thenewscontentonradiostation.Inadditiontobalanceviolations the standard ofbalanceandcompletenessinformation asthemainproblem news produced byUkrainskeRadio.Theexpertsnotedtheincompliancewith which bynomeanswouldaddsomedynamism,vitalityanddialogueness. etc.). Thenewscastsare lackingfor suchgenres asreportages andinterviews presentation of an expert opinion about a certain event, phenomenon, process, they haveanarchaic genre ofaspeechinfront ofamicrophone (amonologue correspondent’s narration combinedwithsomeinterviewelements.Sometimes events inUkrainewhiletheshare ofinternationaleventsisonly10-20%;; both ondomesticandforeign subjects.80-90%ofairtimeisallocatedtothe newspaper articleoraweb-sitepostratherthanradionews; into anewscastwithoutanyadaptation,sosuchnewsresemble anexpanded theyarefrom copied information agencies,web-sites,press-releases, etc., structure. Itwasapparent thatradiopresenters borrow eventcoverages principle ofthenewspresentation, beingtheimitationofspokenlanguage thejournalistsprefer twogenres: aninformation messageanda there isadisproportion inreporting aboutthemostcrucialsocialpieces themostofnewspieceshaveviolationsbasictechnological The maincommentsare: Having analyzedthebroadcast scheduleofUkrainskeRadio,theNGO In 2016,NGODetectorMedia,for thefirsttimein25years,monitored the
INFORMATION CONTENT SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Information ContentofTVandRadioChannelsinthePublicBroadcastingSystem:2014-2016trends maydanu/ http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/regional_news/lyutnevi_tezi_proti_ teleradiokanaliv_monitoring_go_telekritika_video/ balansu_ta_povnoti_informatsii_golovna_problema_tsentralnikh_derzhavnikh_ http://www.osvita.mediasapiens.ua/ethics/standards/porushennya_standartu_ Telekritika’s monitoring(VIDEO)//MediaSapiens.–22October2015 NGO channels: radio and television state-owned central of problem main the is information of completeness and balance of standards the with Incompliance 8. menshe_porushuvati_zhurnalictski_standarti/ // standards http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/pershiy_natsionalniy_stav_ journalism of observance in MediaSapiens. –6May 2014– improved Natsionalnyi Pershyi 7. pervogo_natsionalnogo/ http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/dzhinsuyut_vse_krome_ – 6. Everybody is running "jeansa". Except Pershyi Natsionalnyi // MediaSapiens. 5. Sokolenko N. February messages against Maidan shvidko_pereorientuvavsya_pislya_zmini_vladi/ // http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/pershiy_natsionalniy_ power of change the after MediaSapiens. –17March 2014– "reoriented" promptly Natsionalnyi Pershyi 4. movchav_pro_siloviy_shturm_maydanu_ta_dii_snayperiv/ http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/daily_news/pershiy_natsionalniy_ snipers’ 12 March exercises /MediaSapiens.– 2014– and Maidan on assault forceful about silent was Natsionalnyi Pershyi 3. efiri_zmini_do_zakonu_pro_suspilne_movlennya/ http://stv.detector.media/zakonodavstvo/zminy/poroshenko_pidpisav_u_pryamomu_ // Publicbroadcasting. –7April 2015– 2. Poroshenko televised live signing amendments to the law on public broadcasting http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=52822 Radio and Television Public on Broadcasting ofUkraine"(DraftlawNo.1357)// Ukraine of Laws Certain Amending "On Law 1. REFERENCE LIST: informatsiynogo_movlennya_potrebue_pereglyadu/ http://stv.detector.media/kontent/monitoryng/sitka_movlennya_ur1_kontseptsiya_ reviewing //Publicbroadcasting. –05December 2016.– 13. UR-1 broadcasting network: the concept of information broadcasting requires radio_y_internet_dzherelo/ source http://stv.detector.media/kontent/monitoryng/dlya_zhurnalistiv_ukrainskogo_ internet an and Radio Ukrainske broadcasting. –21November 2016.– of journalists the For 12. veresni/ sudzhennya_vidsutnist_bekraundiv_osnovni_vadi_novin_ukrainskogo_radio_u_ http://stv.detector.media/kontent/monitoryng/psevdoposilannya_otsinni_ 2016. – September in Radio Ukrainske of main drawbacks the - backgrounds of absence judgments, evaluative Quasi-references, 11. movniki_viddalis_vladi/ http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/regional_news/maybutni_suspilni_ February 2015 authorities the espoused broadcasters public to-be The 10. teledzhinsa_u_zhovtni_kambek_u_chasi_yanukovicha/ http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/monitoring/regional_news/regionalna_ Yanukovych? of times the MediaSapiens. –15November 2014. to comeback October: in "jeansa" TV Regional 9. 2 May 2014 – –
NGO Detector Media•2017 –
// Public broadcasting. – 13 October 13 – broadcasting. Public // // MediaSapiens. // MediaSapiens. – 20 – MediaSapiens. // – 12 April 2014 / Public // 27 27 // // – 28 RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 TRENDS 2014-2016 IN UKRAINE: ABOUT EVENTS PROPAGANDA RUSSIAN spread ofmessagesthrough allavailablechannels. features: themonotony of messagesandsynchronous overtheseyearshastwodistinctive Russian mediaefforts in UkraineagainsttheRF.Thepropagandanature ofthe "foes" ofRussia,"opportunities"and"threats"that arise into theroutine,ritualpracticeofnaming"friends" and manipulations werebecominglessacuteandturned a clearstrategyfromtheRussiandecision-makers, the the Crimeaannexation period.At thesametime,without decisions.Thisisespeciallytruefor Kremlin's military impact ofsuchpropagandawasasimportant the destroy theUkrainianstate.Insomecases,political and ofUkrainiansociety plans tounderminetheunity tool forlegitimizingandimplementingofRussian events inUkraineduring2014-2016wereanimportant (printed andonline)intermsofreportingaboutthe oftheRussia-controlledmedia Propaganda efforts
RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Russian propagandaabouteventsinUkraine:2014-2016trends For thefullversionofarticleplease followthelink:www.aif.ru/euromaidan/opinion/korichnevyy_myatezh_na_ukraine. the “SSStandartanführer". with compared is Heyden Kathleen Council Security National US the of representative the and streets"), Kyiv the in roared 2014 under the 20, title "The January Brown" rebellion dated in Ukraine. The Sidorchyk article compares Andrey the Ukrainian by protesters with the article fascists ("fascists the of part A web-site. newspaper’s Fakty i Argumenty the of screenshot A Burkovskyi Petro information attacksagainstUkraine: the timeframeofassistance,callingthisassistanceaMaidanprerequisite . independence isrepeated. Russianmassmediausethisfigure withoutmentioning of democracyinUkraine$5billionoverthewholeperiodUkraine’s from theUSDepartmentofStateonamountaidfor thedevelopment interference intheUkraine’sinternalaffairs. For example,theofficialinformation the "examples","evidences","proofs" ofvariousforms andscaleofWestern "puppeteers". Sincethenandtilltheendof2016,theyare constantlyciting are chaoticanddecaying,dependingonanonymousEUtheUSA regions andcitiesintheeastsouthofUkraine),protestforces law anddevelopment(specialopsunitBerkut,theindustrial,highlydeveloped opposes Russia. politicians goalongwiththestigmatizationandhumiliationofanythingthat protesters. Theidentificationandsupportofthepro-Russian forces and "fascist ideology"and "fascist methods"supportersamongtheEuroMaidan’s every daythemessagesaboutpresence andlaterthepredominance of Ukrainian regions.For internalandinternationalaudiences,theyrepeat almost the protestmovementandincitinghostilitybetweenlocalsofdifferent The pro-Russianorientationarecomparedtotheforces oflaw, ruleof December 2013-February 2014:majorefforts areaimedatdiscrediting In termsofchronology, wecanseeseveralmajorphasesofKremlin’s 1 December 2013 - February 2014 December 2013-February NGO Detector Media•2017 29 29 30 RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 mobilized against thenewUkrainianauthorities, to convincethemofthethreats broadcasting ofsuchmessageswasintendedtoencourage citizenstoget cable networksoftheeasternand southernregions, it isfair tosaythat the EuroMaydan participants. disposition compared withrepresentatives ofotherregions ofUkraineand elderly people,andheterosexual orientation),greater honestyandpeaceful loyalty totraditionalfamily values(lovefor children, longlife, respect for the as more humane,having bettermentalandphysicaldevelopment,deeper armed clashes,thecarriersofthisnew"Novorossian identity"are characterized Patriarchate. With theprotest intensificationandfirstviolenceescalations faith andthecommitmentofUkrainianOrthodox Church ofMoscow language, culturalandsocialintegrationintothe"Russia’sspace", theOrthodox accompanied by such identity traits of command and constant useof Russian the easttoOdessaoblastinsouth. outlines theimaginaryboundariesof"Novorossia" –from theKharkivoblastin authorized byVladimir Putin directly who at thepress-conference in April2014 set tothecreationofaseparate"Novorossianidentity." Suchactionsare example oftheseparate"Crimeanidentity"construction,mediaefforts unrest intheeasternandsouthernregionsofUkraine.Havingasuccessful interference ofRussianspecialservicesandspecial-purposeunitsincivil and Russia. justify this"will"through thereferendum andthe"reunification" oftheCrimea speak onbehalfofthe"Crimeans",toexpress thewillof"wholepeople,"to pro-Russian leadersinCrimea(Aksyonov, Chalyi).Theyare giventherightto people." Thisoperationproduces analternativeelitefrom minor, little-known "Crimeans" asapartofthe"Russianpeople"opposedto"Ukrainian from therestofUkrainiancitizens.Mediabuildaseparateidentity media’s versionbecomesthemainfactor distinguishingtheCrimealocals response toWestern interference intheUkrainianevents. Forces intheterritoryofUkraineismentionedsolelycontextapossible emphasized. TheRFPresident decisionregarding possibleuseoftheArmed in defense oftheCrimeaandvictoryover"Kyiv junta"isbeing bikers, anti-Maidanpeople,former Berkutofficers,self-defense activists) and Crimea,isbeingunderlined;thecrucialroleof"volunteers"(Cossacks, Sea Fleet,whocancountonthesupportfromcompatriots"inSevastopol are beingdisguisedand,atthesametime,stabilizingroleofBlack to "standwiththepeople";aggressiveactionsofRF’sspecialforces Ukrainian authorities;there are multipletraitordeclarationscallingthemilitary there are newsoftheCrimea’smassiveand"popular"resistance tothenew their families serving intheCrimeasuffer theinformational pressure: Russia. deadly threat bytheMaidanvictorstoallthosewhoidentifythemselveswith difference from theprevious stage:massiverelease offake newsaboutthe accompanying themilitaryoperationofCrimeaoccupation.Themajor As theRussianTV-channelsat thattimewere well-represented inthe The already mentioned "law-abiding"and"hard-working" features are April-June 2014:theinformation specialoperationcoveringthe This kindofastruggleagainstthe"fascist forces" intheRussian At thesametime,theservicemenofArmedForces ofUkraineand Late February–March 2014:information special operation 2 3 Late February–March 2014 Late February–March April-June 2014
RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Russian propagandaabouteventsinUkraine:2014-2016trends For thefullversionofarticlepleasefollowlink:http://expert.ru/expert/2014/24/myi-ih-ne-brosim/. "the questionshouldbeabouttheactualre-establishmentofstateUkraine." that audience their persuaded also authors The etc.). system, financial “DPR/LPR" of establishment the population, local the to aid humanitarian Russia’s “insurgents”, the of organization the particular, in later, authorities Russian to the by implemented plan detailed a presented it Russia"; of heart the is actually was that scenario the suggest article the of authors (the Russia joining of "Donbass ways and situation Donbas the destabilize issue the July, of -16 topic June the (9 became 24 that No. article issue an magazine had The 2014) magazine. business Russian Expert the of web-site the from screenshot A used bytheRussian authoritiestopopularizetheir versionoftheSecondWorld “insurgents” –theSt.GeorgeRibbon that sincethemid-2000shasbeen actively the rebellion againsttheUkrainianstate.Theyintroduce ameaningfulmarkerof during the Second World War, so thattomarkand at thesame time to justify of the heroic struggleof the"Sovietpeople"againstGermanaggression methods of"elitecultivation." hesitation andpersecutionoftheirowninterests force Russiatoresort tonew councils, mayors,directors of enterprisesare infocus. Buttheirconstant At first,former members of thePartyRegions,itsrepresentatives inlocal "public opinion" leaders who should lead the pro-Russian movements. either inviolentactionsorassistingtotheRFrepresentatives. to theiridentityfrom the citizensofotherregions, andtoseekfor protection At thistime,theyrevive theterm"insurgents" Like intheCrimea,Russianpropagandastartspromoting alternative NGO Detector Media•2017 that hasclearconnotations 31 31
32 RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 For thefullversionofarticleplease followthelink:http://www.crimea.kp.ru/daily/26241.5/3122552/. of thenewsystemgovernmentthat willsoonrevealthenationalistdictatorshiptraits." by an appropriate headline and inset: "The military operation against the locals of the South-East is merely one of the elements accompanied is photo The Poroshenkoinauguration. Petro his Ukraine during of servicemen the President congratulating is newly-elected the where video a from shot wangled a is this as Tymofeyphoto, the manipulates periodical The Sergeytsev). A screenshot of the "Komsomolskaya Pravda" web-site, the article of 8 June titled "Inauguration of the Future Dictatorship" (by for foreign audiences.Theylaunchtheprocess of"bottom-up"establishment with foreign mediaandfor mentioninginRussianmedia(RussiaToday, Sputnik) of anewstateintheDonbasarea. Theyare legitimized,inparticular, for contacts among theRussiasupportersinUkraine:from federalization totheestablishment Bezler, NikolayKozitsyn);theyare entrustedtovocalizethegoalsandobjectives propaganda beginsshapingthe"Novorossia"leaders(IgorStrelkov, Igor Ukraine. ideological justification of the "voluntary" presence of Russian servicemen in are widelycirculated andusedtorecruit volunteersandtoprovide withthe as "exploits"following thefeats ofSovietsoldiersandpartisans;suchstories allegedly real "fascists" in Ukraine. The actions of the "insurgents" are presented new meaning:asymbolofthestruggleRussianpeopleagainst War eventsintheformer USSRterritory. From nowon,thisribbonisgettinga It is from the ‘insurgent’ leaders, the citizens of Russia, the Kremlin
RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Russian propagandaabouteventsinUkraine:2014-2016trends information space. of theUkrainian establishmentbecomeapermanent elementoftheRussian then suchtechniquesofhumiliation, demonizationofcertainrepresentatives hostility againsttherich(against IgorKolomoiskyi,Petro Poroshenko). Since (against IgorKolomoiskyi,Ukrainian oligarch, owner of 1+1MediaHolding); war (against the leaders of “Svoboda” , UNSO, "Parvyi Sector"); anti-Semitism Ukraine from 23February till7June);traumaticmemory ofthefirstChechen brainwash thepopulation(against OleksandrTurchynov actingPresident of bias against representatives of the newest Protestant churches and cults that they usenegativeclichésandstereotypes oftheRussianmassconsciousness:a some Ukrainianpoliticiansseenasitsmostfierceopponents. To thisend, messages. complementing andsubstitutingeachotherregardlessofthe contentof (right-sector member)and“nationalguard”areusedalmost assynonyms, of Ukraine.Asaresult, bylate2014,newclichés“punisher”,“pravosek” Ukrainian volunteer squads that were officially integrated in the National Guard actions. At the same time, the term "punisher" is used the most often about USSR’s peacefulpeople;nowitisusedtodescribeanyreal orfake facts about This isanumbrella conceptusedtodenotetheNaziwarcrimesagainst easier anotherWorld War IItermisreconstructed –the"punisher"(castigator). mass war crimes committed by Ukrainian servicemen.To makethis task corruption. decommunization (mentionsofLeninmonumentsdismantling),newauthority radical nationalists’ intentions to haveforced Ukrainization under the pretext of crimes, incompetenceandfaulty economicandsocialdecisions,exaggerationof stories of that period are: no sure information about the investigation of Maidan mistakes anderrorsofnewauthorities.For example,themostpopular of Trade Unionson18-19February 2014. House ofTrade Unionsare usedtolevelthefire anddeath tollintheKyiv House establishment oftheimageultra-rightorganizations.Thefatalities inOdessa most incredible crimesandincidents. evidence oftheinvolvementandresponsibility oftheUkrainianauthoritiesin sector member)intheinformation piecesornewsreports becomesasufficient speaking population.Subsequently, theverymentionof‘pravosek’(right- unit SS,scaringwithmassrepressions and massacres againsttheRussian- authorities. TheRussianmediaevencompare “PravyiSector”totheNazispecial “Pravyi Sector”("RightSector")thathaveallegedlytakencontrol overthepublic significance ofright-wingradicalorganizationslike“Svoboda”("Liberty")and south ofUkraine.To thisend,theyturntohyperbolizingoftheinfluenceand enlists andvolunteerswhobeginfightingtheseparatistsineast "insurgents". Russian weaponsasconfiscatedbyUkrainianlaw-enforcement officersfrom the and deep-cover agents of Russian special services or ofrecently produced hiding inallpossiblewaysthefacts ofcaptured Russianservicemen,agents Forces, inparticular, theRussia’smilitaryintelligenceservice.Theyare professional sabotagemethodsofthespecialunitsRFArmed against theUkrainiantroopsand,atsametime,todisguise Russians andfor theDonbasUkrainiansthrough thesamechannels. way and,atthesametime,tospread messagesunderstandablebothfor the situation onsitesotheKremlin curatorshadtomakeadjustmentsalongthe and ideologicalcoverageoftherebellion outpacedsignificantlytheinformation media-invented constructionof"Novorossia". Itisobviousthattheinformational the inhabitantsofUkraine’sadministrative-territorialunitsandnotto Luhansk oblasts.Itisworthnotingthatthese"referendums" are targetedat in theform of "referendums" for self-determinationof"peoples" of Donetskand "public authorities"anddisreputably "democratic"procedures ofwill-expression Even more, theKremlindirectspersonalinformation attacksagainst There is another direction of such information efforts: reports about This isaperiodwhentheRussiamediastartmakingactiveuseof The Odessatragedyon2ndMay2014becomesaturningpointfor the At thesametime,theyaredemonizingnewUkrainianauthorities, The term"insurgents"alsoservedtolegitimizetheguerrillatactics NGO Detector Media•2017 33 33 34 RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 its peoplefor anopenwarwithUkrainescenario. On theotherhand,Kremlin usesmobilization,patrioticmessagestoprepare of large-scale military, technical, consulting and training assistance to the rebels. units oftheArmedForces ofRussiaagainsttheUkrainiantroops, theprovision most difficult and most important task istoconceal the use of regular military and troops, andtogomore intensetoearntheloyalty oftheDonbaslocals.The unexpectedly highlevelofmobilizationandresistance from theUkrainianpeople establishment of peacefullife inthesettlements "liberatedfrom Ukraine".On of "Russianvolunteers"inthebattles onthesideof"insurgents";aboutre- Ukrainian army; about the importance of "humanitarian aid" and the participation army; aboutsuccessfulmilitary operations againstthelargerbutdemoralized to spread messagesthat"insurgents"seizedalltheweapons oftheUkrainian Forces of Ukraine and volunteer battalions. involvement oftheRussianregulartroopsinbattlesagainstArmed to avoidthepublicoutcryabouteventsandfacts confirmingthe "punishers". "evidence" ofmassexecutions of"insurgents"and"civilians"byUkrainian harsh livingconditionsofcitizensblockedbytheUkrainianforces, the the aftermathofshelling,tremendousdetailsciviliandeaths, by separatistsandRussiantroops.Oneofthemain goals istoshow periodicals andTV-channelscorrespondentsfromtheterritorycontrolled Donbas conflict. support tofavorable for Russiaconditionsofputtinganendtothe aggression against Ukraine and the support to separatists, information party ofEduard Limonovbeyondthecontrol theRussianofficials. Cossacks orthe"internationaldetachments"offormer national-bolshevik paramilitary "non-governmental"movementsorradicalpartiessuch astheDon Czech, Spanish,French, andevenAmericanpeople,ormembershipinso-called their participationinmultinationalvolunteersquadrons alongwiththeSerb, exercises intheRostovoblast). spread theversion that the paratroopers "got lost" during the military training when overtenparatroopers were captured duringtheIlovaiskmousetrap,they of information blockadeand"plausibledenial"are predominantly used(e.g., the Foreign Affairs MinisterSergeyLavrov) begin Council Secretary NikolaiPatrushev, thePresidential ChiefofStaffSergeyIvanov, President VladimirPutin,thePrime-MinisterDmitryMedvedev, theRFSecurity Donbas civilians(Aidar, Tornado). right, xenophobic views (Azov), or fighters accused of crimes and tortures of The mostattentionisfocused ontheunitswithforeign citizenssharingtheultra- noting thataftertheIlovaiskmousetrapDonbassquadron mentionsvanish. (Tornado) become new anchor symbols of the "genocide" policy. It is worth the eyesofWestern audience. justification ofopenRussianarmedinterventionintheDonbasdevelopments people asabouttherebels and,ontheotherhand,servesasapotential and onTV, ontheonehand,justifiesRussia'ssupport andcondolencesto speaking population".Thepermanentrepetition ofthistermincentralperiodicals the situationinUkraineasa"genocide" Pavlo Dryomov) whowerecitizensofUkraine. Zakharchenko, Alexei Mozgovy, IgorPlotnytsky, AleksandrBednov, local rebel leaders(AleksandrKhodakovsky, Yevgeny Kononov, Aleksandr "Novorossia leaders"associatedwiththeRFspecialservices infavor of The involvementofRussiancitizensasvolunteersmustbeexplained by This periodismarkedwiththemostreportsbyRFcentral July 2014-February 2015:suppressionanddenialofthefacts ofarmed Along withrepeating ofthehiddenthreat ofopenforce, the The namesofUkrainianvolunteersquadrons: Donbas,Aidar, Azov, Shakhtarsk Further, theKremlinstartsreducinginformation activityofthefirst 4 The RussianmassmediasimultaneouslywiththeKremlin (the July 2014 - February 2015July 2014-February During thistime,theRussianauthoritieshadtorespond tothe , inparticular, againstthe"Russian-
So they turn to the methods describing andidentifying These "speakers"are used RF istrying RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Russian propagandaabouteventsinUkraine:2014-2016trends existence line. of DonetskandLuhanskoblasts from theUkrainiantroops andtheindependent take action.Andtheyconsiderthe optionsof"liberation"thewholeterritory the "specialstatus"ofDonbas, or"self-proclaimed republics" are goingto political requirements andimplementsaconstitutionalreform thatrecognizes peaceful Minsk process time frame: either by the end of 2015 Ukraine fulfills the is exaggerated.Thepropagandists artificiallypromote theinterpretation ofthe of cooperation;theimpactinfluenceRussiancounter-sanctions againsttheEU and politicalforces whoadvocateliftingofsanctionsagainstRussiaandresuming adhere tothetermsofpeace.There are more reports aboutEuropean politicians Germany andFrance –totaketheUSindependentstandandforce Ukraineto peace process doing its best to persuade other Normandy Format participants– Crimea issueandDonbassituation. population prepared to a long confrontation with the West, regardless of the information spaceisbecoming apartofwidercampaign–gettingtheRussia’s regarding thefullsatisfaction ofMinskagreementsconditions. internal contextofthewar. from thesituationinDonbasregiontointernational andUkraine’s the wartoseizepowerorwinparliamentaryelection. the Ukrainianside:nationalradicalsandpoliticiansseekingfor makinguseof main blamefor thecease-fire breaking andcombatactionsprovoking isputon stopped thebloodshedandshellingofDonbassettlements.Whereas the is PutinwhomanagedtoconcludethefirstandsecondMinskagreements that main peacekeeperandinitiatorofrealistic peaceplans.Theyare claimingthatit present theRussianreality asmuchbetter, more stable,andmore predictable. state might disappear. Such a fake comparison effect is used by propaganda to banking) andgrowing chancesofa"nationalistthird Maidan"soUkraineasa spreading information abouttheeconomiccrisisinUkraine(energy, food and regarding Ukraineinparticular, iscorrect. the Kremlin’s view, suchbehavioroftheWest confirmsthatthechartedcourse, (Vladimir Putin'spress-conference of18December2014)[2].From thepointof and toimmersethecountryineconomicdepression through thesanctions and theWest's desire to"dissolve Russia"following theexampleofYugoslavia an independentpolicyandprotect itsinterests intheformer SovietUnionarea imposes ontheaudienceacausallinkbetweenRussia'sattemptstohave the economicrecession. Inthiscontext,theKremlin, andPutinpersonally, messages inlate2014–early2015,whentheRussianpopulationstartsfeeling authorities. Theyare forcing theideathat and keepsbeingstirred upwiththeUSandEUsupporttonewUkrainian "civil war"thatwasprovoked bytheWestern interventionduringtheMaidan the involvementofUkrainianmilitaryintheseincidents[1]. or substantially corrected by means of dissemination of unconfirmed facts about reported a"DPR"offensive onMariupol.Laterthisinformation wasremoved January 2015,anumberofRussianinformation sources (LifeNews andTVCenter) after theMalaysianBoeingshot-downandduringshellingofMariupolon24 several occasions,thepropaganda revealed trueintentionsoftheaggressor: internal problemsorriotsagainsttheauthorities. illustrative exampleoftheWest's intentionsregardingRussiaincaseof On theonehand,Russiaisshownasonlyconsistentparticipant inthe This is a kind of transition period when the March-August 2015:information pressureonUkraineandEurope In addition,theRussianmediaare intenselypointingattheRFleadersas Meanwhile, inorder todistractattention,theTV, press andtheInternetstart At thesametime,there isaclearidentificationoftheUkraine’seventsas 5 March-August 2015 NGO Detector Media•2017 At thesametime,UkrainiantopicinRF the "Ukrainianscenario"isan attention is getting shifted These are mainstream 35 35 36 RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 argument.html For the full version of the article please follow the link: http://www.mk.ru/politics/2015/10/06/u-poroshenko-otobran-posledniy- for Russiaisalonggamewhereevery stephasmanydimensions.Moreover,nowthisgameisinfullswing." Ukrainian society has fallen into such decay that it is easy to imagine Turchynov or even Lyashko at this post. The Ukrainian game competitors. his against option worst the not is Yes,Youhe neighbors. with. but choose deal liar and a pick Poroshenkois can’t to have still will Russia state defective a "Yes,is says: Ukraine 2015 October 6 of Chesnakov Aleksei by article An etc. monde", beau up "maidanned squash”, orange “Kyiv phrases in rich is text The web-site. Komsomolets Moskovsky the of screenshot A certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. Even more, the firstreading oftheamendmentstoConstitutiononaspecialstatusfor with abloodyclashneartheVerkhovna Radaon31Augustduringvotingin upon peaceandspheres ofinfluenceinUkraine.Thiscampaignreached itsclimax coup inKyiv, andseparatistleadersurgetheRight-Sectormemberstoagree Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia), Russianmassmediaare predicting arapidarmed of the"PravyiSector"fighterswithanarmedgroup ofthepeople'sdeputyin Four andapartytopeacenegotiations. discrediting theUkrainianpresidentasamemberofNormandy agreements; the 31AugusteventsasUkraine'sinabilitytocomplywithMinsk Donbas; thelawonelectionstolocalauthoritiesmustbecoordinatedwith to remindthattheConstitution amendmentsmustbecoordinatedwiththe "If wearetalkingabouttheMinskagreementsimplementation–Iwouldlike One theeveningnewsonSeptember6,2015givesfollowing Putin’squote: periodicals, anditwasbeingrepeated byMarch 2017.For example,Channel On theotherhand,since this pointispickedupbyallcentralRussian-TV channelsand March 2015andlateron,theykeepon For example, inlightoftheclash
Putin interpreted RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 Russian propagandaabouteventsinUkraine:2014-2016trends "Novorossia" identityalmostcease. (November-December 2015). of cooperationandde-escalation. switch fromfull confrontation with the West togradual establishment September 2015–July2016:information coverageoftheRussia's fabrication ofthe"peoplesDPR/LPR"isgetting moreintense. of theCrimeaandpowersupplyshutdownannexed peninsula to presentUkraineasan"aggressor".Thepretextisthe civic blockade messages intermsofqualitybuttheoldonesrepeated stubbornly: the "IslamicState"overshadowmessagesfrom Ukraine.There are nonew create aninternationalcoalitionwiththeparticipationofRussiatocombat confrontation withTurkey aftertheRussianbombershot-down,attemptsto problems causingnewroundofthe“civilwar”. - - fascist politiciansandtheUS‘externalmanagement”; - the instancesofsuchinformation work. discredit theOSCEobserverswho report aboutshellingbyseparatistsare one of give uponrejecting accusations ofarmedaggression againstUkraine.Storiesto With more andmore obviousmilitarypresence inSyria,theKremlin doesnot to justifyfurtherstrugglefor theindependenceoftheseentities from Ukraine. and Luhansklocals.Theysetupa kind of"DPR/LPR"martyrology thatissupposed purpose, theyusealiveanddead insurgentleadersasexamplesof"real" Donetsk armed aggressionagainstUkraine. reports ofvictimsmassiveshellingbyUkraineare spread around. grows. Moreover, thesuccessesofUkrainianmilitaryare concealedwhile in theDonbasand"violations"ofcease-fire regime bytheUkrainianArmy positions, thenumberofreports andpublicationsdevotedtomilitaryactions the Ukrainian troops managed to repel the separatist offensive and to hold their with theintensificationofcombatactionsnearMar’inkaandShyrokine, where power struggle." changes areusedexclusively asapretenseofexacerbation ofthepolitical is anotherversionofthepoliticalconfrontationinUkraine.AndConstitution does notchangethestructureofpowerinUkraine.Whatweareseeingtoday they areofferingustodayasachangeisofabsolutelydeclarativenatureand this hasnothingtodowiththeConstitution changes.Becauseeverythingthat Kyiv, they are simply not being fulfilled. As for these tragic events, I believe that political settlementarenotfulfilled,unfortunately, byour today's colleaguesin but itsimplementationispostponedagain.Allofthesefourcardinalterms special statusoftheseterritoriesshouldbealsoimplemented.Ithasbeenvoted, Donbas; the amnesty law must be adopted. But it is not. And the law on a Abkhazia andSouthOssetiaactuallybeingundertheRussia’swing. more and more similar to other unrecognized states like Transnistria, to UkraineundertheWest’s pressure,andthat‘DPR/LPR’aregetting intrusion ofanideathatthe‘self-proclaimedrepublics’willnotbegiven And sincethelaunchofSyriaaction,attemptsto construct a At thesametime,there isquiteanumberoftopicsbeingactivelyconcealed. It is symptomatic that along the new identity constructing, the In addition, the Main conclusionoftheinformation activityduringthisperiodisthe 6 Ukraine is at the edge offalling apartdue to social and economic Ukraine isnotabletofulfilltheMinskagreementsandstrife for peace; the authorities in Ukraine are illegitimate and controlled by the pro- September 2015–July2016 Russian propaganda is still one of the tools to assist NGO Detector Media•2017 However thepropagandaactivity for the The RussianmilitaryactionsinSyria,the Instead, theRussianmediaaretrying Inparticular, inMay-JuneandAugust, Kremlin For this
37 37 38 RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media•2017 (based onNGODetectorMedia’smonitoringresults) MAIN TRENDSINMEDIACOVERAGE OFSOCIO-POLITICALPROCESSESINUKRAINE2014-2017 For thefullversionofarticlepleasefollowlink:https://rg.ru/2015/12/02/krim.html to resisttheseterrorists.”SimilarmessagesweretransmittedbyotherRussianmedia. law chance faintest no have streets Bankova and Hrushevskoho in Ukrainian bureaus of Residents Kyiv. official the of policy external and the by identified conditions “living been created deliberately never domestic the shaping keepon and Crimea the in group” religious or social race, oblast ethnic, of liquidation partial have or full the for Kherson meant in that line power “Intruders the up says: blown have inset that and The bodies enforcement Crimea”. have gonna not is “Ukraine Dulman Pavel by article an has 2015 December 2 of 272 No. issue The web-site. Gazeta Rossiyskaya the of screenshot A are reported to showtheimageof"stable"“DPR/LPR”. and ArsenAvakov, Petro Poroshenko andYuliaTymoshenko withOlegLyashko) conflicts between Petro Poroshenko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk (Mikheil Saakashvili cooperate withtheUnitedStatesinMiddleEast. underline thatUkrainewillbe"exchanged" for theRussia'sconsentto existence oftheseentitiesoncooperationwithKyiv. between theoccupiedareasandUkraine,dependenceofstable practically conceals the facts of economic relations and smuggling and presidential electionsthatwouldresult inachancefor pro-Russian leitmotiv in2016is"prophesying" oftheextraordinaryparliamentary begin active use of different internal crisis stories return tocooperationwith RussiaintheeventofDonaldTrump victory. Andthey of 2016, there appear dozens of stories alleging that the United States would reports about the European and American sanctions. Especially in the second half on "voluntary"coalsuppliesfrom the“DPR/LPR”. along withtheAvdiivka escalation)aswellthatUkrainewashighlydependent President Poroshenko toescalatethearmedconflict(theblockadetookplace there wasaprevailing versionthattheradicalsusedblockadetoforce media had to invent a "plausible explanation" for such situation. For example, transport blockade by the ATO veterans in January-February 2017, the Russian republics" andtheRussianFederation. Duetotheintroduction oftheDPR/LPR emphasizes theadvancedeconomicrelations betweenthe"self-proclaimed The undisguiseddistortionoffacts andwishfulthinkingisobservedinthe As aboutselectivefocus andfact concealing,
the RussianTV-channels for that. For example, the On thecontrary, it The propaganda RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 piens.ua/monitoring/ru_zmi/kremltv_nuzhny_velikie_potryaseniya/ PerturbationsNew Needs P.Kremlin-TV 2. Burkovskyi. toring/ru_zmi/slabo_upravlyaemyy_khaos/ Chaos Controlled Hardly P.Burkovskyi. 1. REFERENCE LIST : Russian propagandaabouteventsinUkraine:2014-2016trends new aggressive actionsagainstUkraine. new intensiveinformation campaignmaybelaunchedanytimein2017tojustify force pressure plansagainstUkraineare rejected andrefuted. Thismeansthata justify newloanswiththesupportofDonaldTrump’s administration.Any attempt tobreak thedialoguebetweenUnitedStatesandRussiato January escalationintheDonbasispresented bytheKremlin justasaKyiv’s by Ukrainianspecialforces ontheRussianborder guards intheCrimea, after the US presidential election. The August anxiety duetothe alleged attack declarations aboutitswillingnesstore-launch therelationship withtheWest an obviouscontrastwiththeofficialKremlin's conciliatorypositionthatmakes “Donbas” andhelp to defeat the "Kyiv junta" come back in the air. This makes Ukraine hasnotcometolife. Sotheseparatistleaderscallingtosupport that theprophecy onanewwaveofinternaldestabilizationandelectionsin the Donbasisresumed. Thiscanbeexplained,toalargeextent,bythefact Russia andhisaggressive plans. between thereports ofthePresident's interest incorruptionandbusiness Poroshenko andTurchynov. Andtheyturntheblindeyetocontradiction civil conflictthatwillswallowtheregime ofthewarpartysupportersleadby Kremlin propaganda presents themas"petrels" whoprophesy anewsharp populist statements. Oleg Lyashko and Nadia Savchenko are among them. The start castingnew"speakers"ofUkrainianpoliticianswhomakecontradictory, disproving ofevidenceagainstPutin.With thelackofnewstories,Russianmedia circulation: Ukrainian corruptionscandalsalsoaddtoapooloffacts for “sub-truth” politicians a favorable light) anti-corruption protests. during the presidential election campaign 2018, especially with the recent possibility of military aggression and associated aggressive propaganda the highratingofVladimirPutin.Soonewouldbetterleaveopen Kremlin. Themainpurposeofsuchactionswasandstillistomaintain for citizenmobilizingtosupportanyunexpectedmilitarydecisionsofthe Russian population in 2014-2016 was the establishment of mechanisms and rapidreorientationofsocietytonewbogeymen. propaganda opportunitiesfor deconstructionofman-madestereotypes of Russian-Turkish escalationandreconciliationshowssignificant and Ukrainians as "enemies" of Russians. At the same time, the history significant progress in constructing in Russia a stable image of Ukraine in Ukrainedeclarationsofleadersthe"PravyiSector","Azov","Svoboda"). torchlight processions, assaultsongaypridemarches, andbarely noticeable // MediaSapiens. — 4 February 2015 — http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/moni — 2015 February 4 — MediaSapiens. // Since July2016,theflowofnewsreports onshellingandcombatactionsin One of the important propaganda brainwashing aftermaths for the Finally, itisfair tosaythattheRussianpropagandahasmadea (representatives ofthe"Oppositionbloc"are constantlyquotedin theyare activelycommentingPoroshenko's offshores alongwith // MediaSapiens. — 16 січня 2015 р. — http://osvita.mediasa — р. 2015 січня 16 — MediaSapiens. // and anationalistcoup
NGO Detector Media•2017 (usinganypoliticalperformances, - - 39 39 MAIN TRENDS IN MEDIA COVERAGE OF SOCIO-POLITICAL PROCESSES IN UKRAINE IN 2014-2017 (based on NGO Detector Media’s monitoring results)
Non-governmental organization Detector Media is a media platform and an influential think tank. NGO Detector Media (DM) is the successor of the NGO Telekritika which was founded back in January 2004. On 27 April 2016, NGO Telekritika changed its name to Detector Media. Unchanged head of the organization is its founder and inspirer, known Ukrainian journalist and media expert Natalia Ligachova. The mission of NGO Detector Media is to promote the development of democratic, free and professional media in Ukraine and the formation of critically thinking and informed media consumer. The organization has its own group of online media, the main of which is the web portal Detector Media (detector.media), which began to work in February 2016. Slogan: Detector Media is the Watchdog for Ukrainian media. There are also themed websites: MediaSapiens (osvita.Mediasapiens. ua), Ukraine's only internet resource dedicated to media literacy; Public Broadcasting (stv.detector.media), the only resource on which all the information on the reform of public broadcasting in Ukraine is accumulated; Videoteka (video.detector.media). The target audience of the website are journalists, top management of mass media, media experts, civil society organizations, public authorities, politicians, donors organizations, think tanks, academics and students of specialized educational institutions, and media consumers. NGO Detector Media also produces other own informational products (movies, talk shows, analytics, infographics, etc.), participates in the work groups and advisory structures at government bodies, conducts monitoring and research, trainings and various public events.
40 NGO Detector Media • 2017 NGO ·Detector Media· Kyiv - 2017 SPECIAL REPORT • 2017 NGO Detector Media Media Detector NGO Kyiv 2017 2017