UKRAINE MEDIA PROJECT (U-Media)

ANNUAL REPORT October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002

WAYNE SHARPE CHIEF OF PARTY

Josh Machleder, Vice President, Europe, Eurasia, and Asia Programs Internews Network www.internews.org 1640 Rhode Island Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 Phone: +1 202 833-5740, Fax: +1 202 833-5745 E-mail: [email protected]

SUBMITTED: SEPTEMBER 30, 2014

Page 1 Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acronyms ...... 3

Introduction ...... 4

Approach to Implementation ...... 7

Media Environment ...... 11 The Information War 13 Attacks on the Press 14

Key Activities and Results in Response to the Latest Challenges ...... 19 The Protests 19 The Russian Annexation of Crimea 23 The Separatist Conflict in the East of Ukraine 24 East-West talks about Elections and EU integration 29

Key Activities and Results by Objective ...... 34 Objective 1: Support and Promote Freedom of Speech and Media Independence 34 Objective 2: Increase Variety of News Sources and Improve News Quality 35 Objective 3: Improve the Enabling Environment for Media and Freedom of Speech 36 Objective 4: Improve Organizational capacity of Ukrainian Media CSOs 40

Media Research ...... 43

Communication & Coordination ...... 45

Challenges ...... 50

Other Activities ...... 52

Attachment 1: List of Sub-Grants ...... 56 Attachment 3: Volyn Press Club’s Gender Alphabet for Ukrainian Media………………59

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Acronyms Acronyms AUP NGO Academy of Ukrainian Press (www.aup.com.ua) CSO Civil Society Organization CUA United Action Center UA CURE Center for Ukrainian Reform Education (www.cure.org.ua) DG Democracy and Governance EC European Commission EU European Union GoU Government of Ukraine IAB Independent Association of Broadcasters (http://www.nam.org.ua/) IMI NGO Institute of Mass Information (http://imi.org.ua/) IMTUU Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (http://nmpu.org.ua/) IPC NGO Information Press Center (http://www.ipc.crimea.ua/) IR Investigative Reporting IUA NGO Internews Ukraine (http://www.internews.ua) IWP Institute for World Policy (http://iwp.org.ua) LCD Local Capacity Development LPC NGO Lviv Press Club (http://pressclub.lviv.ua/) MLI NGO Media Law Institute (http://www.medialaw.kiev.ua/) PACT Implementer of UNITER program (www.pactworld.org) PMEP Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Plan RPDI NGO Regional Press Development Institute (http://www.irrp.org.ua/) SF “Suspilnist” (Society) Foundation TK NGO Telekritika (www.telekritika.ua) UAPP Ukrainian Association of Press Publishers (http://www.uapp.org/) U-Media Ukraine Media Project (previously the Strengthening Independent Media in Ukraine program) (www.umedia.kiev.ua) USAID US Agency for International Development

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Introduction Internews is pleased to submit the Ukraine Media Project (U-Media) annual report for October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014. The Ukraine Media Project was awarded by USAID to Internews in August 2011 and launched on October 1, 2011. The Ukraine Media project follows the eight-year USAID media support program, Strengthening Independent Media in Ukraine, also known as U-Media and implemented by Internews. U-Media is implemented according to the following program objectives: 1. Support and Promote Freedom of Speech and Media Independence; 2. Increase the Variety of News Sources and Improve News Quality; 3. Improve the Enabling Environment for Media and Freedom of Speech; and 4. Improve Organizational Capacity of Ukrainian Media CSOs. Internews would like to highlight key accomplishments for the reporting period:  The Suspilnist Foundation, in tandem with First National channel, organized a series of “Debates are important because televised presidential candidate debates in the they train candidates to be lead-up to the May 25 presidential elections. accountable before they are elected. Debates are the point Suspilnist negotiated cooperation with several where the accountability starts.” media NGOs (Internews Ukraine, Center UA, Mustafa Nayem, journalist and Hromadske.TV, and the Media Law Institute) to founder of Hromadske.TV produce a nationally broadcast debate with an additional interactive component via its online network of university groups throughout Ukraine. From May 9 to May 23, this group broadcast seven debates featuring three candidates each to a national audience on the state TV network, with a peak single night audience of 1.5 million viewers.  When Ukrainian TV companies in the eastern part of the country started experiencing threats in April because of the escalating conflict in the and Luhansk regions, Internews performed physical security audits at five regional broadcasters at the request of the Independent Association of Broadcasters (IAB) in Donetsk, , Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, and Odesa. Internews’ Director of Operational Security conducted the audits; he addressed lapses in newsroom safety and provided recommendations for necessary improvements. One station, UNION in Donetsk, was overrun by separatist forces soon after; there were no casualties in the attack, but the UNION journalists were forced to either leave the station or broadcast the propaganda of the Donetsk Peoples’ Republic (DNR). After these assessments, IAB assisted the regional broadcasters to apply to the Emergency Assistance program of Freedom House, a fund designed to support physical security improvements for media at risk.  In the summer of 2014, the Independent Association of Broadcasters (IAB) launched a program to find new employment for the scores of media professionals who were forced to leave eastern Ukraine and Crimea due to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the escalation of Page 4 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

the military conflict in the east. A section of the IAB website (http://nam.org.ua/main/media- vakansiyi20/) lists announcements of job offers from both national and regional media companies targeted at internally displaced journalists.  On March 27, 2014, the Ukrainian parliament approved \draft law #0947, “On Amendments to the Laws of Ukraine due to the Adoption of the Law on Information (new edition) and the Law on Access to Public Information.” The Media Law Institute and Telekritika, both U-Media partners, along with the Stop Censorship! Movement, pushed for these amendments since the Law on Access to Public Information was first passed in 2011. The bill provides amendments to four codes and 53 laws of Ukraine; the amendments increase citizens’ access to information over a wide range of government activity, including state and local budgets, salaries of civil servants, and municipal construction plans. The bill also introduces fines for officials who instigate the “unwarranted attribution of information as confidential, failure to respond to information requests, unlawful refusal and failure to provide information, untimely or incomplete provision of information, and provision of false information.” The law was signed by then President and went into effect on April 17, 2014.  In response to the increase in physical attacks on journalists and more frequent hacker attacks on news websites, Internews conducted two two-day physical and digital security trainings in late March and early April for 89 journalists from various regions. The journalists learned how to avoid and escape dangerous situations while covering civil unrest while also learning the basics of safe online and mobile communication. In a post- training survey, 96% of participants said they would use at least some of the digital security tools they learned about in their daily work. Within days, several participants wrote to say they had already put some of the physical security techniques into practice, a testament both to the instability currently gripping Ukraine and the importance of this kind of training for Ukrainian journalists.

In order to respond to the need to bolster support for independent media in the wake of the EuroMaidan protests and in preparation for May’s snap presidential elections, USAID provided emergency funding of $1,250,000 to Internews in March 2014, $600,000 of which was provided through the Elections and Political Processes (EPP) fund. The USAID Emergency Response program was designed to augment current project activities to focus on increasing the flow of accurate, objective information, especially in eastern and southern Ukraine. EPP emergency funding supported a wide range of activities. The funds supported the televised candidate debates, where 20 presidential candidates over seven nights discussed the pressing issues facing Ukraine’s democratic future. EPP funds were used to offer training courses to journalists focused on the electoral laws and how they applied to their work in covering the vote. The funds also supported physical and digital security training for journalists, particularly those from the eastern and southern Ukraine, where journalists were targeted by “self-defense” units and armed separatists. EPP funds also came to the aid of the beleaguered Crimean press. The invasion of Crimea in February 2014 also brought with it an influx of foreign correspondents; those who successfully evaded the grasp of the Russian troops made their way to the offices of the Information and Press Center in Simferopol, where, with USAID EPP support, IPC was able to assist these journalists with technology and translation services, and advise them on ways to work in a dangerous environment where journalists were deliberately targeted by Russian soldiers and pro-Russian gunmen.

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In September 2014, Internews received notification from USAID of an additional $600,000 ceiling increase to be used for programming during the 2014 parliamentary elections and post- elections activities. At the end of Year 3, Internews dedicated a large portion of these funds to short-term projects promoting balanced media coverage of political processes, protecting press freedoms, and tracking and speaking out about violations of journalists’ rights during the buildup to the October 26, 2014 elections.

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Approach to Implementation U-Media aims to support and develop the Ukrainian media sector through activities that protect freedom of speech, improve the media enabling environment, create opportunities for new and innovative approaches by Ukrainian media outlets, and strengthen the capacity of media CSO leaders to effectively represent their constituencies.

U-Media administers subgrants to Ukrainian NGOs and media outlets that support the development of an independent media, increase access to public information and improve the legal environment for media activities. U-Media technical advisors provide assistance and training to partners in the areas of new media and convergent newsrooms, professional journalism standards, and investigative journalism. U-Media includes institutional capacity building components in institutional and core subgrants, and also designs and manages organizational development trainings for selected partners.

U-Media’s research-based approach to USAID’s Local Solutions organizational capacity development initiative ensures that local partner organizational development needs are identified and then addressed through training, consultation, and subgrant assistance. In Year 4, the U- Media project will continue working with three institutional partners (Internews Ukraine, Telekritika, and the Independent Association of Broadcasters) cultivating their in-house expertise, enhancing their leadership roles in the media NGO sector, and preparing them to receive direct USAID awards in the future.

Due to the political changes brought by the EuroMaidan protest movement, the Russian occupation of Crimea, the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, the early presidential elections (May 2014) and parliamentary elections (October 2014), and the introduction of wide-ranging reforms through the Reanimation Reforms Package, Internews encouraged partners to adapt their Year 3 work plans to respond to these challenges and opportunities. Partners provided legal assistance and both physical and digital security training to journalists, media monitoring organizations adapted their analyses to provide the public with a critical view of how the media covered these historic events, and local partners organized regional public discussions to raise journalists’ and the public’s awareness of critically important issues for Ukrainians.

Subgrantee Categories

The subgrantee categories and subgrant types described below reflect the diverse levels of institutional capacity, quality of service delivery, and demand for financial support of the local organizations that receive U-Media funding. At the end of each fiscal year, Internews evaluates the organizational development progress of all partners and makes adjustments to these groupings as necessary in consultation with USAID.

Institutional partners

Internews believes these organizations are most likely to play leading roles in the media NGO sector and be ready for direct implementation of international donor support.

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Institutional partners include:

1. Telekritika (TK), a web-based media watchdog providing monitoring, critical assessments, and in-depth analysis of Ukrainian TV and radio content and Ukrainian media trends; organizes professional development trainings for journalists.

2. Internews Ukraine (IUA), an NGO empowering independent and pluralistic media in Ukraine by improving journalism standards, refining the media legislative framework in Ukraine, and promoting the use of new media.

3. Independent Association of Broadcasters (IAB), the largest professional association of electronic mass media in Ukraine providing its 93 regional broadcasting company members with legal, educational, and informational support.

4. Information and Press Center (IPC-Simferopol), a leading Crimea-based organization for journalists that provides legal support, internet access, and a reference library to local media, and produces investigative reporting content for the internet and television. Since the Russian occupation of Crimea in early March 2014, IPC journalists have been the targets of the Russian Federal Security Service, which regularly interrogates IPC’s investigative reporters. Local “self defense” squads have physically attacked IPC journalists and local authorities confiscated IPC equipment. The Chair of the IPC Board moved to and re-registered the organization at a Kyiv address. IPC is developing a new strategy for moving forward as an organization based in Kyiv while continuing to serve the information needs of people in Crimea.

Core partners

Core partners are organizations that have been working with U-Media for the past 4-6 years (some longer), have strong track records as service providers and leaders in their technical areas, and have made strides in developing their organizational capacity.

The core partners of U-Media are:

1. Regional Press Development Institute (RPDI), which provides training and education for print media professionals; promotes partnerships and exchange of information and experience between media outlets of Ukraine and other countries; and designs and delivers trainings and consultations for media professionals on new media technologies.

2. Institute of Mass Information (IMI), which monitors adherence to laws on journalists’ rights and provides training and legal support to journalists. IMI publishes textbooks and reference materials, measures and tracks public opinion, and conducts public discussions throughout Ukraine on practical issues related to the development of the media sector.

3. Academy of Ukrainian Press (AUP), which conducts quantitative monitoring and content analysis of national prime-time news programs, and oversees the School of Social

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Journalism to improve journalists’ capacity to cover and report on public health and social issues.

4. Media Law Institute (MLI), which supports media-law development, freedom of speech, and access to information in Ukraine through legislative development, research, and education for a variety of media-related and government counterparts.

5. Center for Ukrainian Reform Education (CURE), which coordinates a group of regional experts conducting monthly media monitoring of print and Internet media in five regions of Ukraine - Donetsk, Lviv, Sumy, Vinnytsia, and Kharkiv. CURE implements an outreach strategy to distribute monitoring results and increase public discussion about journalism quality.

6. “Suspilnist” (Society) Foundation (SF), which created Campus 3.0, an online debate platform, under U-Media support and involved active students of 23 Ukrainian universities in the national TV debates of candidates’ platforms for the May 2014 Presidential Elections. The debates provided an alternate source of information about the elections to a young audience preparing to vote for the first time at the national level.

7. Hromadske.TV, which delivers online broadcasts on important public interest issues and politics. In a short time, Hromadske.TV has become one of the top independent news sources in Ukraine. According to its latest research, Hromadske.TV has a potential audience (through the Internet and thorugh broadcasts carried by the First National TV network) of 16,379,436 viewers in the 20-45 age group.

When evaluating proposals from existing subgrantees for continued funding, U-Media applies a set of criteria designed to capture the effectiveness of each applicant’s prior activities, whether they have reached the goals they set for themselves, and their progress toward improving their own institutional capacity. These results help U-Media to determine not only which groups will continue to receive funding, but also encourage organizations to focus on their strengths. U- Media may decide to discontinue funding if results have not been achieved and/or a subgrantee has shown insufficient progress in capacity development.

Emerging and Short-term Partners

During this reporting period, Internews worked with several less mature, short-term partners implementing special projects within such U-Media priorities as media monitoring, gender issues,and local content production. Some of these partners joined in Year 3 through the USAID Emergency Response program which provided funding designed to respond to the EuroMaidan protests, the Crimea invasion, and civil unrest in eastern Ukraine.

Short-term Partners include such groups as:  Suspilnist TV Foundation (First National Channel)  Ukrainian Crisis Media Center  Pylyp Orlyk Institute for Democracy  Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (IMTU) Page 9 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

 Institute for World Policy (IWP)  Mykolayiv Center for Investigative Reporting  Vladometer (through Suspilnist Foundation)  “Kafa”, Informtavrika, Crimea  “Briz”, Crimea  Yanukovych.Leaks project  Volyn Press Club, Lutsk  Lviv Press Club (LPC)

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Media Environment

A Call to Protest The Ukrainian media played a key role in reporting to Ukrainian citizens and international observers the rapidly changing political climate in the country, beginning in mid-November 2013 when President Viktor Yanukovych refused to initial an Association Agreement with the European Union in Vilnius, Lithuania. The year of turmoil and liberation that followed was started by a simple act on social media, performed by one of Ukraine’s most popular journalists. “The morning it happened, I was covering parliament in Kyiv,” Mustafa Nayem, editor-in-chief at Hromadske.TV, wrote. “At first, I thought Yanukovych was just playing politics, holding out for more money or concessions from the EU. But soon it became clear that the agreement was truly dead. Facebook erupted with rage, people’s posts dripping with venom. They were so disappointed after all the buildup. Mustafa Nayem (center) reporting from the Maidan protests “They had so little faith in their own institutions, in their ability to make their voices heard; many had come to see the EU as their chance to change everything.” According to Nayem, the outrage needed an outlet. “Around 8:00 p.m., I posted on Facebook: ‘Come on guys, let’s be serious. If you really want to do something, don’t just ‘like’ this post. Write that you are ready, and we can try to start something. Let’s meet at 10:30 p.m. near the monument to independence in the middle of the Maidan.’ When I arrived, maybe 50 people had gathered. Soon the crowd had swelled to more than 1,000.”1 Nayem points out that there were many factors that contributed to Yanukovych’s downfall: his jailing of political opponents, pressure on independent journalists, and the use of brutal force against peaceful protesters. But the final straw was his refusal to sign the agreement forming an alliance between Ukraine and the European Union. It was fitting that one of the country’s leading journalists sent the call for action to an audience hungry for democratic change; the media, often in partnership with civil society activists, struggled to give people a voice throughout the years of democratic backsliding and government corruption that followed the 2004 Orange Revolution. Once the Maidan revolution had begun on November 19, 2013, the independent media, led by Nayem’s own online channel Hromadkse.TV, was there to show the world that Ukrainians wanted wholesale change.

1 Mustafa Nayem, Uprising in Ukraine: How it all Began, Open Society Foundations website, April 4, 2014, http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/uprising-ukraine-how-it-all-began Page 11 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

That initial, peaceful protest on Kyiv’s Independence Square led to months of tense standoffs between protestors and riot police that culminated in the bloody crackdown of February 20, 2014 and the violent deaths of 100 people, most of them protesters. Yanukovych fled the country soon afterwards and the Parliament () declared him unfit to perform his duties and removed Yanukovych from office. He fled so suddenly that he left no time to properly dispose of thousands of documents that today serve as evidence of the Yanukovych kleptocracy.

YanukovychLeaks.org Internews supported a group of investigative reporters, including Internews’ media advisor Oleg Khomenok, who sorted out and pieced together thousands of documents that were dumped in the lake at ex-President Yanukovych’s residence at Mezhihirya, and later scanned and posted them on the YanukovychLeaks.org website (http://yanukovychleaks.org/). The documents left behind by the Yanukovych regime present a treasure trove of information for Ukraine’s investigative journalists, but all this data would have been lost if not for the systematic approach these journalists took to make records of these documents and make them available on a website. In total, the journalists scanned and uploaded 23,456 documents.

The materials have already become the source for articles exposing the corruption of the Yanukovych regime (known in Ukraine as “The Family”), stories that will serve as models of exemplary investigative reporting for Ukrainian journalists as they watchdog the conduct of the newly-elected government.

The country’s remaining elected officials formed an interim government and scheduled new presidential elections for May 25, 2014, nearly one year ahead of schedule, so that Ukrainians could immediately start to rebuild their democratic system. Russia’s incursion into and subsequent annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in late February, and its continuing role in fomenting dissent in eastern Ukraine, threatened the security and stability of the already fragile country. On April 6, pro-Russian demonstrators seized government buildings in several towns in eastern Ukraine, including Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Luhansk. Pro-Russians in Donetsk declared an “independent republic” the next day, and Kremlin-backed insurgents launched attacks throughout the eastern and southern cities of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Donetsk, Mariopol, Odesa, and other cities. In the midst of these skirmishes between separatists and Ukrainian armed forces, separatists in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions organized referendums where those who were allowed to vote declared a desire to separate from Ukraine and align their regions with Russia. Neither Ukraine nor Russia recognized the results from either of these referendums.

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Ukrainians sent a strong message to Russia and the world when they turned out in large numbers for the May 25 presidential election to vote for a candidate campaigning in favor of a united Ukraine with close ties to Europe. The Central Election Commission reported voter turnout at over 60 %, excluding those regions not under government control,2 with candidate receiving 54.7%% (9,857,308) of the votes, enough to win the election in the first round.3 With a clear mandate to lead, President Poroshenko faced the prospect of a looming war with Kremlin-backed insurgents in the East, an economy devastated by the crimes of the Yanukovych regime, and a pro-Yanukovych Parliament that stood in the way of a reforms agenda.

The Information War

Throughout this unrest, the Russian media The Misinformation War: the Art of Confusion was used as an instrument to disrupt “When the Kremlin and its affiliated media outlets spat Ukrainian national unity, to portray the out outlandish stories about the downing of Malaysia escalation of Russian military presence as Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in July — reports that characterized the crash as everything from an assault necessary to protect Crimea’s ethnic Russian by Ukrainian fighter jets following U.S. instructions, to population, and to portray separatist an attempted NATO attack on Putin’s private jet — they agitation in the east and south as a peoples’ were trying not so much to convince viewers of any one revolt against a fascist administration in version of events, but rather to leave them confused, Kyiv. At this critical juncture in Ukraine’s paranoid, and passive — living in a Kremlin-controlled virtual reality that can no longer be mediated or debated democratic development, it was even more by any appeal to ‘truth.’” important to support strong local media, “Russia and the Menace of Unreality: How Vladimir Putin is particularly in those regions where Russia revolutionizing information warfare,” Peter Pomerantsev, has a strong media footprint, to counter this The Atlantic, September 2014 distorted portrayal of events in the country, and to provide citizens with the balanced and objective information they need to decide Ukraine’s future. Russian news programs regularly referred to the EuroMaidan protesters as terrorists, insurgents, and fascists fueled by right-wing and anti-Russian sentiment. Victoria Syumar, a journalist and deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine at the time, termed the information war being waged in Ukraine as a “disinformational war,” stating, “Within the current situation, we observe not just one-sided coverage of certain political messages voiced by Russian authorities who are distorting information about what is happening in Ukraine, but very often outright lies and theatrics.”4 Misinformation, however, has been provided by both the Russian and Ukrainian media. According to a report in The Guardian, “It is not just Russian media peddling the rumors. Opposition-minded channels in Ukraine have also been full of misinformation, although it is often a case of unverified rumors reported as fact. There was barely a day in January and

2 Interfax (2014-05-26) "Ukrainian presidential election turnout tops 60 % - chief election official.” 3 CEC Declares Poroshenko's Presidential Election Win (17:56, Monday, June 2, 2014), Ukrainian News (UN) http://un.ua/eng/article/513307.html 4 “Russia is fighting a misinformation war, not information war,” Telekritika (http://www.telekritika.ua/kontekst/2014-03-05/91131), 5 March, 2014. Page 13 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

February (2014) when Ukrainian media did not report planeloads of Russian special forces secretly landing in Kyiv, or other nefarious but implausible maneuvers by Viktor Yanukovych.”5 The information war escalated on March 9 when Crimean authorities switched off analog broadcasts of Ukrainian television networks in Crimea and replaced them with Russian broadcasts. Key Ukrainian information providers Channel 5, 1+1, and Crimea’s most watched independent channel, Chernomorska TV, were replaced with Russian television channels (Channel One, NTV, RTR-Planeta), as well as many Russian entertainment channels (STS, TNT, RenTV, TV-3). Interfax Ukraine reported that in Simferopol, digital broadcasts of these key Ukrainian channels were also terminated; while these stations are still available through cable and satellite, the vast majority of people in Crimea can only access terrestrial analog signals.

These actions launched a tit-for-tat broadcasting war that spread during the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities instructed television service providers throughout the country to cease carrying Russian broadcasters. By March 11, 50% of TV providers throughout Ukraine had disabled broadcasting of Russian channels and others were preparing to follow, according to the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) criticized the move, stating that “banning broadcasts is one of the most extreme forms of interference in media freedom and should only be applied in exceptional circumstances.”6 In response to the Ukrainian government’s directives and TV service providers’ compliance, Kremlin-backed insurgents occupied several state and independent broadcasters in eastern Ukrainian cities and captured broadcast towers in order to switch back to Russian signals.7 On September 11th, the National Council for TV and Radio made an official announcement to ban the broadcast of 15 Russian channels for violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity, a decision upheld by the Kyiv district administrative court, a ban including NTV and NTV-World, Russia 24, TVCI (TV Center International), Russia 1, LifeNews, Russia Today, and the History Channel. The move brought swift condemnation from the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists and the OSCE.8

Attacks on the Press It was an alarmingly bad year for journalist safety in Ukraine, as media and journalists were deliberately targeted by police, hired thugs, and Pro-Kremlin insurgents. The Institute for Mass Information (IMI) recorded 270 physical attacks on journalists in the first 9 months of 2014 (versus 101 in all of 2013) and 57 attacks on media houses in the first 9 months of 2014 (versus 11 in 2013). During the final, bloody crackdown on the EuroMaidan protest movement in Kyiv

5 “Russian propaganda and Ukrainian rumour fuel anger and hate in Crimea,” by Shaun Walker, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/04/russian-propaganda-ukrainian-rumours-anger-hate-crimea, 4 March 2014. 6“Banning TV, radio broadcasts poses threat to media freedom in Ukraine, OSCE representative says,” Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (http://www.osce.org/fom/115832), 26 February 2014. 7 Ukraine: pro-Russian forces seize TV station in Donetsk and parade captives, The Guardian, 27 April 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/27/ukraine-donetsk-pro-russian-forces-seize-tv-station-parade-captives 8 “Crackdown in Ukraine Sullies its Democratic Aspirations,” by Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, https://uk.news.yahoo.com/crackdown-ukraine-sullies-democratic-aspirations-120007618.html#Mo0Ey1f, 22 September 2014. Page 14 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014 starting on February 18, Vyacheslav Veremyi, a 33-year-old correspondent for Vesti newspaper, was attacked by unidentified assailants as he was leaving Maidan, the center of the conflict. Veremyi and his colleague, Aleksei Lymarenko, were dragged out of a taxi by masked men and violently beaten, before Veremyi was shot in the chest. He died on the morning of February 19. Journalist protection organizations condemned this and other attacks directed at journalists attempting to report on recent conflicts during the EuroMaidan protest movement. Veremyi, who was married with a four-year-old son, was murdered while trying to cover the conflict; he was a fearless journalist who had been injured by rubber bullets on a previous occasion while doing his job covering the Maidan protests. A further danger for Ukrainian journalists is the impunity enjoyed by their attackers. On October 15, the man charged with Veremyi’s murder was released by Shevchenkivskyi District court in Kyiv on the grounds that he received threats in prison. “How could you release the person who tortured my son?” Veremyi’s mother cried at the hearing. “He is now walking free in Kyiv!” 9 Murdered journalist Vyacheslav Veremyi. Internews established a donations fund for the journalist’s family. While there are several independent media houses in Kyiv and in western Ukraine, independent and uncensored media outlets are still under-developed in Crimea and in the primarily Russian- speaking regions of the east. The few independent voices which do exist, many of which have received US-funded media development assistance, have been overwhelmed because of local reliance on Russian media via satellite or cable providers owned by pro-Russian local businesses. Their voices have also been silenced by brute force; in Crimea, Russian soldiers beat local journalists and confiscated their equipment, whereas in eastern Ukraine, abductions of journalists became a regular occurrence.

9 “Session of trial on Veremiy case was conducted in closed mode. The accused in beating journalist released,” Institute for Mass Information website, http://imi.org.ua/en/news/46091-session-of-trial-on-veremiy-case-was- conducted-in-closed-mode-the-accused-in-beating-journalist-released.html, October 16, 2014. Page 15 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

Infographic by Internews partner the Institute for Mass Information, June 2014 During the pro-Russian insurgency, the media throughout eastern Ukraine was repeatedly threatened and attacked by groups of pro-Russian activists who opposed the interim government and who now oppose the newly elected Ukrainian president. In Luhansk, armed activists stormed the newsroom of the IRTA television channel. Karolina Poltavska, director of IRTA TV, told Hromadske.TV that on March 9, thirty armed people representing the Luhansk Guard (former supporters of the Party of Regions) occupied the station, removed the fire extinguishers, and then threatened to set the station on fire. They demanded the station relinquish all its video footage, Page 16 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014 shoved the journalists onto their knees, and forced them to apologize for reporting that pro- Russian groups were separatists and terrorists. The intruders switched off the relay of Lviv Channel 24, a partner channel with IRTA, and forced IRTA to relay Russian signals instead. The intruders then robbed the journalists and left.10 IRTA is currently under the control of the Luhansk People’s Republic; most IRTA journalists left Luhansk for Kyiv and other western cities, but a small group continues to broadcast from a satellite studio in the liberated city of Severadonetsk. The Online Battlefield

Dmytro Gnap, head of the investigative news at Internews partner Hromadkse.TV, was beaten by paid provocateurs, known locally as titushki, in Kyiv while covering the Maidan protests in late November 2013. Gnap and fellow journalist Yakiv Lyubchych were attacked and Gnap’s camera was broken and his memory card taken.

Ukraine’s online media was subjected to an unprecedented level of online attacks during the past year, with independent news websites going down due to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks; these actions were designed to make their reports inaccessible to the public for long periods of time, and particularly during periods (such as election days) when their news coverage is most needed. According to the Security Bureau of Ukraine (SBU), a group of cyber hackers planned to introduce malware into the election commission’s website and servers that would skew voting results to show radical Presidential candidate Dmytro Yarosh in the lead. (Yarosh would in reality gain less than one % of the vote). The Russian TV network ORT was given the graphic before the attack, and went so far as to broadcast the false voting results, unaware that the hacker attack had been thwarted just forty minutes before their broadcast.11 Ukraine’s media sector was quick to respond to attempts to quash accurate media coverage, recognizing the need to provide a regular flow of information to citizens. One solution was to have the independent online broadcaster Hromadkse.TV carried on the First National channel signal (Ukrainian State TV) which reaches the entire population of Ukraine. Hromadkse.TV attracted a large online audience with its balanced and in-depth coverage of the EuroMaidan protests, and its move to First National’s terrestrial frequency subsequently introduced Hromadkse.TV to viewers throughout the country, including in Crimea.

10 Interview on Hromadske.TV with Karolina Poltavska, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QcHjdAvNAI), 10 March 2014. 11 “Information on ORT about Presidential Race was not a glitch – it was a Provocation,” 26 May 2014, InfoResist website, http://inforesist.org/informaciya-ort-o-yaroshe-prezidente-ne-oshibka-a-provokaciya/ Page 17 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

New President, New Parliament President Poroshenko faces an uphill climb in repairing Ukraine’s badly damaged economy while fighting a war in the east against Kremlin-backed insurgents. A key step towards establishing a body of lawmakers committed to democratic reform is the election of a new Parliament. Poroshenko dissolved Parliament on August 25th, paving the way for elections designed to clear out the remnants of Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions MPs and enhance his government’s legitimacy. The parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 26th, will send Ukrainians to the polls for the second time in six months. The media will once again be asked to provide transparent coverage of the electoral process.

In May 2014, Internews supported the state TV network, First National, to produce the first successful presidential election debates to be held in Ukraine since 2004. Once a new Parliament is in place, the media will be needed to monitor the government’s performance in adopting the many reforms that Ukrainians want to see, particularly with anti- corruption initiatives, new transparency initiatives, and plans to decentralize governance while building new national institutions, including a public broadcaster out of the moribund state broadcasting apparatus. The media will be called upon to shed light on these processes and to ensure that Ukraine can never again fall victim to leaders that serve themselves at the expense of the citizenry.

Page 18 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

Key Activities and Results in Response to the Latest Challenges

The events that reshaped Ukraine during Year 3 of the U-Media project (the EuroMaidan public protests, the Russian invasion of Crimea, the new government’s efforts combating the Russian information war, the military conflict in eastern Ukraine, the presidential elections and preparations for early parliamentary elections) have challenged U-Media’s partners to put aside planned activities and respond to each crisis and the snap elections as they occurred. This section of the report describes some of the U-Media partner activities designed to meet these historic challenges. Their efforts were selfless, sometimes dangerous, and contributed to the tide of change that continues to sweep through the country.

The EuroMaidan Protests Numerous violations of journalism standards by media during the EuroMaidan protests and the military conflict in eastern Ukraine revealed the need to remind journalists and media professionals of the Code of Journalism Ethics. Telekritika experts Natalia Ligachova and Svitlana Ostapa joined the Commission on Journalism Ethics as members in October 2013,12 and Telekritika monitored daily coverage of the EuroMaidan protests by eight leading national TV channels. Telekritika contributed to amendments concerning civic protests and war reporting to the Code of Journalism Ethics and submitted an appeal to the Commission on Journalism Ethics, asking the commission to consider the low level of professional standards of the state-controlled First National channel (UT-1) and Inter channel. In April 2014, the Commission publicly condemned First National for violating the basic journalism standards of balance and accuracy despite the solid background of the UT-1 reporters and managers responsible for the coverage. The Commission ruled that UT-1 had broadcast propaganda and pursued the interests of the Yanukovych government and not the interests of Ukrainian citizens (http://www.telekritika.ua/profesija/2014-04-10/92531). A similar ruling was sent to Inter channel. In response to the Commission’s decision, Inter dismissed journalists and news editors who were considered the worst offenders in their coverage of EuroMaidan. In May 2014, Telekritika initiated a meeting of top management of large internet media where the participants discussed and signed the Code of Journalism Ethics. The Independent Media Trade Union implemented a project with U-Media support titled Legal Bureau: Protection of Journalists’ Rights in the Post-Maidan Period, providing much needed legal and psychological assistance to journalists and other media workers who covered EuroMaidan, the Russian occupation and annexation of Crimea, and the Ukrainian military’s Anti-Terror Operation in eastern Ukraine. Since the beginning of the EuroMaidan protests, the IMTUU Legal Bureau provided 473 consultations via hotline (phone, e-mail, and face-to-face consultations); provided 6 pre-broadcast reviews; developed 36 procedural legal documents; and started 1 criminal case under Art. 171 of the Criminal Code. The Legal Bureau’s media lawyer participated in 25 court hearings. When journalists were detained or threatened, members of the Legal Bureau (LB) team provided assistance at any time of the day. They shared recent changes to the law for journalists working in the ATO area, analyzed regulations for foreign journalists crossing the Ukrainian border and

12 http://www.telekritika.ua/profesija/2013-10-04/86450 Page 19 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014 the border of occupied Crimea, confirmed the status of detained journalists, and immediately informed the police about any violations against journalists. In response to the stress and danger journalists faced in covering EuroMaidan, the IMTUU’s Legal Bureau launched a program to provide psychological aid to journalists via seminars, crisis groups, and individual consultations. The LB conducted workshops titled “Journalists under Crisis: How to Cope with Psychic Trauma and Stay within the Profession” in 6 cities (Dnipropetrovs’k, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Mykolayiv, and Odesa). In addition, 23 group meetings with psychologists were arranged and 126 individual consultations were provided by phone, via Skype or in person. The first thing the Academy of Ukrainian Press did when the EuroMaidan protests began was examine where Ukrainians were getting their information about the protests. A total of 64 experts (31 academics and analysts, 9 journalists, 9 editors, 7 media NGOs, and 8 bloggers and media activists), including both supporters and opponents of the protests, were asked. The survey revealed that 40% of respondents used only the Internet (colored purple in the diagram below) for news about EuroMaidan, while 24% used only TV. The 0 – 5 scale along the x-axis indicates the frequency of use of each type of media, with 1 showing the number of people who use a particular type of media rarely or not at all, and 5 the number of people who use this type of media exclusively for their news.

AUP also asked the 64 experts to evaluate the accuracy and completeness of EuroMaidan news coverage. They noted that while the major traditional media (print, TV, and radio) were censored, online media (including social networks and blogs) provided more up-to-date and complete coverage. The results of AUP’s research can be found at: http://www.aup.com.ua/uploads/Zvit_ekspertne_oputyvanya_sichen.pdf. This research was later widely used and quoted; Valeriy Ivanov, president of AUP, explained that when they started their research, it was purely a volunteer effort, but later they received funds to continue the work.

Page 20 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

As a response to Russian aggression and the separatist movement in eastern Ukraine, AUP moved all of its educational events to the eastern regions. Future AUP trainings and workshops under U-Media will focus on developing better understanding of the European Union in Ukraine now that the Association Agreement has been signed.

AUP planned to include Simferopol in their program to introduce media literacy into the curricula of teacher-training schools throughout Ukraine, but they were unsure how they could safely and effectively work in Crimea after the Russian annexation. AUP continues to support a group of teachers in Crimea who provide media education for youth. (AUP consulted with media literacy colleagues from Russia to make sure that these teachers will be able to continue to work in this field under Russian law.) The Media Law Institute As a reaction to the social and political events taking place in Ukraine between November 2013 and March 2014, the Media Law Institute rescheduled its planned activities in order to focus on legal protection for journalists covering the EuroMaidan protests. MLI kept a register of journalists who had been attacked and injured, provided them with legal help, coordinated support among media law partner organizations, and launched public awareness campaigns on behalf of journalists who were arrested without cause or who were injured during the crisis. Together with the Regional Press Development Institute, Institute for Mass Information, National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, Ukrainian Lawyers Association, Telekritika, EuroMaidan SOS, and the Liga News Agency’s legal department, MLI created a united register of 206 affected journalists. MLI lawyers contacted 37 journalists from this register and provided initial legal advice, and suggested appropriate further legal action in their cases. MLI gathered video footage and video interviews with the injured journalists in order to restore and record the circumstances of the attacks and arrests. However, most journalists MLI contacted do not want to press official charges. Their employers have paid to have damaged equipment repaired or replaced. MLI also launched an online and telephone legal hotline for journalists. The lawyers provided 81 consultations. Many of the calls to the hotline regarded complaints against law enforcement agencies that ordered media outlets to hand over video footage of the EuroMaidan protests in various cities. For example, MLI helped “TV-4” in Ternopil craft a well-grounded response to pressure placed on them by Ukrainian law enforcement authorities to give up their EuroMaidan footage. MLI lawyers developed a sample legal claim to the Prosecutors’ Office to demonstrate how to report illegal interference in journalists’ work. Journalists could download and complete a blank complaint form based on this template and submit it directly to the authorities (http://medialaw.kiev.ua/news/organization/2473/). The Media Law Institute also provided analysis of the “Black Thursday” laws, a group of ten laws restricting freedom of speech and freedom of assembly passed by Parliament on January 16, 2014, and signed into law the next day by then-President Yanukovych. The laws were collectively known as the "dictatorship laws," and after loud protests from civil society and the international community, all but one was cancelled by Parliament on January 28. Between December 2013 and February 2014, MLI published 7 public statements and expert summaries on drafts of laws and the impact they would have on the media environment. For example, an Page 21 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014 analysis of an anti-extremist law written by Party of Regions MP Vadym Kolesnichenko entailed serious threats to civil rights and freedoms, including press freedoms (http://www.medialaw.kiev.ua/Analytics/362/).

The Institute for Mass Information (IMI) focused on the security of journalists during EuroMaidan. After more than three dozen journalists were severely beaten while covering the protests near the Presidential Administration building on Bankova Street on December 1, the riot police made excuses that they could not clearly identify journalists in the crowds. IMI launched an initiative to supply journalists with brightly colored helmets and vests marked “Press.” IMI also distributed protective eyewear and first aid kits, purchased with the support of Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders along with the Ukrainian companies Marko-Farm and Komanchero. When the riot police started shooting at journalists, first with rubber bullets and then with real bullets, IMI distributed bullet-proof vests. After Maiden, these bullet-proof vests were used by journalists in Donetsk and Kharkiv covering pro-Russian separatist actions. IMI managed to provide over

1,000 Ukrainian and foreign journalists Signal vests, protective helmets, and glasses were distributed with different means of protection and to journalists. identification.

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The Russian Annexation of Crimea According to the Crimean Field Mission on Human Rights, in 2014 “pressure on media and prosecution of journalists became a systematic human rights violation on the peninsula.”13 Quasi-police units in Crimea harassed journalists and damaged and seized journalists’ equipment; they interrogated media workers at the federal security service and threatened to charge them with “extremism.” Many journalists had to leave Crimea to avoid prosecution or further attacks. In the beginning of March, the analogue and digital broadcasting of Ukrainian channels was terminated. In June, cable TV providers discontinued broadcasting leading Ukrainian TV channels, replacing them with various Russian channels. Crimea residents now have access to Ukrainian channels only via satellite and the Internet. Journalists and employees from the Information and Press Center (IPC), an Internews partner, have experienced all of these tactics since the launch of the Russian invasion of Crimea in February 2014. The Simferopol-based Information and Press Center was one of the few independent media that remained open and active during the Russian invasion and occupation of Crimea. The Center, which also operates the website of the Center for Investigative Journalism(http://investigator.org.ua/), produced or re-published 10,529 news stories during the past year to a rapidly growing online audience, and welcomed 240,000 unique visitors to the site per month (30% from Crimea, 37% from Ukraine, 23% from Russia, and 10% from other countries). The geographic distribution of the audience suggests that the Center has become a news source not only for Crimea, but for the rest of Ukraine and Russia as well.

An info-graphic developed by the Information and Press Center in May 2014 showing the number of journalists and activists’ rights violations since the start of the Crimean occupation.

13 The Crimean field mission summed up the results of work for half a year, in the 22 September 2014 report by the Crimean Field Mission, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights website, http://bit.ly/ZTfSZQ. Page 23 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

In early March 2014, Chernomorska TV, the main terrestrial broadcaster of IPC’s current affairs TV program, Issues of National Security, was switched off by Russian forces and replaced with a Russian channel. In response, IPC broadcast the program online as part of a daily marathon broadcast called “Unitary Ukraine” during the first three weeks of the Russian occupation. The marathons included streaming from regional events and interviews and discussions with locals and Ukrainian opinion leaders. The “Issues of National Security” program is still distributed by Chernomorska through cable and satellite broadcasts throughout Crimea. IPC-Simferopol coordinated four local IPC media centers in Yalta, Yevpatoria, Djankoy, and Feodosia. Keeping in mind the difficult situation in Crimea, representatives of these media centers worked mainly as correspondents for the Center for Investigative Journalism, providing updates on events in their cities. The Yevpatoria media center coordinator, Victor Shelest, was threatened by the “Crimea Self-Defense” forces, and the center was forced to cancel its activities as a result (http://investigator.org.ua/blogs/127298/). IPC lawyers provided 30 consultations to journalists, activists, and civil society organizations during the occupation and annexation of Crimea. They advised media on the rights and responsibilities of journalists in Crimea, how to communicate with Crimean authorities, the issues surrounding the Crimean “referendum” to join Russia, preparation for the presidential elections (elections that were practically impossible for Crimeans to take part in), and problems with Ukrainian citizenship in Crimea brought on by the occupation. IPC also assisted the many foreign journalists who came to IPC in Simferopol for help in covering these historic events. IPC provided interpretation, office space, satellite and internet communications, and provided safety advice to journalists venturing out during the invasion and occupation. Many journalists were harassed or attacked by soldiers, and many had their cameras and computers confiscated by armed groups. IPC Director Valentyna Samar was honored at the annual “Honor of Profession” awards for her nine-part series on Crimean issues in Dzerkalo Tyzhnia weekly (Mirror of the Week).14 The Editor-in-Chief for Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper, Volodymyr Mostoviy, also awarded Samar (formerly a field correspondent for Dzerkalo Tyzhnia in Simferopol) with a special prize “For moral lighting of difficult issues during a crisis”. In the series, she explored the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and how local officials’ played up to Russia during the occupation. The author also analyzed Crimean media coverage of the EuroMaidan protests and the seizure of the south seashore of Crimea by Yanukovych’s family in publications dating from December 2013 and January 2014. The contest “Honor of Profession 2014” was organized by the Independent Association of Broadcasters (IAB) and the Ukrainian Association of Press Publishers (UAPP), both U-Media partners, with USAID support. This year, the contest received 596 submissions from 235 journalists working for 166 media outlets throughout the country.

The Separatist Conflict in the East of Ukraine The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) was on the scene tracking attacks on media freedom during the EuroMaidan protests, and then expanded their efforts to monitor press freedom violations during the Russian invasion of Crimea and the separatist conflict in the east. Since

14 http://www.konkurssmi.org/works/4/2453/ Page 24 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

January 2014, IMI reports that 7 journalists in Ukraine have been killed, 270 beaten, 120 prevented from conducting their profession, and 122 media organizations have been censored. IMI publicized these cases to an international audience through press releases. IMI also met with a delegation of the Council of Europe on August 28, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Stephan Fule, on September 12, and with a delegation from Freedom House on September 20, where they presented the results of their monitoring of jeansa and the poor treatment of journalists in Ukraine. In partnership with Telekritika and the Independent Media Trade Union (IMTUU), IMI organized a public “Day of Memory” in September on the 14th anniversary of the murder of journalist , and filed an appeal with President Poroshenko. The appeal was supported with IMI posters and infographics in Ukrainian and English showing the rising level of violence against journalists in Ukraine and demanding honest investigations and punishment of those guilty for these crimes. Internews Ukraine organized a Small Grants Program for content production for eastern and southern Ukraine. The first wave of the program was conducted in April-May 2014, and 23 eastern and southern media organizations participated. During the second wave (July- September), 25 more media outlets were selected, mainly from the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. As a result, media outlets produced 101 media stories (22 print, 54 online, and 25 TV news segments) on topics such as the presidential elections, Russian aggression against Ukraine, the deteriorating situation in the east and south, the separatist war in the east, the state of the Ukrainian military, the aggression of the separatists, and Ukraine-EU affairs, including the impact of the signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The Phylyp Orlyk Institute of Democracy (POID) attracted several journalists, experts, and civic activists to its public events held in Sumy, Kherson, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Chernihiv from May to July 2014. More than 380 journalists from regional private and municipal media, and 46 political experts and NGO leaders discussed a variety of issues, including decentralization, proposed amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, government reform initiatives, and ways to confront the Russian propaganda war. Two of the most successful events took place in Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa, where journalists (75 in Dnipropetrovsk and 65 in Odesa) discussed a common approach in reporting about the eastern conflict in light of regional differences between the country’s eastern and western regions.15 The POID series was featured in 250 media reports. In September 2014, online broadcaster Hromadske.TV interviewed POID Project Director Svitlana Yeremenko on the Media-Maidan program16, where she spoke out about the responsibility journalists have to

15 http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/material/33774 16 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2OrKHK6qC8&list=UU2oGvjIJwxn1KeZR3JtE-uQ Page 25 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014 report accurately and fairly and about the negative influence of paid journalism on people’s trust toward the media.

To help the media understand the military terminology used in war reporting, Telekritika and the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) developed a War Journalism Glossary (http://www.telekritika.ua/kontent/2014-05- 12/93545) that was widely distributed among media organizations and journalists and is available online. The glossary includes infographics that explain the meaning of the most frequently used terms such as separatist, terrorist, occupant, federalist, accomplice (to separatists), and others. Telekritika and IMI distributed a document titled “10 tips on how to report about war, annexation and occupation”. The document covered the main principles of fair and balanced reporting about conflict, and emphasized the need to select non- provocative sources of information, quote qualified critics, and take comments from public officials whenever possible to publish official positions. The main purpose of the paper was to remind journalists of their social responsibilities to report fairly and avoid spreading comments that could be construed as hate speech and could heighten tensions in the war zone. Internews Network and partner the Academy of Ukrainian Press responded to the sharp increase in physical attacks on journalists during the EuroMaidan protests and Crimea invasion, and the threat of more attacks in Ukraine’s restive east and south, by conducting security training for 89 journalists from throughout the country, but with special emphasis on journalists covering the separatist conflict between March 28 and April 2, 2014. In response to the increase of cyber hacker attacks on news websites in Ukraine, Internews added a digital security component to this training. The journalists learned the basics of safe online and mobile communications for one day, and then on the second day learned how to avoid and escape dangerous situations while covering civil unrest similar to the unrest currently happening throughout eastern Ukraine.

A security expert from the International News Safety Institute in the UK stressed the need to plan exit strategies while covering riots and/or military actions and included insights on crowd behavior, ways to prepare for travel in danger zones, self-defense techniques, and first aid.

The Digital Security training, provided by a Russian-speaking Canadian expert, provided an overview of free software available to protect journalists’ computers from viruses, shadowing, and hacking. The trainer also discussed ways to secure mobile phone communications and protect websites from DDoS attacks.

Page 26 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

East-West journalist exchanges promote understanding

Internews Ukraine facilitated a series of visits between “Currently, Ukraine has journalists from the Ukrainian-speaking west and the minimalcommunication between east and Russian-speaking east to bridge gaps in understanding west. As a result, nobody knows what about what it means to be Ukrainian and how journalists people and journalists-colleagues think about us on the opposite side of the from both sides can better tell the story of this young country. More than that, nobody knows democracy. The East-West journalist exchanges why they think the way they do. As a involved a total of 56 journalists from the east who result, the journalists in Lutsk were visited Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk in April and surprised by the fact that somebody in Vinnytsia in May. The journalists, from Donetsk could know the . Until we deal with these Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Kherson, Melitopol, misunderstandings, how can we discuss Donetsk, Odesa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhya, Luhansk, more serious things?” (Mykhaylo Popov, (Donetsk region), Mykolaiv, Krasnyy Luch Donetsk News). (Luhansk region), (Odesa region), and Kerch (Crimea), visited the Western centers for a three-day program consisting of roundtable discussions with local journalists and civic activists, visits to local newspapers and TV stations, and meetings with local authorities.

In Lutsk, the journalists met with the Vice-Mayor of “Common East-West journalists’ Lutsk, the Governor of Volyn oblast, and the Head of work is very important within the Volyn Oblast Council. Cooperation between local media information war and conditional and authorities was a key discussion point. The journalists East-West division of Ukraine. The journalists have to share their shared their thoughts on journalistic standards, cases of experiences with each other, as well political pressure and censorship, defining target as explain their working nuances in audiences, and applying business models. They visited the different regions in order to express most popular local newspaper “Volyn Nova” (New common public opinion”, - Volyn), the State TV and Radio Company, and the local Victoria Yermolayeva, freelancer, Crimean refugee online news portal Volyn Post. Media coverage of the latest developments in Ukraine and the media situation in the regions was on the agenda of the informal discussions. Seven of the visiting journalists participated in a local TV talk-show.

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Pictures from the trip to Lutsk, May 2014 In Ivano-Frankivsk, journalists spoke with the Head and the “This project destroyed Eastern Deputy Head of the Regional State Administration, as well stereotypes that citizens of the Western as the Mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk. The discussions were regions are not interested in learning about cooperation between local authorities and media, as Eastern challenges. After visiting well as their common efforts to meet the challenges of the Western regions we saw how sincere current political crisis. Then, at a roundtable organized by the attitude of the Western journalists was towards the events in the East. We Internews Ukraine, journalists discussed their practices of found a lot of experts and friends media coverage, journalism standards and interaction with whom we may call anytime and receive the community, and the information war with Russian TV advice.” (Tetyana Turenko, Kryvy Rih channels. East-West discussions continued at local media State Television Company). “Halychyna” TV and “Halychyna” daily newspaper, www.firtka.if.ua online outlet, and the “Carpathians” radio company. In Vinnytsia, the East-South group met with the Deputy Mayor, the Head of Vinnytsia Regional State Administration, and the Head of the Regional Council. The journalists continued professional discussions at Vinnytsia Regional State TV & Radio Company, RIA newspaper, and the http://vn.20minut.ua/ online outlet. They raised their awareness of East and West’s differing styles of story production at the roundtable “Media coverage of events in Ukraine in various regions of the country: differences and lessons learned”. The East-South journalists also participated in a televised talkshow at the Regional State TV and Radio Station.

Page 28 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

The bonds these journalists formed during these exchanges yielded some unexpected results. Participating journalists in Luhansk who were forced to flee the region amid the fighting and threats to their lives settled in Lutsk at the invitation of the journalism community they got to know during this exchange program.

Pictures from Vinnytsia trip, May 2014

East-West talks about Elections and EU integration Through online video conferences, the Lviv Press Club (LPC) built virtual bridges among the citizens of Lviv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, and Donetsk. From May to September 2014, LPC conducted 13 online bridges with their colleagues in the east and south of Ukraine; they discussed a variety of subjects, including the advantages of European integration and its influence on effective social and economic development in a united Ukraine, employment and social standards in Ukraine, the EU and Russia, and with Donetsk journalists, the prospects of a mining industry that conducts business in a transparent way and contributes to the state budget. Journalists from Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk shared “Now I understand how to distinguish their experiences in protecting local communities information, news, and political agitation in newspapers. I will know for sure how to produce from terrorism, including the best practices used

news segments.” in European countries. On May 23, journalists -Natalia Kovaleva, MIG newspaper, Zaporizhya based in Lviv and Donetsk shared information about preparations for the presidential election in the two cities. On the day of the election, LPC organized video marathons with Odesa, Luhansk, and Donetsk to share reports on the voting process.

Page 29 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

In a video bridge dedicated to discussion of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) issues, a representative of Lviv city council described that city’s special support center for IDPs. The Center helps with such issues as registration, accommodation, food supplies, and jobs. This idea was later borrowed by several other city councils that learned of Lviv’s initiative and wanted to help their IDPs (http://bit.ly/1vDZHfV).The online bridges were broadcast on Lviv Press Club Public Internet TV, which is accessible through the “Daily Lviv” website, the press club website, a YouTube channel and on a jumbotron in Lviv city’s main square. Journalists covering the video bridges published or broadcast 613 stories. Internews Ukraine, in cooperation with the Institute for Social Partnership and local trade unions, organized five 2-day trainings and discussions with 300 industrial workers in eastern and southern Ukraine about the importance of European integration for Ukraine, with an additional focus on media literacy and how to spot propaganda in the face of the onslaught of Russian misinformation. The moderators introduced the following topics among the citizens: European prospects of Ukraine; European values and life standards; human rights and labor rights; the territorial integrity of Ukraine; and democratic values and individual rights as the historical basis for citizens’ prosperity. The fundamental skills of media literacy, critical thinking in media consumption, and the ways to spot media manipulation were also discussed. The media literacy presentations were accompanied by a media literacy manual Internews Ukraine prepared titled Informational fraud: how to avoid a trap. Copies were disseminated among the trainees, which included local trade union leaders who agreed to share the manual widely amongst union members.

2014 Presidential Elections National Debates by First National TV Suspilnist Foundation initiated and organized a series of televised presidential candidate debates in the lead-up to the May 25 presidential elections. Although it was initially planned as an online webcast project, Suspilnist negotiated “Debates are important because cooperation with several other media NGOs (Internews they train candidates to be Ukraine, Center UA, Hromadske.TV, and the Media Law accountable before they elected. Institute) and the First National Channel, to produce a Debates are the point where the nationally broadcast debate program with an additional accountability starts.” interactive component via its online network of Mustafa Nayem, journalist and founder of Hromadske.TV Page 30 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014 university groups throughout Ukraine. From May 9-23, this group held seven debates featuring three candidates each. The debates were moderated by Zurab Alasania, Director General of the National Television Company of Ukraine, and a student audience was given the opportunity to ask questions of the candidates. After the broadcast, students throughout Ukraine were able to continue discussions with the candidates through Suspilnist’s interactive Campus 3.0 web module. The debates could be watched live, or at any time through various weblinks, such as http://betv.com.ua/presidential- debate-2014, on the First National website http://1tv.com.ua/uk/, Hromadske.TV, Telekritika, Ukrainskaya Pravda, Livyi Bereg (LB.UA), Liga (Liga.net), Bigmir bigmir.net, Ukrinform Agency ukrinform.ua, Portalnews24.com, svitonline.tv, and president14.com.ua.

Suspilnist and partners produced a series of promotional videos featuring well-known journalists (including Andrey Kulikov, Natalia Goumenyuk, Mustafa Nayem, and Sergiy Leschenko) talking about the debates and their importance for citizens’ awareness about the candidates and their platforms. The Campus 3.0 team recorded and distributed via social networks a seven-video series called “Youth – for President of Ukraine 2014,” which articulated young people’s expectations of the future president (http://bit.ly/1pfvM72). The first and second debates (Petro Poroshenko participated in the second) garnered the highest ratings on First National (see the chart below): Date and candidates Rating (% of Audience Audience all who share (age (people) viewed the TV older 18 at that time) y.o., all Ukraine) May 9 (, , 1,09 3,54% 1,343,430 Olexandr Klymenko) May 10 (Petro Poroshenko, Zoryan Shkiryak, 1,35 4,03% 1,529,385 ) May 11 (, Volodymyr Saranov, 0,64 1,82% 690,690 Andriy Hrynenko) May 16 (Yuri Boyko, , Vadym 3,38 1,00% 379,500 Rabinovych ) May 17 (Dmytro Yarosh, Vasyl Kuibida, Mykola 1,59 0,45% 170,775 Malomuzh) Page 31 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

May 18 (, Oleg Lyashko) 2,67 0,84% 318,780 May 23 (, Serhiy Tyhypko and 3,37 0,90% 341,550 Valeriy Konovalyuk)

Internews Ukraine’s Get-out-to-vote PSA In the pre-election period and on Election Day on May 25, Internews Ukraine (IUA) produced for broadcast a PSA motivating citizens to vote in the election. The PSA was broadcast in Ukrainian and Russian. The National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine recommended the PSAs be broadcast on national TV channels free of charge as a social advertisement. First National state television and nine local regional TV channels broadcast the PSA starting May 17 through Election Day. The local channels were TRC Rivne, Channel 11 (Dnipropetrovsk), VDT (Vinnytsia), Kherson Regional State TV Station, ATN (Kharkiv), “Simon” (Kharkiv), UNION (Makiivka, Donetsk region), Tak-TV (Yes-TV) (Mykolayiv), and TV-4 (Ternopil). The PSA was broadcast 277 times to a potential audience of 27,300,000. In a random audience survey, IUA received feedback confirming the motivating influence of the PSA. One respondent said “The video generated emotions and encouraged me to do something - to vote"; another said "I have to vote for the better future of my country"; one said "The video is very convincing: I have to vote for sure”; also "The key message of the video is that I have to start building my European country with my own voice”; and "This video is really convincing to those who don't want to go to the voting stations." RPDI Journalists Training for Presidential Elections The Regional Press Development Institute briefed 135 regional journalists on presidential and municipal electoral laws during six two-day workshops titled “Legal and journalism standards for covering presidential and local election campaigns on May 25, 2014.” The trainings were held in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, Kyiv, and Zaporizhya from mid-March to mid-April 2014. The workshops focused on professional and ethical standards, rights and obligations of journalists during the election campaign, and distinguishing between political advertising, news, and jeansa (pre-paid articles, hidden advertising). RPDI faced challenges delivering these workshops because the workshops were held after the conflict in eastern Ukraine had started, and because Parliament adopted several amendments to the Law on Presidential Elections after RPDI started the workshops. RPDI lawyers incorporated the last-minute amendments of the law into their training presentations.

“Training helped me to systemize knowledge In addition to the regional workshops, RPDI about the election process, legislation, as well conducted 7 Election Law webinars for 135 as see what my colleagues’ experience is and participants between March and May. Samples learn new methods of news production.” of the workshop and webinar materials can be (Yulia Ostapova, “Novaya Zhizn” (New life), found here – http://bit.ly/1pfwVvn. Starobenievo, Donetsk region).

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IAB Legal Assistance to Broadcasters during Elections Between April and September 2014, the Independent Association of Broadcasters assisted journalists and broadcasters via a legal assistance “I learned a lot about the journalist’s rights hotline: 106 consultations (16 in writing, 90 over during the work at the voting station on the the phone) were provided. Most of the legal Election Day, especially about protection of consultations were on the issues surrounding the the journalist’s professional rights if a early presidential election and broadcasters’ violation happens. This is the most obligations regarding free and paid political important for quality coverage of the advertising. IAB media lawyers prepared a list of elections.” (Olena Stayko, VSIM Media frequently asked questions and disseminated it Holding, Khmelnytsky). through their newsletter and website.

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Key Activities and Results by Objective

Objective 1: Support and Promote Freedom of Speech and Media Independence  Internews Ukraine (IUA) provided training on Cyber Security in June 2014 for 14 journalists and editors on rules, threats, and confidentiality issues at play in using social networks, the limits of https and secure browsers, resources for password management, use of operations systems, anti-virus and anti-spy programs, and safe removal and recovery of data. IUA conducted a bar camp called Media Cyber Security in Kyiv in July for 44 journalists, editors and media-activists, and representatives of public sector and other organizations such as the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine. The trainers taught how to protect a website from hacking or DDoS attack, how to use mobile applications, and 2-stage authentication security techniques.  Academy of Ukrainian Press (AUP) redesigned its media education portal (www.medialiteracy.org.ua) to make it more user-friendly, providing special sections for high school teachers, university teachers, and continuing education teachers. It houses 41 presentations and teaching guides; during the past year, 350 users re-posted AUP announcements and media literacy news on Facebook.  To increase the audience for its monitoring findings, the Center for Ukrainian Reform Education (CURE) held five roundtable discussions in Lviv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Sumy, and Vinnytsia from November 2013 to March 2014. The discussions enabled local journalists to compare their news content with media professionals in other regions. The issue of journalist safety was actively discussed and resulted in the publication of articles in DEN’ (Day) newspaper (http://www.day.kiev.ua/uk/article/media/brutalnist-yak-norma), and Ukrainskaya Pravda, (http://www.pravda.com.ua/columns/2014/01/31/7012043/).

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Objective 2: Increase Variety of News Sources and Improve News Quality  Internews Ukraine (IUA) conducted the training “Opening Europe: how to deal with myths in covering EU integration” on June 15 and 16 in Kyiv with 18 journalists from the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine. The 2-day training helped journalists to learn about the current status of EU-Ukraine relations, as well as Ukraine-Russia relations and the differences between European and Eurasian integration. In their feedback, journalists wrote: “Now I have a full understanding of the Association Agreement with the EU,” “I liked the idea of presenting complicated material in the form of games,” “Thank you for the opportunity to communicate with my colleagues from Eastern regions,” “I like that the training was conducted in the form of dialogue,” and “The training was organized on a high level.” During the time leading up to the presidential election, IUA conducted 2 trainings on “Presidential Elections and the European Context” in Kyiv for 26 journalists and editors from Donetsk, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, and Sumy. Participants learned about the new edition of the Law on Presidential Elections, the role of the president in the political system of the country, how to respond to journalists’ rights to report during the elections, and the challenges of conducting elections in occupied territories.  In November 2013, the Regional Press Development Institute (RPDI) conducted the Fifth Annual Investigative Journalism Conference, supported by the U-Media Project, International Renaissance Foundation, the US Embassy, and the Dutch investigative reporting organization SCOOP. The conference united 103 participants from 10 countries to discuss various aspects of personal, legal, and digital security. The conference was held during the start of the mass protests in Kiev, which gave a new perspective to the mission and role of journalists in society. The participants of the Fifth Annual Investigative Journalism Conference were given a new manual on investigating corruption, written by U-Media Advisor Oleg Khomenok, RPDI Lawyer Olexander Burmagin, and Polish experts. The manual was also distributed to investigative journalism bureaus, individual journalists, and journalism departments and libraries throughout Ukraine.  The Mykolayiv Center for Investigative Reporting (MCIR) managed a website that informs readers about news in Mykolayiv, Odesa, and Kherson where CIR has its own correspondents. In August, 149,942 unique visitors used the site, which was five times more than the site had in the previous April. MCIRs’ journalists were the first to write about the derelict housing provided for the families of soldiers who were sent east to be part of the Anti-Terror Operation. The public reacted to the stories and local authorities were forced to rebuild the housing (http://bit.ly/1yJNgk2, and http://bit.ly/1nsabfH). An MCIR journalist from Kherson investigated the situation at Ukraine’s border with the occupied territory of Crimea, where despite economic sanctions, Ukrainian businessmen continue to export food to Crimea (http://bit.ly/1qI5OJi). MCIR established an elections page on its website to provide their readers with unbiased and timely information about the 2014 presidential and parliamentary elections.

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 The Regional Press Development Institute (RPDI) conducted a unique training module for investigative journalists who use new media, titled “Visualization of Data about Events, People, Money and Companies, Interactive Chronicles and Connections Maps.” Eleven journalists were trained in using the multimedia tools needed for data visualization. RPDI also focused on disclosing corruption, particularly in state purchases, by organizing the “Investigating Corruption and Violations in State Purchases” training, at which 18 journalists learned how to watchdog procurements listed on the government web portal for state contracts.

 RPDI’s closed Facebook group for Ukrainian investigative journalists expanded to 172 participants (vs. 60 in December 2012). RPDI, through its Internship Program for Investigative Journalists 2013, organized internships at investigative reporting centers for five young journalists from print and online media. They learned to work with Ukrainian and foreign company registers, to uncover and follow the connections among companies and people, to work with the state procurement portal, and to disclose violations in state purchases and tender procedures.

Objective 3: Improve the Enabling Environment for Media and Freedom of Speech Internews has provided the support over several years that enabled media law advocates to effectively engage Parliament and government agencies to forward and pass media laws. U- Media partners Media Law Institute, Independent Association of Broadcasters, and Internews Ukraine played leading roles in forwarding the Law on Public Broadcasting for passage in 2014; they also successfully secured improvements to the Law on Access to Information, first passed in 2011, with an amended bill in 2014. The bill #0947, “On Amendments to Laws of Ukraine due to the Adoption of the Law on Information (new edition) and the Law on Access to Public Information,” provides amendments to four codes and 53 laws of Ukraine; the amendments increase citizens’ access to information about a wide range of government activity, including state and local budgets, salaries of civil servants, and municipal construction plans. The draft law on amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine (to strengthen guarantees of professional journalistic activity) #4013, was passed at 1st reading in July 2014, - it makes the criminal responsibility for infringing on journalists’ rights more severe. The draft law on amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine (to strengthen guarantees of freedom of speech in Ukraine and against censorship) #0942 , passed at 1st reading in July 2014, and states that editing of journalist materials outside the editor’s office by public authorities and their staff is deemed to be censorship. The Law also introduces the office of the Ombudsman Representative for Freedom of Speech. These groups continue to advocate for adoption of a law on ensuring transparency of media ownership that would require media owners to declare their media holdings, and a law on the “De-statization” of state-owned media, which will privatize or close government controlled regional newspapers throughout Ukraine.

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Public Service Broadcasting in Ukraine In March 2014 the Media Law Institute joined the “Reanimation Reforms Package”17initiative to take the lead in advocating for the adoption of several media laws. MLI has advocated for the adoption of the law on public service broadcasting for the past three years. In April 2014, MLI director Taras Shevchenko participated in an action at the Verkhovna Rada calling on MPs to adopt the Law on Public Service Broadcasting (PSB). A public campaign, personal contacts with MPs and lobbying The public action at the Verkhovna Rada calling for the efforts brought the result; on April 17, 2014 adoption of the Public Broadcasting Law, April 17, 2014. On the right – Taras Shevchenko, Director of the Media Parliament voted for Law #1076 “On Public Law Institute Broadcasting in Ukraine”. The law came into force on May 15, 2014. The PSB law includes the following features:  A new entity, the National Public Service TV Company of Ukraine (NPSTU), will be established to ensure the development of public broadcasting in Ukraine; NPSTU will not be obliged to cover the activities of the government agencies, and will be broadcast on two national TV channels and three radio channels, starting January 1st, 2015;  A Supervisory Council, comprised of 16 representatives from civil society and Parliament factions, will be established to oversee the network. NPSTU will get constant state support, i.e. no less than 0.2% of the state budget, and the company has the right to accept donations and charge copyright fees. Advertising should not exceed 5% of each hour, and alcohol advertising is not allowed.  MLI, in cooperation with Telekritika, organized two expert discussions to develop amendments to the PSB law pertaining to the make-up of the Supervisory Council, for example. As a result, the MLI lawyers’ amended draft was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on July 2, 2014 and later supported by the Parliament Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information. The draft law #4224a is awaiting approval by the Verkhovna Rada.  In August 2014, MLI lawyer Igor Rozkladay joined the official working group on implementing public service broadcasting. The Media Law Institute’s amendments and proposals to the draft law #709-VII "On Amendments to Several Legislative Acts on Improvement of Elections Legislation" were considered when Parliament approved the 2014 Presidential Elections law. MLI’s provision to print a special edition of Parliament’s newspaper to provide the details of all presidential

17 Reanimation Package of Reforms is a public initiative created in winter 2014 on Maydan aiming to develop reform bills, seek their approval, and promote approved documents and reform ideas throughout Ukraine among all segments of the population, http://bit.ly/11skXIY.

Page 37 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014 candidates’ platforms was adopted into the Law; this helped voters to make an informed choice by comparing candidates’ policies, http://www.medialaw.kiev.ua/en/news/media/2529/. The Media Law Institute, Telekritika, the Ukrainian Association of Press Publishers and the Independent Association of Broadcasters are members of Public Councils at the State Committee on TV and Radio, the National Council on TV and Radio, and the Parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information. This year, the Public Councils discussed important draft laws including “On De-Statization,” “On Public Broadcasting,” and “On Digital Broadcasting.” Kateryna Myasnykova, IAB Executive Director, was elected as the Head of the Public Council at the National Council for TV and Radio. Telekritika actively interacted with public authorities of Ukraine to improve the media environment and the legislative framework for media work. Telekritika Board Chair Natalia Lygachova became a member of the Public Council for Culture and Information created by Vice- Premier Oleksandr Sych in August 2014. The Council discusses issues of Ukraine’s information security and developed the Strategy for Development of Ukraine’s Information Space. Telekritka contributed to improving the Strategy text by removing restrictions to freedom of speech. A report on this meeting and the Strategy is available at http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/material/34632. In August 2014, Telekritika media expert Mariana Zakusylo was elected to the Public Council for Television and Radio, which is an advisory body to the National Council on Television and Radio. Internews Ukraine’s (IUA) Media Expert Club has become a well-known gathering for civil society actors that brings together media lawyers, journalism experts, and opinion leaders on a wide range of issues. At the 4th Expert Club meeting on November 15, 2013, participants analyzed the Draft Law "On the cyber-security of Ukraine" (#2207). As a result of the discussion, an information campaign strategy on digital security was developed, to be conducted by Internews Ukraine, Telekritika, and the Regional Press Development Institute, but due to the EuroMaidan protests, this strategy was put aside; Internews Ukraine instead published advice on cyber security on its Facebook page. The Independent Association of Broadcasters (IAB) continued to play an important role as an advisor to the National Council for TV and Radio Broadcasting. In May 2014, when the Parliament voted for four new members of the Council, IAB initiated a public discussion about the professional qualifications required for these positions. In cooperation with 12 leading media NGOs, IAB signed a Memorandum regarding candidate requirements, announced them at a press conference, made a short-list of the best candidates, and addressed the list to Parliament (www.nam.day.ua/news/?type=news&idn=6008). The Public Council of the National Council on TV and Radio elected Kateryna Miasnykova, IAB’s Executive Director, to be the Head of the Public Council on September 3rd, 2014.

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IAB organized the eighth annual International Forum on Digital Broadcasting in Ukraine, held in Kyiv in September 2014. It brought together experts from the industry and representatives of almost all the key government institutions working on Ukraine’s switch from analog to digital TV broadcasting, set for June 15, 2015. IAB has been a lead advocate for the fair distribution of digital licenses on behalf of IAB member broadcasters and non-members alike. In attendance were the directors of the National Council on TV and Radio, the Anti-monopoly Committee of Ukraine, the Ukrainian State Center of Radio Frequencies and the State Service for Communication and Information Protection. Notably absent were representatives from Zeonbud, a company with no history in the industry that was awarded control of all the digital multiplexes during the Yanukovych regime. It is still not clear who owns this Cypress-registered company. Internews U-Media project director Wayne Sharpe summarized the problems facing a fair and transparent switch to digital in his opening remarks at the conference. “In 2011, more than 50 regional TV stations were denied digital broadcast licenses while newly formed companies, including companies that presented TV stations that did not yet exist, received licenses,” he said. “Many of those phantom broadcasters still do not broadcast to this day. Ukraine’s media ownership transparency law remains in draft form only, and so it is even difficult to know for sure exactly who owns these theoretical stations, but when they are ready to broadcast, they have a place in the spectrum reserved for them.”

The Chairman of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting, Yuriy Artemenko, said it will be difficult to meet the June 2015 deadline for the switch, because there are so many unresolved issues even at this late date. National Council member Oleg Chernysh proposed a new plan be drawn up to conduct a gradual transition from analog to digital, and he reported that they have formed a working group to develop this strategy. The speakers agreed that it is important to learn more about Yuriy Artemenko, Chairman of the National TV and Radio the intentions of the company controlling the Broadcasting Council, addressing the International Forum means of digital broadcasting, Zeonbud, on Digital Broadcasting in Ukraine, September 23, 2014 and to establish some control over how digital licenses are distributed going forward.

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Objective 4: Improve Organizational capacity of Ukrainian Media CSOs A look into U-Media partner CSOs’ activities in Year 3 reveals that Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, and all the subsequent events it triggered, have made one thing very clear - that the development and sustainability of any organization begins with the CSO’s commitment to its mission. The past year pushed media development CSOs to their limits; while responding to the immediate needs of the local and international media during the revolutionary events of the past year, U-Media partners also needed to act according to their mission statements and values to keep their organizations on the right track. U-Media’s work with these partners on their missions and strategies over the years through its Local Capacity Development (LCD) program positioned them well to react quickly to the Revolution while keeping their organizational feet firmly planted on the ground. It provided a unique opportunity for organizations to examine the soundness of their leadership and organizational culture, and to see how well defined their policies and procedures are in keeping the organizations on mission during turbulent times.

In autumn 2013 and early 2014, three U-Media core partners, the Media Law Institute, IPC- Simferopol, and the Institute for Mass Information, completed their first organizational self- assessment, as part of a pilot program launched by Internews in Ukraine. The U-Media SATT/OSS Self-Assessment program is a tool Internews developed in 2013 to allow NGOs to conduct their own institutional assessments without the aid of external consultants. While the other U-Media core partners completed their self-assessments before the start of EuroMaidan, these groups, to their credit, were able to complete the self-assessment process in the midst of the political turmoil.

In late summer and early autumn 2014, 11 of U-Media’s core partners and new partner Hromadske.TV, were evaluated via the U-Media SATT/OSS Organizational Assessment Program. To implement this, U-Media hired Oleksandra Baklanova, an independent consultant and a managing partner of the pro.mova consulting firm, to conduct an independent assessment of the U-Media partners’ capacity development progress. The results of this assessment can be found in the attached Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (Attachment 1). The 2014 External SATT/OSS Assessment will help the U-Media partner CSOs in upgrading their strategies and craft their 2015 Organizational Development Plans.

 Internews Ukraine (IUA) successfully passed an international audit by the PJSC Deloitte & Touche USC for the year ended 31 December 2013. Internews Ukraine cultivated a marketing/fundraising philosophy and introduced regular brainstorming meetings with key staff members, in order to examine new grant opportunities and produce new resource development ideas. IUA focused its internal and external communications primarily on information campaigns to raise funds for purchasing equipment for Ukraine’s Army, and in June-August 2014, drew up and approved the structure of the first IUA Annual Public Report (a report that U-Media recommends all LCD partners publish and distribute).

 The Independent Association of Broadcasters (IAB) had an audit conducted at the request and cost of the Swedish International Development Agency and, based on the advisers’ recommendations and in accordance with the U-Media 2014 External Page 40 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

SATT/OSS Assessment findings, IAB improved its system of reporting by adjusting both in-house and external reporting systems and structuring all project reports by outputs, outcomes, and impact (the new system will start functioning in November 2014). IAB became a partner in Internews’ Strengthening Investigative Reporting in Ukraine project, a three-year project funded by the Canadian government to produce investigative television for a national audience. The project was officially launched on March 20, 2014 and will run for three years.

 In October 2013, Telekritika conducted the first meeting of its 10 regional monitoring experts in Lviv to discuss their methodology, coordination, and monitoring standards. In March 2014, the organization added 10 additional regional experts to its team to expand its monitoring to other regions. In September 2014, TK held the second meeting of its regional monitoring experts in Kyiv to share their experience, discuss complicated monitoring cases, and address problems and new challenges for monitoring experts under the conditions of armed conflict in Ukraine. TK has successfully added a regional dimension to its new projects, including journalists from southern and eastern regions to focus its monitoring in those regions. TK will present its 2013 Annual Report to journalists, media experts, donors and partners at a TK event in late October 2014 and will then place the report on their website. In September 2014, TK conducted the first part of a Strategic Review (with SIDA financial support) to evaluate the organization’s existing values and explore new values to assist the organization in reaching its strategic goals.

 The Regional Press Development Institute (RPDI) conducted a SWOT analysis in order to adjust its strategic plan and to develop a communications plan. Consequently, RPDI is compiling a comprehensive strategic plan for the organization and is finalizing its 2013 annual report for publication. Under RPDI’s funds diversification program, the CSO has developed and submitted 25 applications, 8 of which were supported. RPDI also became a partner in Internews’ Canada-funded Strengthening Investigative Reporting in Ukraine project. In July 2014, RPDI successfully underwent an audit for 2013 conducted by the Ukrainian auditing company “Compass.”

 The Media Law Institute (MLI) held a strategic planning session in December 2013 to discuss and refine MLI’s annual Work Plan for 2014 based on the revised MLI Strategic Plan for 2014-2016. Later on, MLI held a follow-up strategic planning session to evaluate its performance in implementing the MLI Annual Plan. MLI effectively implemented its Personnel Development Plan and trained its key financial and accounting staff in budgeting, project reporting, filing service contracts, and in implementing Ukraine’s CSO taxation system requirements. With a view to launch a systematic and consistent monitoring and evaluation process, MLI created a policy document that lays down MLI`s approach to M&E for 2014-2016. MLI also completed the organization’s self-assessment according to the U-Media SATT/OSS indexes.

 The Academy of Ukrainian Press (AUP) developed its Operational Plan for 2014 and Strategic Plan for 2015. In December 2013, AUP got a second voucher for organizational

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development from the ISAR Ednannia Marketplace project, supported by U-Media. The voucher enabled AUP to hire an external consultant to help them devise a strategy to publicize the wide range of services they can provide to donors and clients. In early summer 2014, AUP conducted its SATT/OSS Self-Assessment, and produced the CSO’s Organizational Development plan.

 CSO “ISAR Ednannia” continued to support emerging and less mature media CSOs in their organizational development. ISAR Ednannia has previous experience in administrating a voucher system through the PACT/UNITER Marketplace http://www.ngomarket.org.ua/ program. During this reporting period, ISAR awarded six individual vouchers (including Academy of Ukrainian Press, Center for Political Research and Analytics, Donetsk Press Club, Agency of Data Journalism). The vouchers were used for organizational assessments, training on strategic planning and coaching on strategy development, training on fundraising, and further consultation on fundraising plan development. The total awarded amounted in Year 3 was $6,000. Political turmoil curtailed the activities of the Marketplace project during this reporting period.

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Media Research

Each year Internews works with the InMind marketing and research firm to survey Ukrainians about their media consumption habits. InMind surveyed 3,007 citizens in 10 regions of Ukraine from April to June 2014. The sample consisted of respondents in cities with populations of 50,000 or more. The research reveals that a clear majority of Ukrainians in Donetsk oblast (region) are watching both Ukrainian and Russian TV news, although trust levels in Ukrainian TV is low. Around the rest of the country, people prefer to get their news from Ukrainian TV channels. Television is still the most popular source of news for 89% of people in Ukraine, and the Internet continues to beat print media and radio in terms of popularity among news consumers: 46% of those surveyed search for news on the Internet, while 29% get their news from print media, and 29% listen to news on the radio. In an attempt to gauge the impact of the “Information War” currently being waged in the restive east, Internews asked respondents how much they consume Russian TV news. In Donetsk region, 62% of respondents said they watched Russian TV channels, and 57% trusted the Russian TV channels. Also in Donetsk, 77% of respondents said they watched Ukrainian news, but only 24% trusted what they saw on these networks. In Kharkiv and Odesa, only a minority reported watching Russian TV news, but the trust level for both Russian and Ukrainian TV news was low. The following chart presents the degrees to which all respondents, including those who do not watch TV news, trust the accuracy of news coverage on television:

Print media continues a steep decline as a source of news for Ukrainians; 29% of respondents read papers, down 11% from the 2012 survey, while radio is holding steady. The use of the Internet, for any purpose, increased from 60 to 67% since 2012, and 62% of those who use the Internet said they read news online. The most popular information websites are the news aggregators Ukr.net (31%) and Yandex (11%), followed by the social network VKontakte at 11%. Korrespondent.net tops the list of news websites (8%), while the Hromadske.TV online service, after just seven months online, was visited by 5% of survey respondents. Other results:

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 32% of respondents consumed only one of the four types of media (TV, online, print, radio), while 60% consumed several types, and 6% used all four types of media.  66% of Ukrainians watch news on national TV every day, and 15% watch news on national TV several times a week. By comparison, only 18% watched news on Russian channels every day, while 6% of respondents watch several times a week.  22% of respondents check national online media every day, and another 15% do so several times per week.  When asked about the media’s coverage of the EuroMaidan protests of 2013-2014, 27% felt that national TV networks were truthful in their reporting, while 20% said national Internet news sites covered the protests truthfully. As low as those figures are, the results for local/regional TV and Internet were even lower (13% and 11% respectively) and respondents felt Russian TV and Internet provided the most inaccurate Maidan coverage (8% and 7%). Even in the East and South, few respondents rated Russian media coverage of the EuroMaidan protests as truthful – just 24% in Donetsk and 9% in Odesa regions. The complete survey can be found on the Internews in Ukraine website at http://bit.ly/1BVwTxR.

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Communication & Coordination

Weekly Briefer

U-Media packages program/partner updates together with significant events affecting the media sector, including legislative changes, industry developments, journalists’ court cases, public events and labor actions, into a weekly email publication. In the editions for Year 3, Internews focused on the EuroMaidan protests in late 2013 – early 2014, the new government’s efforts to counteract the Russian information war, media coverage of the presidential election (May 25) and the upcoming early parliamentary elections (October 26), the adoption of the Law On Public Broadcasting and the National TV and Radio Council’s strategy to establish the Public Broadcaster by January 1, 2015, tracking violations of journalists’ rights and attacks on journalists, and journalist safety while working in the military conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. During Year 3, 49 weekly briefers were distributed to a wide audience, including USAID, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Embassy/Kyiv staff, EU delegation, and locally-based international donor and implementing organizations.

Monthly Look-Ahead

U-Media collects activity plans for the month ahead from each of its partners and distributes a consolidated monthly calendar to a wide audience, including USAID, the US State Department, the U.S. Embassy/Kyiv staff, and locally-based international donor and implementing organizations.

Website (www.umedia.kiev.ua)

From October 2013 to September 2014, 6,537 people visited the U-Media project website; March was the peak month with 814 visitors. On average, 544 monthly visitors visited 1,230 pages for an average of 2.3 pages per visitor. About 28% of visitors came to the site directly and 60% through search engines such as google.com.ua, yandex.ua, ukr.net and mail.ru; about 12% came from partners’ websites. For announcements of partner programs, research reports, and news reports, readers visited the U-Media Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/umedia.Internews/. The number of likes for the page increased from 300 to 500 in the past year. Among U-Media followers, there was a 60%/40% female/male split, with 44% between 25-34 years of age, 21% in the 18-24 age group, and 20% in the 35-40 age group.

Page 45 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

U-Media Facebook followers origin

Russia; 1,7%

USA; 1,5%

Poland; 1,1% Germany; 0,7% Ukraine; 90,0% Canada; 0,5%

Other; 4,6%

Media and Civil Society Donor Coordination

U-Media held and/or participated in the following meetings/discussions with partners and donors:

 October 7, 2013 - Internews organized a brainstorming session with partners discussing the needs of the media sector. Participants included the Media Law Institute, the Page 46 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

Independent Association of Broadcasters, Regional Press Development Institute, Institute for Mass Information, Academy of Ukrainian Press, Telekritika, Internews Ukraine and Institute for World Policy. The key issues discussed were: the Laws of Public Broadcasting and De-Statization; media NGOs’ networking and communication; dialog between media monitors and media companies; media literacy for secondary schools; decrease of regional advertising markets; digitalization; and promotion of the EU- Ukraine Association Agreement.

 November 18, 2013 – Internews participated in an international donors’ meeting organized by the EU delegation in Kyiv. Technical assistance projects related to the signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement were discussed. The donors’ agenda also included the issue of high-level journalists quitting their positions from Forbes.UA due to censorship imposed by the outlet’s new owner Sergey Kurchenko, a close associate of Viktor Yanukovych.

 January 28, 2014 – Internews coordinated a meeting of U-Media partners with US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt. Ukraine’s political crisis, public protests and the constructive role independent media can play in resolving the Maidan crisis were discussed. Participants were: Internews, Internews Ukraine (IUA), Institute for Mass Information (IMI), Media Law Institute (MLI), Independent Association of Broadcasters (IAB) and Telekritika (TK).

 January 31, 2014 – Internews conducted a meeting with partner media NGOs providing legal services to journalists – Regional Press Development Institute (RPDI), Institute for Mass Information (IMI) and Media Law Institute (MLI). The issues discussed included partners’ efforts to provide legal advice to journalists who were attacked or arrested while covering the EuroMaidan protests. These partners provided court assistance in cases the journalists filed regarding violations of their professional rights and physical attacks, and they prepared cases for submission to the European Court for Human Rights. RPDI, IMI, and MLI agreed on a preliminary plan of coordinated actions to help these journalists who continued to work in a hostile environment despite the physical and legal dangers.

 February 4, 2014 – Internews conducted a brainstorming session with partner media NGOs implementing media monitoring, public awareness campaigns, and training for journalists – Telekritika (TK), Internews Ukraine (IUA) and Institute for World Policy (IWP) – to discuss the most current and future needs for the media sector during Ukraine’s political crisis. They identified several areas for engagement: helping partners to monitor Russian media, which are distorting the real political situation, conducting regional public awareness campaigns (especially in East and South of Ukraine), having inter-regional journalist exchanges between East/South and West/Central Ukraine, promoting the active involvement of journalists from the East and South at public events on EU integration, and communication with media representatives from eastern European countries.

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 February 12, 2014 – Internews participated in a donors’ meeting organized by the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) to discuss emergency response activities within the escalating political crisis and increasing conflict between protesters and the authorities (the law enforcement bodies, in particular). The topics of legal aid and secure medical assistance using the EuroMaidan SOS doctors were among the top priorities.

 February 26, 2014 - Internews participated in a donors’ coordination meeting organized by the EU Delegation. The post-Yanukovych period in the EuroMaidan story and the presidential election on May 25 were discussed.

 February 28, 2014 - Internews participated in the USAID implementing partners’ communication and outreach meeting. USAID Field Days in 2014 were discussed.

 March 25, 2014 (weekly leading to the May 25 Elections) – U-Media COP Wayne Sharpe participated in an elections coordination meeting hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and International Development (DFATD) of the Canadian Embassy, where implementing agencies and donors discussed preparations for the May 25 presidential election.

 April 11, 2014 – U-Media participated in the USAID Implementing Partners’ meeting organized at the PACT office. The international organizations shared their programming for the presidential election campaign.

 May 13, 2014 – U-Media participated in the donors’ meeting organized by the EU Delegation to discuss the status of the Reanimation Package of Reforms.

 September 23, 2014 - U-Media hosted the USAID Implementing Partners’ meeting, and presented the findings of the Internews 2014 Ukraine Media Consumption Survey.

 September 24-25, 2014 – U-Media representatives participated in the GFMD conference in Kyiv “Agenda for Change - Developing Independent Media in the Digital Era in Eurasia”. Independent Association of Broadcasters (IAB), the U-Media partner, was a co- organizer of the event.  September 1-30, 2014 (Weekly leading up to the Parliamentary Elections 26 October) - U-Media COP Wayne Sharpe participated in an Elections Co-ordination meeting hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and International Development (DFATD) of the Canadian Embassy, where implementing agencies and donors discussed programming for the early 2014 parliamentary elections in Ukraine.

Advisory Board

Internews hosted two Advisory Board meetings (October 3, 2013 and April 23, 2014). In March 2014, Internews conducted two consultations with a smaller selection of Advisory Board members for help developing a proposal to USAID for the U-Media modification under the Elections and Political Processes (EPP) fund. Page 48 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

On October 3, 2013, the following issues were discussed:  Contextual challenges and trends in Ukraine: re-configurations of media market/change of ownership structure, new start-ups (Hromadske.TV, Hromadske Radio, etc.), "clone" media outlets and campaigns, attacks on journalists and civic activists, black PR, hacked e-mail boxes of some journalists and partners, telephone taps, etc.  What we can do to help promote and implement the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.  What we can do to provide more objective information and better educate Ukrainian citizens on important domestic issues in light of upcoming presidential elections.  Prospects for media reforms: public broadcasting, de-statization, etc.

On April 23, 2014, the agenda included:  Recommendations for the U-Media partners to ensure implementation of the newly adopted Law on Public Broadcasting.  AB ideas on public information campaign to increase the turnout of voters in the presidential election, especially in east and south.  AB thoughts on promotion of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.  AB ideas on messages to better educate Ukrainians on constitutional reform, the situation in eastern Ukraine and the reforms agenda. The recommendations Advisory Board members provided in March 2014 during the individual consultations encouraged U-Media to modify partners’ projects to include activities promoting communication between journalists in the east and south with their colleagues in western and central Ukraine, and to organize substantive issue-based trainings during inter-regional journalist exchanges. Partners were also advised to conduct public events (town hall meetings) for journalists and public activists in the east and south to have a dialogue on the crisis in Ukraine, and to monitor Russian media and support youth participation in TV and online debates between presidential candidates. The Advisory Board members: 1. Andriy Shevchenko (MP); 2. Oleh Rybachuk (Chair of the Board, Center UA); 3. Taras Petriv (Chair of the Board, Suspilnist (Society) Foundation); 4. Yevhen Fedchenko (Director of Journalism School, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy); 5. Ihor Kohut (Chair of the Board, Laboratory for Legislative Initiatives); 6. Olha Sedova (Program director of the “Promotion of European standards in the Ukrainian Media Environment” project); 7. Maksym Savanevsky (Editor-in-chief, Watcher.com.ua); 8. Victoria Marchenko (AOTR, USAID).

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Challenges

 The EuroMaidan peaceful protests, the Russian invasion of Crimea, the new government’s efforts to combat the Russian information war, the military conflict in the eastern Ukraine, and the presidential election caused immediate change in the Ukrainian media landscape. Physical safety, legal assistance, and military reporting became priorities for reporters. The U-Media partners had to make ad hoc adjustments in their projects or even suspend some activities in order to help injured journalists or apply to donors to cover medical bills for those journalists injured while covering the unrest. In addition to that, Telekritika, the Institute for Mass Information and the Regional Press Development Institute, with Emergency Response funding, conducted a series of military reporting workshops where well-known journalists like Mustafa Nayem, Natalia Humeniuk, and Anastasia Stanko shared their ATO zone reporting experiences and made recommendations about the importance of maintaining journalist standards while covering the events in the east.

 Media monitoring organizations Telekritika, the Institute for Mass Information, Center for Ukrainian Reform Education, and the Academy of Ukrainian Press had to re-think their monitoring tools several times during Year 3 because slanderous news segments and media manipulation increased dramatically when the EuroMaidan protests began, the Russian information war geared up, and politically biased media content spiked during the May 2014 presidential election campaign. There was an urgent need to widely distribute media monitoring results to the public in a timely manner. Following U- Media’s recommendations, Telekritika conducted roundtables to introduce monitoring results in the regions and to involve local TV companies and media consumers in discussions of their monitoring results. The Pylyp Orlyk Institute for Democracy included their regional print and internet media monitoring results in the agenda of their regional roundtables on urgent issues for Ukrainians.

 When wide-ranging reforms, especially those developed for the Reanimation Package of Reforms, were introduced under the interim government, U-Media urged its partners to adjust their priorities for 2014 to enhance the quality of content production on reform topics. Monitoring and training organizations, such as Internews Ukraine, Telekritika, Institute for Mass Information, and Pylyp Orlyk Institute for Democracy, quickly adjusted their work plans to include an array of substantive trainings and discussions on the essence of political, economic, and media reforms, as well as the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

 Internews addressed the need for increased cyber security after the e-mail account of the Institute for Mass Information was hacked and private emails were published online. In late January 2014, U-Media brought two experienced trainers from Internews’ Open Internet program in Washington to conduct a two-day training for core partner media NGOs on how to protect their e-mail accounts and how to use software to protect their online communications from computer hackers. The trainers discovered that the majority Page 50 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

of Internews partners use pirated software, which makes it difficult to run many of the digital security tools that can help protect email and website accounts. This led to the development of a software donations program (detailed on Page 55).

 After Russia invaded Crimea in February 2014, U-Media partners IPC-Simferopol, IPC- Sevastopol, “Kafa” (Feodosia) and “Briz” (Kerch) experienced several problems. They were unable to receive funds transfers to their Crimean bank accounts because their Ukrainian bank was forced to cease operations there. Several journalists became the targets of physical attacks. On March 1, 2014, IPC-Simferopol staff was trapped inside their offices by an armed group that called themselves a “self-defense” force, who used the Center’s equipment to conduct their own press conference. Five IPC staff members remained trapped for about five hours and were finally released thanks to the efforts of an Internews security team on the ground and a group of international journalists. In mid- March, IPC-Sevastopol director Tetyana Rikhtun was evacuated to Kyiv after her offices were attacked and she was threatened (her camera was confiscated while attempting to film the pro-Russian forces in Sevastopol). U-Media security evacuated her to Kyiv. In early September 2014, IPC Chair Valentyna Samar moved to Kyiv because of continuing threats from the Russian Federal Security Service in Simferopol. Ms. Samar re-registered the IPC in Kyiv and is in the process of re-developing the CSO under the new circumstances.

 Continuing the Local Capacity Development program (Objective 4 of U-Media designed to meet the requirements of the USAID Local Solutions and USAID Forward initiatives) became more challenging for most of the U-Media partners during Ukraine’s conflict period and during two electoral campaigns. Because of the rapid changes they needed to make to their projects, partners such as the Institute for Mass Information (IMI) and the Academy of Ukrainian Press (AUP) had to re-schedule their self-assessment sessions from the fall of 2013 to late winter and spring 2014. All partners scaled down their institutional development activities during the crisis period; however, new challenges in Ukraine encouraged media organizations to re-think their roles in the sector and strengthen their internal capacities. U-Media’s external assessment of the NGOs’ institutional capacity, conducted from August to September 2014, revealed that most of the partners were willing to further improve their internal capacities, in particular to include staff professional growth efforts in their institutional development programming.

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Other Activities

Volyn Press Club’s Gender Alphabet for Journalists Internews encouraged media CSOs to address the issues of gender equity in the media workplace and the coverage of gender issues in the media. One group, the Volyn Press Club, conducted research and trainings devoted to these subjects from January 1 to December 31, 2013. Through trainings, surveying, and “Earlier, I faced gender discrimination during focus groups, VPC provided a look employment interviews; but I did not pay into the presence of women in Volyn’s attention and ignored that fact. After VPC media, both in media coverage and as training I understood that I should fight for my working journalists. The result of this right.” research is the Gender Media Map of - Oksana Vraschuk, journalist, Volyn region Portal Volynska Pravda (http://volynpressclub.org.ua/attachme nts/article/225/map_volyn.jpg); it presents an analysis of 39 local media distributors (28 print media, 6 online media, and 5 radio and television stations). The map demonstrates the imbalance between women and men working in Volyn media; women are the majority of reporters (62% in print, 68% in broadcasting, and 76% in Internet media), and the presence of female editors and media managers in internet media is quite high (67%), and in TV (64%), and at small rayon newspapers (59%). The only male dominated media are oblast newspapers, where 89% of editors were male. In focus groups, male reporters indicated the reasons why women hold the majority of media jobs, those reasons being low salaries and too much routine. VPC gender sensitivity training for journalists resulted in more publications using the word “gender” and discussing gender issues in society “VPC training on gender issues was a revelation (http://www.simya.com.ua/articles/14/4 for me: I realized how “hardcore” myths about 8261/). In addition, the popular Volyn roles of women and men in society slow the pace newspaper Volyn Nova excluded the of development of personality and the state.” word “gender” from the name of its -Tetiana Zubryk, column “Gender Joke,” and greatly Freelance journalist reduced the amount of sexist content as a result of the VPC training. VPC worked with gender specialists to produce a journalist’s guide to gender issues called the Gender ABC for Ukrainian Media. It explores “the basic notions about gender, which will help journalists of both sexes of all kinds of mass media avoid stereotyped and sexist stock phrases and clichés when preparing informational materials, articles, or programs.” This manual was widely distributed throughout Ukraine, and is available as Attachment 3 (in English).

Investigative Reporting Web-TV Project Strengthening Investigative Reporting in Ukraine

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Strengthening Investigative Reporting in Ukraine (SIRU) is a three-year project designed to support the country’s media sector so it can play its proper role in sustaining Ukraine's process of democratization. The initiative aims to improve the capacity of Ukrainian investigative journalists to produce a nationally broadcast television program examining key issues of public importance – good governance, economic development, environmental protection, and social justice. Internews is working with the leading investigative reporting agencies throughout Ukraine to produce a 45-minute television program (bi-monthly initially and transitioning to weekly by October 2014) that builds the capacity of journalists to produce television reports through skills training provided by the Investigative Reporting unit of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The project will also provide training in physical security to help keep journalists safe when they are in the field and legal training to educate the journalists on how to produce accurate stories that will protect them from lawsuits. Through organizational development training, the project will build the capacity of all partner groups to become successful and sustainable NGOs in the media field. The lead partner and producer of the television program is Hromadske.TV, an online news and current affairs TV service operated by some of Ukraine’s most respected journalists. Hromadske.TV became a leader in Ukraine’s media world when it provided live coverage of the EuroMaidan protests when national TV channels shied away, allowing it to quickly attract an audience of two million viewers a day. It continues to attract large internet CBC Investigative Reporting for Television workshops viewership with its coverage of the Russian Kyiv, April 21-25. Credit: Internews invasion and annexation of Crimea, the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine, and the challenges faced by the administration of the country’s newly elected president, Petro Poroshenko. During the first two quarters of the project, Internews worked with partners Hromadkse.TV, the Regional Press Development Institute, the Information and Press Center-Simferopol, the Rivne Agency for Investigative Reporting, the Mykolaiv Center for Investigative Reporting, and the Independent Association of Broadcasters to create the Slidtsvo.info (Investigation. Info) TV program, which investigates a wide range of issues of vital importance to Ukrainians at a critical time in the country’s democratic development. The project was launched with a skills training Page 53 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014 workshop provided by two senior journalists from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in April 2014.

Thus far, this investigative reporting program has been instrumental in bringing to light several wrongdoings that led to the replacement of Maksym Goldfarb, head of the Internal Audit Department of the Ministry of Defense, and to the launch of a criminal investigation of the Deputy Head of the Anti-Terrorism Operation, General-Mayor Vyacheslav Nazarkin.

The “Open Budget” Initiative

The “Open Budget” initiative, implemented by Internews and the United Nations Development Program in Ukraine, was launched in February 2014. The six-month pilot was supported by the Internews Center for Innovation and Learning. The project aimed to equip three municipalities (Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhytomyr, and Ternopil) to open up public budget data using online visualization tools, and to train journalists and bloggers from these target municipalities to write about their city budgets using data journalism techniques. It is envisioned that these journalists will produce qualitative stories on local budget issues to increase public awareness of how their tax dollars are being spent by local authorities. The three test municipalities hosted workshops bringing together civic activists, journalists, bloggers, and representatives of municipality departments entrusted with fiscal data. During the training sessions, a Ukrainian expert on budget law discussed local budgeting structure and transfer policies, and participants learned about budget cycles and at what stages civil society can influence the budget process. Experienced trainers on data visualization talked about data structure and the principles of infographic production. Armed with knowledge and motivation, the participants then split into groups to prototype digital solutions.

In May 2014, Internews brought 15 journalists to Kyiv for a two-day training on budget issues and visualization skills. In June, UNDP announced a competition for developing the open budget visualization software tool. Since then, a team of IT developers have been working hard on the project, with participating municipalities’ prototyping tools that will visualize budgets and engage citizens. The open source tool will include the following modules: a visualization of city budget revenues and expenditures (categories and sub-categories); a searchable archive of budget transactions; and an interactive budget calendar (with individual notifications so that citizens can become more involved in the process and track it in real time). The tool is intended to be free of charge, and every municipality in Ukraine will have a chance to use it.

The Yanukovych.Leaks project

Internews supported the journalists operating the Yanukovych.Leaks.org website, where investigative reporters were piecing together documents found at the Yanukovych residence at Mezhihirya. The project was managed by a group of journalists, including journalists from Hromadske.TV, Slidstvo.info, the , and U-Media’s media advisor Oleg Khomenok.

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Another U-Media partner, the Regional Press Development Institute, provided legal screening for stories based on that documentation and helped the journalists file requests with prosecutors to launch investigations based on their findings.

Tech Soup-Internews Software Donations Program

In response to high demand from Internews partners and small-scale internet media to protect their email accounts and websites from cyber attacks, Internews teamed with the NGO Tech Soup to provide free Microsoft software to 30 NGOs and media distributors. Tech Soup connects nonprofits, charities, and public libraries with free tech products and services, and licensed operating system software. Internews supplemented the Tech Soup offering with a train- the-trainer program; five Ukrainians are now trained to help local organizations to install cyber security tools, once the free Microsoft software has been downloaded.

In August the trainers provided media outlets in eastern and southern Ukraine with 2-day trainings on digital security, secure communications, and information management policies. In the first stage of this Internews-TechSoup project, Internews will distribute 100 free sets of Microsoft Windows 8 and Office Pro software (the retail value is $115,000). Each partner will receive 3-5 licensed copies of each product. A second phase will identify more Internews subgrantees in need of new software.

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Attachment 1: List of Sub-Grants LIST OF SUB-GRANTS Sub-grantee Contact Project Title Duration Award Brief Description name information 1 Academy of Oksana Media Literacy and January1 – $60,005.3 AUP focuses on two key types of activities: 1) Ukrainian Volosheniuk, AUP Content Analyses September 30, content analysis of TV news on eight national TV Press Executive director, 2014 channels; 2) raising professional level of media +38-067-504-9802; literacy teachers at secondary schools and [email protected] universities. EPP Funding March 1 – $27,004.75 AUP conducted safety training for up to 100 September 30, Ukrainian journalists from different regions of 2014 Ukraine. 2 Lviv Press Shostak Olga, Access to Public February 1, 2012 – $68,470.00 LPC monitors public access to decisions/decrees of Club (LPC) [email protected], Information July 31, 2014 local government, and reactions of local authorities +38-050-513-5993 to requests for information. EPP Funding May 1 – September $19,930.00 LPC organizes weekly 1-hour Online Bridges 30, 2014 connecting journalists and opinion leaders from Lviv with their colleagues in Donetsk, Luhansk, Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk. 3 Internews Natalia Pedchenko, Institutional Partner Sub- December 1, 2013 $139,612.02 Program activities under U-Media Objectives 1, 2 Ukraine (IUA) +38-067-243-6352; grant to Internews – September 30, and 3, as well as organizational capacity building npedchenko@intern Ukraine 2014 under Objective 4. Target audiences include: ews.ua journalists; NGO activists; students of journalism; bloggers; representatives of U-Media partner organizations. Potential beneficiaries include these target audiences, as well as media consumers/citizens of Ukraine indirectly benefitting from higher quality media content and diversified information sources: TV, radio, Internet, print and social media EPP Funding March 1 – $122,226.5 Activities related to the presidential election, September 30, promotion of the EU integration and Ukrainian 2014 values, cross-regional media exchanges and cultivating critical thinking among journalists and

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media consumers. State Department May 1 – September $55,710.00 IUA organized four inter-regional journalist Funding 30, 2014 exchanges (East/South to West and vice versa) and implement the small grants program for content production in East and South of Ukraine 4 Telekritika Victor Galkin: +38- Institutional Partner Sub- December 1, 2013 - $141,199.99 Telekritika does regular monitoring of national and (TK) 050-382-9107; Grant to Telekritika September 30, regional TV channels and distribution of reports [email protected] 2014 about the quality of TV reporting. Telekritika will m continue developing its media literacy online resource – MediaSapiens State Department May 1 – September $45,200.00 TK reports on quality of regional TV news and Funding 30, 2014 raises journalists’ awareness in East and South of Ukraine’s political processes, electoral campaign and professional ethics. 5 Regional Press Kateryna Laba, +38- Investigative Journalism, January 1 – $120,000.00 RPDI increases media sector legal knowledge and Development 050-351-4179; New Media, and Legal September 30, facilitates the access to legal advice, use of new Institute [email protected] Support for Journalists 2014 media technologies and increases quality of (RPDI) investigative reporting. EPP Funds March 1 – $110,224.07 Legal support of journalists in court cases on September 30, violations of their professional rights while 2014 covering Ukraine’s political crisis and Euro- maidan; pre-publication expertise of media products; training and consulting for journalists on challenging legal issues within the election campaign. 6 Independent Oksana Vynnychuk, Legal Bureau: protection May 1, 2014 – $38,582.83 IMTUU provides legal and psychological Media Trade +38-050-356-5758, of journalists’ rights in a September 30, assistance to journalists in a post-maidan period. Union of sekretar@profspilka. post-maidan period 2014 Ukraine org.ua (IMTUU) 7 Institute of Oksana Romanyuk, Sub-grant to IMI for print December 1, 2013 $61,212.36 IMI monitors national print and internet outlets, Mass +38-050-446-3912; and internet media – September 30, monitors violations of journalists’ rights and Information [email protected] monitoring, protection of 2014 informs media community and general public (IMI) journalists’ rights and about the media monitoring results.

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institutional development EPP Funds March 1 – $48,390.25 IMI monitors violations of regional journalists’ September 30, rights during the election campaign, provide 2014 journalists with legal and psychological support, mobilizes the journalist community to provide citizens with timely and objective news about the current political crisis. 8 Suspilnest TV Kateryna Maltseva, “Persha Shpalta” (Front September 1 – $36,524.00 U-Media supports a pilot program of the First Foundation +38-067-448-3737; Page) Program November 30, 2014 National TV channel “Persha Shpalta” (Front (STV) e.maltseva7@gmail. Production at First Page) for production of 8 programs during two com National months 9 Independent Kateryna Institutional Partner Sub- October 1, 2013 – $67,415.15 IAB implements its 2012-2016 strategy aimed at Association of Myasnikova, +38- grant to IAB September 30, promoting civilized market of audio and video Broadcasters 067-405-1109; 2014 content producers, including professional (IAB) [email protected] assistance to its members, and creation of m.ua conditions for citizens to have access to unbiased information. 10 Mykolayiv Oleg Oganov, Establishing Information May 1 – September $8,100.00 CIR provides the South of Ukraine (Mykolayiv, Center for +38-096-408-0567, Web Portal for the South 30, 2014 Kherson and Odesa) with unbiased and timely Investigative oganov.oleg@gmail. of Ukraine – Odesa, information about local political and economic Reporting com Kherson and Mykolaiv processes within the Parliamentary Elections. (CIR) (EPP Funds) 11 Suspilnist Taras Petriv, 067- Online Campus for March 1 – $49,865.00 SF conducted online debates between students and (Society) 505-6960, Voters. Campus 3.0 (EPP September 30, youth activists in the regions of Ukraine and the Foundation [email protected] Funds) 2014 candidates for the Presidential post, as well as (SF) om organized a summer media literacy university for youth combining the online platform and visiting sessions to East and South of Ukraine. 12 Media Law Ihor Rozkladay, Improving media October 1, 2013 – $60,005.3 MLI monitors media legislation initiatives and Institute igor.rozkladay@gm legislation and increasing September 30, distributes monitoring results; media law (MLI) ail.com; +38-097- journalists’ legal 2014 awareness activities; legal consultations to 228-1161 awareness journalists; advocacy efforts to promote positive changes in media. 13 Center for Svitlana Monitoring of regional October 1, 2013 – $57,698.75 CURE monitored 6 regional print and 2 internet

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Ukrainian Yeremenko, 050- print and Internet media September 30, media outlets in each of five selected regions of Reform 470-1159, for professional standards 2014 Ukraine – Donetsk, Lviv, Sumy, Vinnytsia and Education svitlana.yeremenko of journalism and jeansa Kharkiv. (CURE) @gmail.com 14 Association of Vera Soboleva, Media monitoring in January 1 – $12,000.00 AFJ observed professional standards and ethics and Free +38099-711-2512; Crimea and contribution September 30, raised media literacy in Crimea. Journalists [email protected] to “Focus” TV program 2014 15 Information Valentyna Samar, Institutional grant to IPC December 1, 2013 $90,000.17 IPC’s priorities included training on journalism Press Center [email protected] – September 30, standards, content production, investigative (IPC) t, +380 50-591-68- 2014 reporting, and Crimea-focused TV programming. 42 EPP Funds March 1 – $92,668.00 TV production (“Focus” and “Issues of national September 30, security”, stream TV reporting, and on-going 2014 support to Crimean and international reporters (through media centers in Yalta, Yevpatoria, Jankoy and Feodosia) during the Russian military attacks. 16 Information Tatiana Rikhtun, Covering events in March 1 – $20,000.00 Coverage of the events in Crimea, journalistic Press Center [email protected]; Crimea (EPP Funds) September 30, investigations. Sevastopol +38-050-217-5250 2014

17 Ukrainian Olexandr Supporting Print Media October 1, 2013 – $7,392.71 UAPP project contributed to improvement of Association of Diachenko, Development and September 30, media environment by monitoring of legislative Press [email protected] organizing the annual 2014 initiatives for print and internet media and Publishers +38-097-481-7778 professional contest for distributing results to target audiences: print (UAPP) journalists publishers, journalists, public officials and interested media consumers. 18 Volyn Press Bohdana Stelmakh Gender Alphabet for January 1 - $17,681.3 VPC conducted local research of gender related Club +38-066-203-50- Media in Volyn’ region December 31, issues in media content and increase of gender 31,[email protected] 2013 sensitiveness of local Volyn’ journalists in a different types of media. 19 Donetsk Kateryna Multimedia content January 1 - $14,032.00 DCVU improved information environment in Committee of Zhemchuzhnykova,k production for Donetsk December 31, Donetsk and developed civic journalism by Voters of ateryna.zhemchuzhn media 2013 producing video content and placing it on the well- Page 59 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

Ukraine [email protected], known portal http://www.ngo.donetsk.ua/ +38-066-270-1713 20 Media-Project Tetiana Safonova, Pravda.in.ua: Increasing January 1, 2013 – $12,395.00 Pravda.in researched what topics of public interest Ltd +38-067-612-403- of the investigative February 28, to consider for journalist investigations, e.g. state 6061; reporting (IR) influence 2014 and local budget expenditures, land and municipal [email protected] in Zaporizhzhya region property use and disposal, law-enforcement om agencies activities and health-care system. 21 ISAR Volodymyr Improving Organizational January 1, 2013 – $32,730.00 ISAR provided grants to support emerging and less Ednannia Sheyhus, +38-044- Capacity of Ukrainian September 30, mature media NGOs in the organizational 201-0160, Media SCOs 2014 development area. [email protected] a 22 Media Centre Julia Nalivayko, IPC-Feodosia: from January 1 - $17,000.22 IPCF produced content (including TV programs) IPC-Feodosia [email protected], communication platform - December 31, and transformed its existing site into a multimedia +38-095-881-7126 to multimedia web-portal 2013 web-portal. 23 “Hromadske Solomiya Institutional development March 1 – $19,350.00 The grant to support organizational sustainability Telebachennia Broshosh,+38- for Hromadske.tv (EPP September 30, in production of unbiased and balanced TV content ” 096-971-7579, Funds) 2014 on urgent issues in Ukraine. (Hromadske.T solomiya.borshosh V) @gmail.com 24 Institute for Olena Get’manchuk, Wider integration: you May 1 - $27,772.00 IWP conducted media events/public World Policy [email protected] shape the future November 30, discussions on the topics of the political reform (IWP) rg.ua, +38-044-253- 2014 and the EU integration during and right after 2853 the Presidential Election campaign.

25 Media Vlad Lavrov; +38- Organizing a journalist June 1 - 30, 2014 $8,880.00 MDF organized a journalist conference on Development 098-496-0937; conference on the issues June 6-8, 2014 at Mezhyhirya residence to Foundation lvladyslav@hotmail. of freedom of speech, discuss the topics related to freedom of speech, (under Kyiv com censorship and censorship and surveillance, as well as share Post) surveillance knowledge and skills of national and regional journalists on these important issues.

Page 60 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

Attachment 2: Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (see separate file)

Attachment 3: Volyn Press Club’s Gender Alphabet for Ukrainian Media

(see separate file)

Page 61 Ukraine Media Project USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-121-A-11-00002 Annual Report October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014