INTERNEWS The Media Program in Ukraine YEAR TWO IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Oct. 1, 2019 – Sept. 30, 2020 USAID Cooperative Agreement No. 72012118CA00001 GILLIAN MCCORMACK CHIEF OF PARTY SUBMITTED: SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 1 Table of Contents Acronyms ................................................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... 4 Summary of Media Program in Ukraine activities by USAID Democracy Objectives ......... 4 MPU PARTNER APPROACH, ROLES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES .................................. 10 YEAR 2 ACTIVITIES AND TARGETS ................................................................................ 13 OBJECTIVE 1: Increase high-quality, engaging content throughout Ukraine, particularly in the East and South .................................................................................................................... 13 1.1. Support for UA:PBC and local affiliates ............................................................... 15 1.2. Increasing and improving content production on reforms ......................................... 17 1.3. Improving elections coverage .................................................................................... 20 1.4. Supporting investigative journalism .......................................................................... 22 1.5. Strengthening professional development and cross-regional linkages ...................... 24 1.6. Emphasizing interventions in the East and South ..................................................... 30 OBJECTIVE 2: Increase public demand for quality information ........................................... 34 2.1. Streamlining media literacy efforts ........................................................................... 35 2.2. Expanding media monitoring efforts ......................................................................... 41 OBJECTIVE 3. Implement critical media reforms.................................................................. 44 3.1. Supporting application of key media reforms ........................................................... 46 3.2. Providing legal assistance .......................................................................................... 52 3.3. Supporting advocacy and oversight ........................................................................... 56 OBJECTIVE 4: Strengthen and sustain key media institutions and processes ....................... 57 4.1. Supporting pivotal governance mechanisms ............................................................. 59 4.2. Strengthening and expanding partnerships and coalitions ........................................ 62 4.3. Laying the foundation for sustained local media actors’ engagement in democratic processes ........................................................................................................................... 65 Gender ...................................................................................................................................... 67 Inclusive Development ............................................................................................................ 68 Sustainability............................................................................................................................ 69 2 Acronyms AUP NGO Academy of Ukrainian Press (www.aup.com.ua) CSO Civil Society Organization DG Democracy and Governance DII Donetsk Institute for Information DM Detector Media (http://detector.media/) 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/) IPC NGO Information and Press Center (http://investigator.org.ua/) IPI Institute of Political Information (https://informer.od.ua/) IR Investigative Reporting IUA NGO Internews Ukraine (http://www.internews.ua) KPC Kharkiv Press Club LS Local Solutions CEDEM Center for Democracy and Rule of Law (former Media Law Institute (MLI)), http://cedem.org.ua/ MSI Media Sustainability Index OD Organizational Development ENGAGE Enhance Non-Governmental Actors and Grassroots Engagement MELP Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan MPU Media Program in Ukraine POID Pylyp Orlyk Institute for Democracy (http://idpo.org.ua/) UA:PBC The National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine(https://suspilne.media/) RIJN Regional Investigative Journalism Network program RPDI NGO Regional Press Development Institute (http://www.irrp.org.ua/) RPR Reanimation Package of Reforms (http://rpr.org.ua/) SF Suspilnist Foundation (http://souspilnist.org/en/) TPC Ternopil Press Club USAID US Agency for International Development WM Weekly Mirror 3 Executive Summary Internews launched The Media Program in Ukraine (MPU) on October 1, 2018. Implementation will run through September 30, 2023. Working in close collaboration with local media organizations and international resource partners, this five-year program will strengthen the accountability and capacity of the Ukrainian media sector to provide citizens with relevant and engaging information, expand media literacy, help key institutions implement reforms, and build media industry standards and sustainability. The program will strengthen Ukraine’s democratic development, bolster its ability to counter Russia-linked disinformation, and foster European integration. While nationwide in scope, MPU will prioritize areas where independent media are under greatest strain and where local news is most vulnerable to malign, Kremlin-driven narratives. Objective 1: Increase high- quality engaging content • DO1 Corruption Reduced in Target Sectors throughout Ukraine, • DO2 Impacts of Russian Aggression particularly in the East and Mitigated South • DO2 Impacts of Russian Aggression Objective 2: Increase public Mitigated demand for quality information • DO3 Democratic Governance Strengthened Objective 3: Implement critical • DO3 Democratic Governance Strengthened media reforms Objective 4: Strengthen and sustain key media institutions • DO3 Democratic Governance Strengthened and processes Summary of Media Program in Ukraine activities by USAID Democracy Objectives Democracy Objective 1: Corruption Reduced in Target Sector Intermediate Result 1.1 Strengthened anti-corruption systems and practices and Intermediate Result 1.2 Economic impact of corruption reduced in key sectors • The media play a vital role in keeping government and people in power accountable through investigative reporting. Internews will support UA:PBC’s new investigative reporting team through documentaries that will draw on talent from UA:PBC’s regional affiliates, the Information and Press Center will focus on joint investigations with journalists in Ukraine’s South, the Regional Press Development Institute will organize its major annual conference for investigative reporters and provide new training events and support for reporters around the country, and 4 Slidstvo.info (the Ukrainian partner of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) will organize 12 events to facilitate citizen engagement around the issues they uncover and draw responsible officials into constructive conversations about how to achieve progress in combatting corruption. Investigative reporting makes a civic contribution to strengthening anti-corruption systems and practices, as well as reduces the economic impact of corruption in key sectors. Intermediate Result 1.3 Increased health systems transparency • Internews will launch a competition for engaging content around health in December 2019. We are working with UNICEF to find ways of joining forces around the issues of improving transparency and trust in the health system through health journalism training, content that informs target groups about the benefits of vaccination, and data journalism actions that could help the Ministry of Health verify information about the number of vaccines needed in each region, as well as investigative journalism that could address, for example, the corrupt practice of the sale of false vaccination certificates for children (so that they can get around the ban on unvaccinated children attending public schools). A number of Ukrainian media partners, for example LIGA and Toronto TV, are interested in producing content about the health system. Democracy Objective 2: Impacts of Russian Aggression Mitigated Intermediate Result 2.3 Increased availability and consumption of quality information • Ukraine’s biggest challenge in combatting disinformation is a corrupt national media sphere dominated by oligarchs with political interests, with one exception, the national public service broadcaster UA:PBC. Internews will provide a raft of support to UA:PBC and its local affiliates designed to strengthen its brand recognition amongst the public, taking advantage of the success of the USAID-funded Countdown political talk show which garnered an audience of 26.5m Ukrainians in 2019. Praised by media watchdogs and election observers as the most balanced talk show on TV, UA:PBC is building its reputation for high-quality news and informative programming. In Y2 UA:PBC will continue to produce the Countdown as a weekly political talk show, and add new content in the form of a “hard talk”-style interview show and an online drama series aimed at teens, tackling themes of media literacy and disinformation. A major