Press watch

The international press watch community is up in arms as freedom of the media deteriorates in the Ukraine. Experts say that under the newly-elected President Viktor Yanukovych the situation has become critical.

Important media owners have been given key political positions. Censorship and the harassment of journalists has become rampant.

In July, a Kiev court cancelled the allocation of broadcasting frequencies to two privately-run TV channels – Tvi and 5 Kanal (Channel 5). The case is being challenged by the two stations.

Many suspect that Valery Khoroshkovsky might have influenced the court’s decision. Owner of Inter Media Group, one of the countries three largest private media groups, Khoroshkovsky is also the head of the SBU (Secret Service of Ukraine) and a member of the Ukrainian Supreme Court.

A hearing over the case’s appeals was meant to be held on August 16, but was postponed until the end of the month.

Then on August 11, Vasyl Klymentyev, a prominent editor and journalist of the Ukrainian independent newspaper, Novyy Styl, went missing. He has yet to be found and many are assuming the worst. When his mobile phone was found on an empty boat several days later, activists started crying foul play. On August 26 the Ukrainian Interior Minister, Anatoly Mogiliov, said that the government suspects, “that law enforcement officials, both former and current, might be involved in the case.”    

Several prominent media watch organisations have acted sending open letters urging the President to improve the conditions facing journalists in the country. They have called upon him to ensure that the hearing on TV licenses be transparent and fair, and to guarantee the same of the investigation into the disappearance of the journalist.

Vita Europe spoke to media watch activists Alison Mckenzie and Oleksii Khmara to learn more about the situation in the Ukraine and to understand the role of civil society in safeguarding an independent press.

Ukrainian perspective – TORO Creative Union is based in Kirovograd, Ukraine, and is the Ukrainian national contact for Transparency International. Oleksii Khmara is Toro’s president. While he remains skeptical of the Ukrainian president’s repeated promise to act as a friend to independent media, he does believes that grassroots movements like Stop Censorship prove that Ukrainians are ready to fight for their rights. Read more…

International perspective  – “ This situation really struck us because it is right in our backyard,” says Alison Mckenzie, Interim Director of the International Press Institute(IPI), located in Vienna, Austria. She was encouraged by the Ukrainian president’s willingness to engage in a dialogue about media freedom and believes that the international community can play an important role in supporting local press in emerging countries like the Ukraine. Read more…