On the 5th of February, several Ukraine TV channels, radio companies, printed press outlets and web-based editions and media NGOs claimed to launch a media initiative aimed to ensure for Ukraine citizens the possibility to elect the head of state and the parliament on the ground of complete and trustful information.
Memorandum of this media initiative:
We, representatives of the media community,
by taking account that the future of Ukraine depends on fair and impartial work of the mass media during the election campaign,
by defending the right of Ukraine citizens to get a complete, well-balanced, reliable and truthful information that has to serve to make the conscious choice while voting,
with a particular focus on bribery, pressure, intimidation, disguised propaganda and smear campaigns which are a danger for Ukraine in the time of election campaigns,
by recognizing that the basic standards of the news journalism are immediacy, exactitude, truthfulness and completeness of provided information and balance of opinions in the story, including the floor given to the criticized party and separation of facts and thoughts,
by reminding that the mass media have not to be used as a tool to have a disguised, opaque effect onto the public opinion,
we sign this memorandum which is to initiate the Movement “Media for a conscious choice” (hereafter Media-movement) and we are engaged :
- to be impartial towards every candidate whatever the informational genre is it (news, summarizing analytical programs, talk shows, round tables, journalistic investigations, interviews and so on);
- to cover the standpoints, discussions or conflicts involving the candidates and subjects of electoral processes in a well-balanced way;
- while defining the candidates/parties to be invited to take part in debates or to take part in a cycle of discussion programs onto electoral themes, to take into account the average polling numbers issued by the sociological institutions of strong reputation;
- to give the right to reply or to refute some information which is considered as untruthful to all candidates and subjects of electoral process;
- to refuse to be involved in smear campaigns, that’s to say to publish the stories with gross violation to journalistic standards, in particular the stories with deliberately untruthful information aiming to discredit the persons involved in the electoral process;
- to present the facts by citing the precise sources of information, and present the opinions without taking it out of context and by citing its authors;
- not to make public any untruthful information, to do our best and to verify the facts the candidates spoke on and to present the results of such verification as soon as possible;
- to disclaim the untruthful information, to recognized in public and to rectify one’s own mistakes.
We, representatives of the mass media, who signed the this memorandum, commit ourselves to prepare the high quality materials regarding the representatives of different political forces and candidates.
We, media non-government organizations, who signed this memorandum commit ourselves to hold liable surveys as to the coverage by Ukraine mass media of the electoral process, to prepare impartial analysis of the content and to publish its results, to provide the mass media and the journalists with advice on several controversial issues.
In 2019, the signatories of the memorandum (NGOs and mass media) are going to work out the methodology which is to allow to identify in a certain way the mass media outlets which deserve credit of the audience consuming the information they diffuse.
All together, we commit ourselves to defend the other signatories of this memorandum from pressure and persecution from authorities, various political forces, financial and political groups, criminal structures and others.
In the future, the signatories of the memorandum do not exclude a possibility to form a respective journalistic movement on its ground.
With the purpose to join the Media Movement or to support it, please contact our coordinator Vadym Misky :
[email protected].
At an early date, the signatories are going to work out the Provisions of membership and will publish it.
The initiators of the media movement are: Independent media council, Hromadske radio, NGO Detektor Media, NGO Institute of Mass Information, internationally based NGO Internews-Ukraine, Center for democracy and rule of law, Souspilnist Foundation, Independent association of TV and radio broadcasters, NGO Donetsk Institute of Information, NGO Institute of democracy named of Pylyp Orlyk.
The signatories of media movement:
1. UA: Pershy
2. Ukraynske Radio
3. Hromadske radio
4. News agency Ukrinform
5. News agency Interfax-Ukraine
6. News agency Liga.net
7. Dzerkalo tyzhdnya. Ukraine
8. Novoe Vrema
9. Censor.net
10. TV 5th
11. Ukrayinsky Tyzhden
12. News agency Opinion, Оdessa
13. News agency Vchasno, Pokrovsk
14. Newspaper “Telegazeta Starobilsk”
15. Newspaper “Prapor”, Khroshiv
16. Web-site “0629”, Mariupol
17. Ukrainian NG “Independent association of TV and radio broadcasters”
18. NGO “Institute of democracy named of Pylyp Orlyk”
19. Independent media council (IMC)
20. NGO “Detektor Media”
21. NGO “Center for democracy and rule of law”
22. Internationally based NGO “Internews-Ukraine”
23. NGO Souspilinist Foundation
24. NGO Institute of Mass Information
25. NGO Donetsk institute of information”
26. NGO Institute of development of regional press
27. Ukrainian foundation of safety studies
28. NGO Donetsk Press Club
29. NGO Academy of Ukraine Press
30. Association of professional journalists and advertisers of the region of Zhytomyr
31. NGO Nashi Groshi, Lviv
32. Ukraine NGO Journalistic investigations agency
33. NGO Center of media investigations Prozoro
34. Mykolaiv center of journalistic investigations CIR
35. Ukraine crisis media center (UCMC)
36. Information campaign On the other side of news
37. Artuhina Larysa
38. Bratushchak Oleksiy
39. Ganzha Lesya
40. Geldiev Hayhysyz
41. Denysenko Larysa
42. Dovzhenko Otar
43. Zakusylo Maryana
44. Zemlana Iryna
45. Kazanzy Zoya
46. Kosmyna Yurko
47. Krasovska Zoya
48. Kulyas Ihor
49. Lazareva Alla
50. Lyhachova Natalya
51. Lukanov Yuriy
52. Makarov Yuriy
53. Mykhelson Oleksander
54. Misky Vadym
55. Mostova Yulia
56. Murlykina Anna
57. Ostapa Svitlana
58. Petrenko Galyna
59. Rakhmanin Serhiy
60. Ropmanyuk Oksana
61. Sklarevska Gala
62. Ferenc Lyubomyr
63. Shestakova Yulia
The Media Movement is supported by :
1. Commission on journalistic ethics
2. NGO Humaniraian movement
3. NGO Woman’s anticorruption movement
4. NGO Association Unitek
5. Kharkiv anti-corruption center
6. Odessa Ukrainian NGO Committee of electors of Ukraine
7. NGO Media-club of public dialogue Europrostir
8. NGO Center of local self-government / NGO StateWatch
