Only 13% of political news in regional online media – IMI’s survey

13% of news in the regional online media deal with political topics. 12% of political news contain the signs of being paid-for. These are the findings of the monitoring of online media in 10 regions of Ukraine that the Institute of Mass Information conducted during the period of June 10-14, 2019. The largest part of political news has been observed in Chernivtsi : 21.5% of total number of news. The least part was published in Sumy online editions : only 3% of total number of news. At the same time, in Sumy online editions, 57% of political news had signs of paid-for stories. The most of the political news with signs of paid-for materials was recorded in Kharkiv (24% of total number of political news). The least part was recorded in the online media of Chernihiv and Chernivtsi, where no political jeansa was not revealed at all during the monitoring period. At the average, 12% of total number of political news in the regional media had signs of paid-for materials. For comparison: during the same period the quantity of jeansa in the national mass media was up to 11%. "Now, Ukraine undergoes political crisis (snap parliamentary elections, polarization of society), so I am, personally, surprised at such a low number of political news in the regional media. It is obvious that in the Ukrainian politically charged society there is a social request for high-quality political news both at the regional and the national level. Such news should help people to make informed choices during the election. When the mass media are publishing little of political news, people are compelled to seek for political information in other sources, including the social networks, where the quality of such information is questionable. And as a consequence, having got some untrustworthy political information from some alternative sources, the society would make not conscious choice, but the choice that is based on emotions, and not on critical thinking ", - the IMI analyst Olena Golub said. The survey was held in 10 regions of Ukraine (Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Ternopil, Sumy, Rivne, Lviv, Zaporizhia and Zhytomyr). In each region, five online media were analyzed. The total news sample was 2,500 news. Monitoring was held in the following media:Zhytomyr (Zhytomyr magazine, Zhytomyr.Info, Zhytomyr online, Fresh news, 20 minutes, Zhitomir), ZAPORIZHZHZHYA (061.ua, Zaobor, Forpost, Zanoz, Accent), LVIV (ZIK, Z.Net, Vholos, Varta 1, Tvoye misto), RIVNE (Radio track, OGO, Rivne 1, Rivne Vechirne, VSE, RivneMedia), SUMY (Dankor Online, 0542.ua, Sumy Debates, SumyToday, The Sumy Post),TERNOPIL (0352.ua, Galas, Teren , Real, Za Zbruchem), CHERKASY (Vycherpno, Center of Cherkasy media, InfoMist, Procherk, Nova Doba), KHARKIV (ATN, Status Quo, Horod X, KHARKIV Today, 057.ua), CHERNIVTSI (BukInfo, Young Bukovinitsy, ACC, Time, 0372.ua), CHERNIHIV (City.CN, 0462.ua, Chas Chernihivsky, Podii Komentarii, CheLine). This survey was made possible thanks the support of the American people, which was provided through the USAID "Media Program in Ukraine" project, which is being implemented by the international organization Internews. The content of the materials is exclusively the responsibility of the NGO "Institute of Mass Information" and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of USAID, the US government and Internews