Poltava journalists say they were not invited to hear the City Council secretary report

Poltava journalists say they were not invited to hear the City Council secretary Kateryna Yamshchykova's report on the year's work. Yamshchykova assumed the position on August 16, 2023, reports Nadia Kucher, the IMI representative in Poltava oblast.

"Suspilne Poltava", "Poltavshchyna", "My – Poltava", "Zmist", and "Poltavsky Visnyk" were not invited to hear the report (the latter newspaper learned about the event independently and came uninvited). The media workers who were invited did not have the opportunity to ask questions either live or through the YouTube webcast.

In a conversation with the IMI representative in Poltava, the journalists who were not invited to hear the report said that the event had not been announced in the work group chat. The media workers call the situation "really surprising", since after her appointment as the City Council secretary, Kateryna Yamshchykova had told them that the city authorities would be transparent and open to journalists.

"There was no announcement about the report. We learned about it after the fact. There were no mentions or invitations in the chat with the City Council press service. Then we learned that some 'convenient' media outlets were present. Obviously, it was those who could provide a 'warm bath' and not those who could ask critical questions. Today's situation, unfortunately, showed Ms. Kateryna's 'openness', which she talks about so often," said "Suspilne Poltava" Karina Moskalenko.

In her comment to the Poltava representative of the IMI, the head of the Poltava City Council press office, Maryna Serova, said that the announcement of Kateryna Yamshchykova's report was posted on the Poltava City Council website.

"There was an online livestream on the City Council's official YouTube channel, which is accessible to all, including the mass media and the public. A presentation of the report is also available, it has been posted to the City Council's website," said Maryna Serova.

"The livestream was not private, everyone could watch it on the City Council's website. The only thing is that there were some sound issues, because the room was not suited for streaming. They tried to fix it, but it didn't work, that's why the sound was bad in the livestream," said Anastasia Matsko, a "Poltavska Khvylia" journalist, who was present at the event.

However, a "Poltavshchyna" representative, journalist Eduard Tkachenko, looked into the timestamp of the post on the Poltava City Council website and concluded that the announcement of the report "was most likely published after the fact." As a web developer and IT specialist, he found that the news with the announcement of Yamshchykova's report had the index 3140. It was chronologically followed by posts with smaller numbers: 3136, 3137, 3138, 3139. This suggests that the announcement of Kateryna Yamshchykova's report was published after the fact.

The press service of the Poltava City Council promises to organize a press conference for journalists regarding the report, where Kateryna Yamshchykova will answer all the journalists' questions, for next week.