TV regulator asks to enable it to impose fines for violation of election law by broadcasters - Interfax-Ukraine

The National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine has said there is a need to authorize the regulator with a right to apply sanctions against license holders if they violate election law, council member Serhiy Kostynsky wrote on Facebook, as Interfax-Ukraine reported. He said that the main negative discrepancies of the parliamentary election campaign 2019 had been publication of incomplete information or manipulation of the results of sociological research, hidden political campaigning, as well as an unbalanced distribution of airtime between candidates. According to the TV and radio regulator's survey, the biggest number of the materials (66%) positive for political parties was recorded on Inter TV channel (34% of neutral materials of the air). UA: Pershy TV channel broadcast no positively-tainted materials, neutral - 94% and negative – 6%. The volume of positively-tainted materials on 1+1 TV was 1%, neutral – 87% and 13%. Ukraine TV broadcast 5% positively-tainted, neutral – 95% and ICTV channel 23% of positively-tainted, of which 77% were neutral. Among the top five television channels, most of all political campaigning was broadcast on ICTV (25%), most of the parties-customers for campaigning were recorded on 1+1 channel (19 parties), and most of the campaigning from self-nominated candidates was broadcast by Inter (12 persons). In this regard, the National Council recommends supplementing the law on elections of people's deputies of Ukraine and other election process regulations with the norm that the regulator monitors compliance with the requirements of the law on the activities of broadcasting organizations. "Political news talk shows expectedly had a 20% share of airtime. But for the first time in recent years, entertainment programs that covered the election process also received a high share, 16% of the total broadcasting on television channels and radio stations," Kostynsky said. He said that one of the key nuances of the last election campaign was the presence on the air of television channels and radio stations of celebrities: musicians, artists, actors, presenters, athletes, who were simultaneously candidates for people's deputies. The regulator said that such phenomenon of the election campaign 2019 should be thoroughly studied and regulated on the legislation level. The main tool for monitoring the media activities during the election campaign was the monitoring of television and radio programs, which were showed from May 24 to July 21, 2019. The regulator constantly monitored the broadcast of the five largest media groups: Media Group Ukraine, 1+1 media, ICTV and UA: Pershy. During the election campaign, the National Council monitored 35 information, infotainment and entertainment broadcasters; 14 national radio stations; as well as selectively monitored domestic and foreign satellite programs allowed for relay in cable networks of the country. To analyze broadcasting, the regulator used a monitoring methodology adapted for the countries of the European Union. Interfax-Ukraine