Verkhovna Rada committees hold a meeting at Suspilne

The Verkhovna Rada's Freedom of Speech Committee and the Subcommittee on Information Policy and European Integration of the Humanitarian and Information Policy Committee held a meeting at Suspilne, reports Detector Media.

Mykyta Poturayev, chairman of the Humanitarian and Information Policy Committee, noted that the Suspilne Broadcasting has proven their “capability” over the years and “there can be no doubt that the Suspilne Broadcasting will continue its work.”

“And that they will do high-quality work that meets the needs of society and the best international standards of journalism and freedom of speech. These are important achievements, but, in my opinion, what matters most is stability, and they have shown that,” he said, adding that “the vector chosen by the board is correct and must be followed.”

Photo by Anastasia Mantach, Suspilne

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, chair of the Freedom of Speech Committee, thanked the Suspilne Broadcasting for their contribution to information security, cultural diplomacy, and European integration. In particular, he noted that “there are few areas where we can boast about the reform being taken so well as in the case of transforming a once state-owned media outlet into a public broadcaster. And it is important for us to preserve this moment.”

Svitlana Ostapa, chair of Suspilne Broadcasting Supervisory Board, stressed that the broadcaster did everything possible to be helpful to society and the state in 2024. “This was the year when our Iryna Tsybukh was killed in action, this was the year of the Ukrainian Radio's 100th anniversary, this was the year of our civilized divorce from the United News telethon,” she said.

Among Suspilne's achievements over the past year, Svitlana Ostapa pointed out the growth of their audience numbers and maintaining people's trust in them.

“More than 20% of Ukrainians now consider Suspilne Broadcasting their favorite source of information. The latest results of the consumption and trust study by Hradus in 2024, commissioned by Suspilne, showed that consumers' trust in our news among Ukrainians aged 18 and up is higher than 80%. Let me remind you that the BBC has a trust level of 56%. This is very good news considering the drop in trust in many institutions in Ukraine. Trust is the most important indicator of success,” Svitlana Ostapa said.

Mykola Chernotytskyi, Suspilne board chair, said that for Suspilne 2024 was marked by a spike in content consumption on digital platforms, as well as an increase in broadcasting on Channel One.

“Today, we produce content on Channel One ourselves 24/7 with hourly news broadcasts from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. We covered the US elections, sending two filming crews there. In particular, the news story 'US Election Night: Trump or Harris?' was watched by nearly 228 thousand viewers. The special Suspilne Studio livestream on YouTube had 411 thousand views and the playlist 'US Elections – 2024' received 2.3 million views,” said Mykola Chernotytskyi.

He also shared plans to expand and develop Suspilne's hyperlocal network in 2025. The broadcasting company plans for their network to cover 12 more regions by the end of 2025 and to bolster it in three oblasts (Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv). “Suspilne will involve another 50 journalists in local communities. This will definitely be the largest network of hyperlocal journalists in Ukraine,” said Mykola Chernotytskyi.

He also mentioned producing documentaries and content for children, as well as the large-scale project to digitize the Suspilne Mediateka archives, among Suspilne's 2024 achievements.

The discussion of issues and prospects of Suspilne Broadcasting was joined by representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications, the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting, and the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting.