White List: the 11 media outlets deemed most high quality

The List of Transparent and Responsible Media, also known as the White List of Ukraine's best online media, included the following outlets in the first half of 2024: Suspilne, Radio Liberty, Ukrainian Pravda, Babel, Hromadske, Texty, ZN.ua , Espreso, Slovo i Dilo, Ukrainskyi Tyzhden, Hromadske Radio.

These are the results of the twofold in-depth monitoring of online media carried out by the Institute of Mass Information conducts every six months.

The list features five new media outlets: Radio Liberty, Texty, Hromadske Radio, Ukrainskyi Tyzhden and Slovo i Dilo.

The following outlets dropped from the list in the first half of 2024: Ukrinform, NV, and Liga.

The White List, which featured 11 media outlets in the first half of 2024

IMI experts advise that Ukrinform pay more attention to compliance with the balance standard and review the amount of news in their feed that just chronicle official meetings.

High-quality news outlets such as NV and Liga have earned the trust of their audience thanks to their unbiased and reliable reporting. When such outlets promote gambling, it may undermine the readers' trust, with gambling advertising often being perceived as an attempt to exploit people's vulnerabilities for profit.

The websites of these outlets have special gambling-related sections. NV has the "Gambling" section, sponsored by Slots City, and Liga has two sections: iGaming, which contains a whole list of direct links to online casinos that you can choose and click, and the section "Gambling World" section, sponsored by Favbet.

Some media outlets say that such sections are an information resource and all the content in them is uploaded for information purposes. However, the section with links to online casinos makes or keeps the consumer aware of and interested in specific gambling brands. Failure to label this section as advertisement misleads consumers as to the true purpose of this section, thereby making it covert advertisement.

We call on online resources to take the task of developing and coordinating rules for labelling such content seriously and, in particular, to rethink their view on the permissibility of posting direct links to casinos on high quality news websites. This will help them avoid sanctions from the state while also showing a more responsible attitude towards their audience. Gambling may lead to addiction and serious financial problems for individuals and their families. The media outlets that care about the welfare of their readers should avoid promoting activities that may harm them.

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The methodology for the study is available here.

At the first stage of the study, the IMI selects 50 popular Ukrainian online media outlets based on the data from the previous monitoring as well as SimilarWeb and Gemius, and checks them for manipulation, fake news, and black PR.

At the second stage, the media outlets that passed the first stage are assessed according to the following criteria: adherence to the standards of balance, credibility and distinguishing facts from value judgements, the presence of jeansa, sexism and hate speech, harmful content, as well as transparency, i.e. whether the contact information, editorial policy, and owners of the outlet are listed on the website.

The average level of compliance with professional standards on the resources included in the White list based on this analysis is about 96%. The central news feeds of these websites were found to contain no jeansa (although there were insufficiently labelled materials), hate speech, sexism, or fake news.

The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) is a Ukrainian public media organization that has been operating since 1996. The IMI defends the rights of journalists, analyzes the media field and covers media-related events, fights propaganda and disinformation and has been providing media outlets with safety gear for trips to the combat zone since the start of the Russo–Ukrainian war in 2014.

The IMI carries out Ukraine's only freedom of speech monitoring and keeps a list of high quality and sustainable online media outlets, documents Russia's crimes against the media committed in the course of the war on Ukraine. The IMI has representatives in 20 oblasts of Ukraine and a network of "Mediabaza" hubs to provide journalists with continuous support. The IMI's partners include Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House; the organization is a member of the International Organization for the Protection of Freedom of Expression (IFEX).