Zelensky found accusation of pressure on public broadcaster to be a hype

Ukrinform

The President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that the President's Office did not coordinate the participation of MPs in air programs on TV channels, especially on Suspilne. Volodymyr Zelensky said it at a press briefing on October 20 in Zolotonosha (Cherkaska region), as Suspilne reported.

He called the accusations of the host of the talk show "Countdown" Myroslava Barchuk Myroslava Barchuk "odd ones", but noted that other media also accused him of pressure.

"Generally speaking, it seems oddly that the state television faces some pressure from the state. MPs refused (to come –n/tr)? I gues it's a hype. What has this to do with us ? We haven’t agreed nothing. Especially for Suspilne. MPs are free people, they decide to go or not,” he said.

As IMI reported, on October 19, Myroslava Barchuk, the host of the talk show "Countdown" (Zvorotniy Vidlik) on the UA: Pershiy TV channel, stated that the staff of the President's Office was making pressure on the program.. According to the presenter, subordinates to the head of the Office of President Andriy Yermak accused the talk show of not meeting professional standards (lack of the balance of opinions in the program aired on October 18) and set their conditions for the presence of deputies from the "Servant of the People" in the studio.

“I would not pay attention to this informational slaughter, if it came from anonymous telegram channels and former journalists, if it were not a symptom of a much more serious problem. Firstly, since a long time and in a rough style, the President’s Office has been keeping control of presence of MPs from “The Servant of the People” faction in the programs. The candidates for the programs are accorded with the person of contact of M. Podolyak (Advisor to the Chairman Office of the President (OP). - Ed. ) in the President’s Office. This has nothing new. [...] Secondly, since recently, the OP sets forth conditions and issues ultimatums regarding the presence of "public servants" on air programs", - as Myroslava Barchuk wrote.

On October 20, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Office of the President, rejected accusations of making pressure and issuing ultimatums from the Office of the President on UA:Pershiy TV channel, which Myroslava Barchuk, host of the talk show "Countdown", made public today. 

On October 20, Suspilne announced that the fact there was any representatives of the "Servant of the People" party in the "Countdown" program of October 18 was not a decision of the talk show editorial board, but a decision of representatives of the parliamentary faction.