Sept. 16 is a tragic date in Ukraine’s history.
On this day in 2000, top Interior Ministry officers murdered journalist Georgiy Gongadze because he was independent and critical of the government, and especially then-President Leonid Kuchma. No justice has been served — only the direct perpetrators have been convicted.
Every year, this day reminds us of the price that journalists pay when they dare to be critical of the people in power. It also reminds us how dangerous it can be for someone in power to target journalists with criticism. Gongadze’s family believes that he was murdered because Kuchma told his associates to get rid of the journalist — and his words were recorded. Whether the murder was performed as a favor to Kuchma or to set him up is another matter, but the official obstruction and cover-up suggests Kuchma’s complicity, which he denies.
Ukrainian presidents haven’t learned from this tragic episode. Viktor Yushchenko shed his mask as a calm intellectual and lashed out at journalists who investigated the luxurious lifestyle of his son. Viktor Yanukovych censored the media and famously told one journalist the threatening “I don’t envy you” in response to a tough question. Petro Poroshenko attacked journalists in online harassment campaigns, fueled by bot farms. Volodymyr Zelensky could have been different. Sadly, he’s not.
After two years in power, it is obvious that Zelensky has very thin skin when it comes to criticism and doesn’t understand the value of journalism.
The Sept. 10–12 Yalta European Strategy conference served us the latest example. Pressured by BBC’s Stephen Sackur to talk about Western partners losing faith in his record, Zelensky went into attack mode. He first made a sarcastic remark about Sackur’s tone, then mocked journalists who are “fixated” on reforms and corruption. “They all want to know, when reforms will be done and when corruption will end? They throw in judicial reform to look smart,” said Zelensky. To his credit, Sackur cut him there, saying that it wasn’t journalists who were losing faith in Zelensky but Western governments.
During his presidential campaign in 2019, Zelensky rebuked a journalist who approached him with a question about his business in Russia. “I don’t owe you anything!” he famously said. In 2020, at his annual press conference, Zelensky got angry at a journalist who wasn’t even present — and said that the journalist’s parents “didn’t do a good job” raising him.
And during the YES conference, Zelensky rebuked a journalist who approached him with a question between panels. “It just so happens that I’m highly professional in the field you’re working in,” Zelensky said. Is he? Zelensky spent two years as the top manager of Inter, an oligarch-owned TV channel that is far from independent.
Zelensky has forgotten that he is a president elected to do the job. Journalists are society’s watchdogs and messengers. When he’s mocking journalists for doing their jobs, he’s really mocking society, which has the same questions. Mr. President, are you tired of us asking when reforms will be done? Then do them.
