On Dec. 2, 2014
the new post-Maidan government has been sworn-in by Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
The government includes a new minister to lead the Ministry of Information
Policy, yet to be created. The new minister Yuriy Stets argues that the ministry
will protect the state from the devastating influence of Russian propaganda.
Yuriy Lutsenko, the head of
the faction of the presidential party Block Petro Poroshenko, has publicly
expressed support for the new ministry and declared that it will never engage
in censorship of Ukrainian media. Instead, the ministry will be responsible for
counteracting the Russian propaganda by providing accurate information.
I have read the project of
the law about the ministry and have noticed a couple of intriguing passages
suggesting the ministry will be able to exercise direct control over content of
the media, their structure, and even their employment decisions:
Article 3: “…implementation
of state policy in the field of information dissemination…” –
Article 4 Section 38
“…establish, abolish, reorganize enterprises, institutions and organizations,
adopt their position (statutes), in the prescribed manner appoint and dismiss
their heads, create talent pool as head of enterprises, institutions and
organizations under authority of the IIP Ukraine…”
These passages justify a concern that the ministry will have
direct and indirect censorship powers.
In addition, the draft law
contains sections about improving the quality of journalism in Ukraine. This is
another example of paternalism. The quality of journalism is better developed
by free competition in media markets, among journalism schools, and
professional organizations rather than by ministerial control.
Nevertheless, let us put the
worries about the undue influence by the ministry over the media content aside
and focus on the challenges that are facing the Ukrainian government. Of course,
there is a lack of a consistent informational policy inside and across the
government agencies and there is widespread incompetence. It is typical to take
several days to reach a press secretary of a government agency or ministry for
a commentary, the contact details of such press officers are more secret than
sensitive national security data, and press releases on the key issues of
public interest are non-existent, or late and lack specifics. The state needs a
unified information policy regarding nation branding, state image, and response
to domestic and foreign criticism. Ukraine also needs to fight for the minds of
those in the East of Ukraine and counteract the Russia’s attempts to confuse
the West about the situation in Ukraine.
Yet, there is a simple
solution. If you want to have a good information policy for a governmental
agency, hire a good PR company, design a professional website, set up social
network accounts, create a hot-line, and make sure your secretary actually
answer your emails. The informational policy on the national level can and
should be implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Institute of National
Remembrance or any other government body. These bodies can fight
misrepresentations and propaganda in courts, can prepare press releases their
interpretations of the events, and serve the public with the facts that prove
the informational enemy false.
These things are definitely
not a rocket science and do not need any new government body to be implemented,
just common sense. Of course good public relations is expensive, but there is a
reason – talent is not free, and if the government would like to improve its
information policy, it has to pay.
The issue is that the Ukraine
lacks an informational strategy rather than an informational ministry and the Ukrainian
authorities seem to continuously confuse one with the other.
VoxUkraine specially for Kyiv Post
Agnieszka Piasecka is a a representative of the Open Dialog Foundation.
