Ukrainian independent journalists on Feb. 1 announced the creation of an informal group to protect the freedom of speech.
The creation of the group, called Initiative 34, was announced in a joint statement signed by dozens of journalists from prominent independent media outlets. The name refers to Article 34 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which guarantees the freedom of speech.
The statement was published after the dismissal of Zurab Alasania as the CEO of Suspilne Telebachennya (Public Television) on Jan. 31 that evoked fears of censorship at the channel.
Among the complaints that led to Alasania’s dismissal was the supervisory board’s concern that the channel didn’t cover enough events where President Petro Poroshenko participated.
“The decision (to create Initiative 34) was made in response to Alasania’s dismissal as the CEO of Suspilne and is also a reaction to a number of other events and processes in the media, including media owners’ interference in editorial policy, the sale of media assets to Viktor Medvedchuk, a long-time enemy of free speech, cyberbullying, a lack of government transparency, impunity and obstacles created for journalists’ work etc.,” the journalists said in the statement.
Associates of pro-Russian politician Medvedchuk took over the NewsOne channel and Channel 112 in 2018.
According to the statement, Initiative 34 will have the same aims as those of the Stop Censorship group, which was created to fight censorship under former President Viktor Yanukovych and was active for several years.
“The threats to free speech have not changed – these are censorship, media owners’ interference in editorial policy, bullying and the failure to investigate attacks on and murders of journalists,” Angelina Kariakina, chief editor of Hromadske Television and one of the journalists who created Initiative 34, told the Kyiv Post. “But the context and tools (of censorship) change. The media community and watchdogs regularly get involved in discussions on patriotism and on whether the criticism of the authorities in wartime are acceptable.”
The statement in support of the initiative was signed by the journalists from Schemes, an investigative unit of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Ukrainska Pravda, Kyiv Post, Zaborona, investigative journalism project Slidstvo.info and Nashi Hroshi, Hromadske, and others.
“In (Ukrainian) regions there are many problems with small editorial teams,” investigative journalist Denys Bihus, who signed the statement on Initiative 34, told the Kyiv Post. “(Journalists’) efforts to stick together are justified and useful.”
