They can close and open – but there must be grounds for both.

Language of information.

The language of information is determined by the Law "On Languages ??in Ukraine" (8312-11), other legislative acts of Ukraine in this field, international treaties and agreements ratified by Ukraine.

Industries, sources of information and mode of access to it

Article 20. Mass information and its means.

Mass information is publicly disseminated printed information and audiovisual. The print media are periodicals – newspapers, magazines, bulletins, etc. and one-time publications with a certain circulation.

Audiovisual mass media are: radio broadcasting, television, cinema, sound recording, video recording, etc.

The procedure for the creation or establishment and organization of certain mass media shall be determined by legislative acts on these mass media.

10/30/2011

The state of press freedom in Ukraine. Abstract

The abstract provides information on the problems of media independence in modern Ukraine

The state of press freedom in the world has clearly deteriorated over the past year – this is the main result of the Reporters Without Borders report "Reporters Without Borders" for 2001. According to most statistics, 2001 was much worse than the previous year, according to the Institute of Mass Media, which represents this international human rights organization in Ukraine. Thus, in 2001, 489 journalists were arrested (329 in 2000), 716 media workers were threatened and abused (510 in 2000), 378 cases of censorship were recorded (295 in 2000), and 110 journalists were imprisoned (as of January 4 , 2001). year – 77).

The only exception is the number of journalists killed, which is only one victim less – 31 in 2001 against 32 in 2000. At the same time, IMI notes, for the first time in recent years, 2001 saw cases of deteriorating press freedom in stable democracies. These are the consequences of the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the subsequent anti-terrorist operation for many media outlets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

In many countries there is a tendency to strengthen control over the activities of foreign journalists. China, Saudi Arabia, Burma, North Korea and Vietnam keep foreign journalists under constant scrutiny. Another dangerous trend in many countries is impunity for crimes against journalists. Investigations into the murders of journalists in the vast majority of cases end in failure, and their perpetrators are not identified and remain at large. Ukraine is also on the list of such countries.

For the second time, the Reporters Without Borders report mentions Ukraine in a list of seven European countries where journalists have been killed in 2001. "This time it is about Igor Alexandrov, whose tragic death has secured Ukraine a place alongside Northern Ireland, Kosovo and the Basque Country, "the media said.

The picture in Ukraine does not look very optimistic, although there are some positive developments with the state of freedom of speech. And this can be judged by the preliminary conclusions of the monitoring of the state of freedom of speech in Ukraine, which is conducted by the Institute of Mass Media. Andriy Saichuk, editor of the institute’s online publication, told about some of them. According to him, five journalists were killed in Ukraine last year (five of our colleagues were killed last year as well), and three were arrested (as in 2000). ), 13 lawsuits were registered (in 2000 – 10), 39 cases of censorship, direct or indirect interference in the work of journalists (in 2000 – 16), 28 cases of beating of media animal farm summary by chapter representatives (in 2000 – 13).

Among the main conclusions of the monitoring is the statement that neither the actions of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, nor the Ministry of Internal Affairs, nor the Security Service of Ukraine have radically changed the attitude to the investigation of high-profile cases involving journalists … Although, according to the IMI representative, it should be noted a certain positive that the cases related to the media still go to court – and there are already known precedents when the press wins them ("Vedomosti +" (Kirovograd), "Agent" (Kramatorsk)). This, according to the head of the Internet project, is an indicator that the power-media relations are gradually moving to a new level, where conflicts are resolved in courts.

However, A. Saichuk noted, the honesty of the judge who makes the decision decides a lot here. In addition, A. Saichuk noted such a negative trend as the elimination of inconvenient communal media and the active use of administrative resources for this, the non-transparency of the current National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine. Among the positive trends was the decrease in the number of conflicts between the media and the tax administration.

KARPACHOVA, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine:

– It is unfortunate that Ukraine is on the list of countries where journalists are killed, but it is objective. In the first report of the Commissioner on the state of observance of human rights and freedoms, a special section was devoted to this problem, which emphasized the threatening state of this phenomenon – both for journalists themselves and for the state itself. At that time, the Commissioner drew attention to the fact that almost all high-profile cases concerning the murders of journalists had not been brought to a logical conclusion by law enforcement agencies.

A striking example here is the case of Georgy Gongadze. As the Commissioner for Human Rights, I have worked and continue to monitor the fate of this journalist and his family, including his mother, Lesya Gongadze. I appeared in court when the prosecutor’s office did not agree to grant her the status of a victim – and only through the court was it possible to protect this right of the mother. I had to deal with the storage of Tarashcha’s body.

During Mr. R. Menar’s stay here in the summer, the issue of the arrival of foreign experts here to conduct an additional examination of this body at the mother’s request – the last hope of the mother, family and Ukraine itself for objective truth – was almost resolved. During a recent meeting with me, the President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Mr. Valionis, promised to make every effort to conduct such an examination, as is well known. The Council of Europe approved the decision to conduct an additional investigation into the case of the missing journalist, and our President agreed.

In 2001, journalist I. Alexandrov was killed. Open my same report on page 214 – and you will see that it is about the fact that the court deprived the Slavic journalist of the right to engage in professional activities. Even then, we had to react, not wait for the murder. When the law enforcement agencies claim that this is an accidental murder, I can’t believe it, because even then, in 1998, there was a threat to the professional activity of this journalist, and in 2001 he was actually dealt with.

These things need to be analyzed – and law enforcement, and government agencies, and the public. But how can the public do this when it is deprived of the opportunity to receive objective information on such resonant issues? There is freedom of speech in Ukraine, but what is it? Isn’t the state it is in really a threat to the country’s democratic system? Let’s look at the case with TV journalist 3. Antonik. On it I addressed to the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Mr. Boyko. There are many doubts about the objective investigation of the case and the journalist’s involvement in the crime. Now the judiciary needs to deal objectively with this complex case.

The case of "Efir-1" – this is a violation of the constitutional rights of employees of the Luhansk utility company "Efir-1". I appealed to the Prosecutor General, pointing out that on June 5, the Luhansk City Council decided to liquidate the TV company and establish another company, and the staff of the TV company appealed the decision in court on the grounds of its illegitimacy. And in accordance with current legislation, this decision should have been suspended, which did not happen. We waited until the journalists started the hunger strike.

Together with Reporters, the Commissioner defended the rights of Efir-1 journalists. When there was a threat to the lives of some journalists, I was forced to intervene directly and involve the leadership of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Today I received a response from the Prosecutor General’s Office to my request, where the actions of Luhansk City Council are covered by the Law on Local Self-Government in Ukraine, and states that the exclusive competence of city councils includes liquidation, reorganization, reorganization of enterprises, institutions and organizations. They can close and open – but there must be grounds for both. And that’s why the journalists who went to court are right. What, and now we will wait for one of these journalists to die?

Today, obstacles are deliberately created for the activities of the TV company’s employees. (By the way, employees of the Luhansk TV company "Efir-1" stopped the hunger strike, which began on November 14, 2001. According to their statement, UNIAN reports, "even such an extreme form of protest as the hunger strike did not motivate the authorities to put the law above the selfish interests of some However, the collective believes that the hunger strike has fulfilled its goal – Luhansk residents, the public, political organizations, Ukrainian and foreign journalists, MPs, and international human rights organizations have supported the TV company. The situation was the same for Alexandrov.

Therefore, everything that happens around freedom of speech in Ukraine should be a common pain not only of journalists, not only of the public, but also of law enforcement and government agencies. The most difficult thing in Ukraine is to fight for justice. And journalists are the first line of those who do this. And today we should not give weapons to journalists, but provide them with the opportunity to fight for this justice.

The grandiose discussion on freedom of speech, which began with the submission of the Verkhovna Rada at the beginning of the year, ended with the distribution of convincing arguments to the journalist fraternity in its defense – gas pistols. Even without touching on the issue of physical security of journalists, it can be stated that all the chatter once again turned into a light gas cloud, which, however, stinks a lot.

The weakness of the media is not only in their dependence on publishers, owners, various "roofs", etc., but above all – in the absence of any similarity of corporate unity. Suppression of some printed or electronic body often causes a slight form of sympathy among colleagues in the shop, rather than a desire to fight for justice. Even professional organizations (such as NSJU) in Ukraine are focused primarily on individual membership, rather than on presenting the positions of print media and television and radio companies.