Ukraine: diverse but dangerous

Ukraine’s media landscape is colourful, diverse and contradictory. Those who make an effort to stay informed have a good chance of obtaining a reasonably reliable picture of the current state of affairs in society. In terms of content, there is just one taboo: anyone who calls the war in the east of the country a "civil war" is considered "pro-Russian" or even a "Ukraine-hater" and must reckon with reprisals.

In July 2019, Ukrainian television channel 112 was hit by a grenade thrown by unknown persons. In September 2019 its broadcasting licence was revoked It can now only be accessed online, by cable or via satellite.

The Ukrainian authorities have taken action against media that are critical of the government on several occasions in recent times. In September 2019, the State Television Council revoked the broadcasting licence of TV channel 112.ua. In January 2018, fearing that he would be put in prison, Igor Guzhva, the editor-in-chief of news website strana.ua, fled to Austria and was granted political asylum there in September of the same year.

But in the digital age, the effectiveness of bans or the withdrawal of broadcasting licences is limited. Threats and violence pose far more of an obstacle to journalism in Ukraine than government attempts to control the media.

According to Sergiy Tomilenko, president of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, a total of 250 acts of violence against journalists were documented between 2017 and 2019. In the first three months of 2020 alone, the union registered 15 acts of violence. Both pro-Russian journalists and representatives of pro-Western media are targets of these violent acts. Most of the cases are related to corruption rather than (geo)political issues.

In 2000, the murder of Georgiy Gongadze, founder of the online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda, made headlines far beyond the country's borders. After the Maidan protests in 2014, the pro-Russian journalist and former editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Segodnya, Oles Buzina, was murdered in 2015. The Belarusian-born executive director of Ukrayinska Pravda, Pavel Sheremet, was also murdered in 2016. Most recently, the murder of investigative journalist Vadim Komarov sent shockwaves through the country. Komarov was assaulted on 4 May 2019 and died of his injuries six weeks later.

The daily newspaper market is dominated by Russian-language newspapers, many of which are tabloids (Westi, Segodnya, Fakty, KP). Only the bilingual Den has maintained its position as a quality political daily. In the weekly segment, the Russian-language Journal NV (formerly Novoye Vremya) has established itself as a leading analytical magazine and also has a very professional website.

Ukraine’s media market is following the international trend of moving towards digitalization. Online-only outlets such as Ukrayinska Pravda (founded in 2000) are now highly influential, while social media, and Facebook in particular, are used intensively for debate. But despite the high level of internet penetration television is still the preferred source of information in Ukraine. In 2020 the TV sector had at least ten news-only channels.

World Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders):
Rank 97 (2020)

Last updated: April 2020

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