’Ukrinform, one of Ukraine’s two state news medias, finds itself in the center of a scandal that brings back memories of an era of state censorship and media seizure, raising concerns for Ukrainian media freedom’, EuroMaidan Press assessed in its article on 30 May.
According to media reports, Ukrinform’s former director general, Oleksii Matsuka allegedly attempted to censor content in favour of the authorities, particularly the Office of the President of Ukraine. This included circulating of ’desirable’ and ’undesirable’ speakers lists for journalists, but the main accusation was that Matsuka engaged in censorship to favour the current Ukrainian authorities. In editorial chats, he regularly shared topics that were ’desirable to cover’ and gave advice how to ’better explain’ political, military, and international events.In addition, the President’s Office helped Matsuka to form a new team by bringing in people close to Andriy Yermak, the head of the President’s Office. One of Yermak’s advisors even launched his own show on Ukrinform’s YouTube channel. To all cadres from Yermak’s team Matsuka paid large bonuses. The ’undesirable’ persons included opposition figures, organisations, local politicians critical of the authorities, as well as regular citizens. Matsuka even instructed Ukrinform to not give airtime to those who may be perceived as political rivals of President Zelenskyy, such as former Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyy.
Memories are still fresh of the agency’s servitude to the ruling Party of Regions as Ukraine was on the path of authoritarianism during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, Ukrainska Pravda concluded in its report.
Some claim that Matsuka’s ’undesirable speakers’ lists bear a striking resemblance to the practice of the so-called ’temnyky’ which was widely used by the head of the Presidential Administration Viktor Medvedchuk in the 2000s during the presidency of Leonid Kuchma. The expression ’temnyky’ refers to themes that are sent to journalists for coverage, as well as the ways in how these topics should be covered.
Following the scandal, Oleksii Matsuka announced his resignation on 24 May, and was replaced by Colonel Serhiy Cherevatyy, a military journalist and former spokesperson for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces after Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s Commission of Journalist Ethics excluded Matsuka from its ranks. The President’s Office has denied its involvement in the ’temniki’ practice at Ukrinform. The next day the 57-year old journalist exposed the story, received a call-up notice. He considers it a strange coincidence…
The appointment of an ex-colonel as head of the Ukrinform agency is another step towards fully controlled communications instructed by the President’s team on Bankova street. In the context of this scandal, can we at all speak about freedom of the press, which is one of the core values of the EU Ukraine wants to be a member of? Obviously, we cannot. Has the EU commented on on this issue? Has it expressed at least moderate criticism? Brussels, sadly, has done nothing like this so far. In addition, it has also been revealed that the Ukrainian authorities have once again used military call-up notice as a tool against investigative journalists who have exposed the authorities’ censorship. But there is no need to worry, the Office of the President will take care of everything.
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