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Hot Media Sector News
Channel 24 Airs TV Series Comparing President Zelenskiy with his Character on “Servant of the People”
June 12 – TV Channel 24 launched a video blog project entitled “Holoborodko,” in which journalist Anton Holoborodko analyzes the early days of the Zelensky administration and compares reality with the TV series in which Zelenskiy portrayed a fictional Ukrainian president. The program will be aired at 5:40pm on Saturdays and at 8:40pm on Sundays, according to the channel’s press service.
“Every week the real namesake of the famous “Servant of the People” TV series hero - Vasyl Holoborodko - will closely follow the first moves made by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a simple and compelling manner. The show will focus on the steps which are not shown so much in public,” according to Anton Holoborodko’s message in the Channel 24 press office’s report. Holoborodko “will analyze the first appointments to Bankova [the street where the presidential administration sits], the profiles of people who joined the president’s team, and whether oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky has a real influence on them. We will expose the first scandals, disappointments and achievements,” Holoborodko’s message continued.
In addition, the program’s host will explain how the president’s story, as told in the fictional “Servant of the People” TV series, is similar to the actual story of the real leader of Ukraine.
Note: Channel 24 also produces the political talk show “Political Anatomy,” which covers political developments in Ukraine. It airs at 7:30pm on Fridays and is hosted by political expert and head of Center UA Oleh Rybachuk and journalist Artem Ovdiyenko.
More on Detector Media in Ukrainian.
Court Decision on Alasania’s Dismissal Postponed until June 19
June 11 – Shevchenkivsky district court of Kyiv continued to hear the case of UA:PBC management board head Zurab Alasania’s wrongful dismissal lawsuit against UA:PBC supervisory board members Tetiana Lebedeva, Svitlana Ostapa, Vyacheslav Kozak, Oleksiy Panych, and Vadym Miskyy. After receiving responses from the accused, the court appointed a follow-up meeting for June 19, without ruling on the legality of Alasania’s dismissal.
The previous hearings were held on April 12 and 19. Era-Media was present at the hearings and filmed them for the “Good Morning, Country!” program which is broadcast on UA:Pershy TV channel every weekday morning. Era-Media’s morning show is frequently critical of UA:PBC and is in an ongoing conflict with the company over Era’s control of UA:PBC’s morning airtime.
Note: On January 31, 2019, the UA: PBC supervisory board voted to terminate the contract with Alasania as head of the UA:PBC management board. The issue of Alasania’s dismissal was raised by supervisory board member Vyacheslav Kozak. On February 12, 2019, the UA: PBC supervisory board took a decision to postpone the dismissal of Alasania to May 6, 2019, after the second round of the presidential election. UA:PBC management board member Mykola Chernotytsky was appointed as acting head by Alasania, with the agreement of the UA:PBC supervisory board. Alasania went on official vacation on May 6 while the court deliberates on his case. Chernotytskyy, however, said he does not see himself as a permanent head of UA:PBC.
More on Detector Media in Ukrainian.
Online Media Promoting Ukraine’s Contemporary Art Launched
June 11 - SupportYourArt, a new online media project designed to promote Ukrainian contemporary art, was announced by editor-in-chief Nastya Kalyta.
In Kalyta’s words: "The project is aimed at developing contemporary Ukrainian art with daily news, materials, reports and stories. We are writing for anyone interested in art. There are no prohibited themes or artists in the SupportYourArt project. The editorial idea is always independent, because we write about what we believe in ourselves. We tell about art and its history in a variety of ways.”
Note: On May 27, the business online media The Page was launched by journalists who previously worked for various business publications. The main editor of the project is Andriy Yukhymenko, and his deputy is Oleg Havrysh.
More on Detector Media in Ukrainian.
Parliamentary Committee Supports Amendments to Law On Public Broadcasting
June 10 – The Parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information Policy, at its regular meeting, supported bill #10298 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine On Public Television and Radio Broadcasting on the activities of the UA:PBC management bodies.” The bill was registered by committee chair Victoria Siumar, a People’s Front member of parliament, on May 16, 2019.
The bill introduces a number of changes to the activities of the UA:PBC supervisory board. In particular, if the bill passes, the UA:PBC board will have the authority to determine the main platforms and channels for content production, the concepts of program content, the main categories of consumers to be targeted with this content, the technologies used for signal distribution (based on survey findings), and the amount of funding allotted for UA:PBC.
In accordance with this bill, the UA:PBC management board would create a development strategy, and the supervisory board would modify the strategy, if needed, and monitor its implementation. A special subdivision of UA:PBC would provide the supervisory board with administrative support.
"The draft bill proposes to amend the Law of Ukraine On Public Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine regarding provisions for the members of the UA:PBC supervisory board from extra-budgetary sources (non-state budget funds), and for the special unit to provide administrative support to the supervisory body," according to the committee’s explanatory note regarding bill #10298.
In addition, the draft bill proposes to extend for two months the deadline for submission of the financial and activity reports of UA:PBC to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The reporting deadline would be extended from March 1 to April 30.
For the moment, Detector Media does not have media lawyers’ analysis of the bill. However, it is obvious that the Parliamentary Committee proposes to formalize the functions of the UA:PBC supervisory board and underlines its monitoring role.
More on Detector Media in Ukrainian.
Media Program in Ukraine Partners’ Activities
“Countdown” Returns to UA:Pershy
June 17 – The first UA:PBC “Countdown” program of the current pre-election season was broadcast on Monday, June 17 at 9:35pm on UA:Pershy (UA:PBC). Following that broadcast, the show will air on Saturdays at 4:50pm and Mondays at 9:35pm, with a final broadcast on July 19, two days before the parliamentary election.
For the current edition of “Countdown,” UA:PBC is inviting the heads of two parties to appear on each show. The hosts are Myroslava Barchuk and Pavlo Kazarin, who hosted “Countdown” during the presidential elections.
The schedule for “Countdown” and the participating parties, are:
June 17: Force and Honor – Public Position;
June 22: Samopomich (Self-reliance) – Agrarian Party of Ukraine;
June 24: Ukrainian Strategy – Public Platform of Nadia Savchenko;
June 29: To Be Determined;
July 1: To Be Determined;
July 6: People’s Force - party To Be Determined;
July 8: Svoboda (Liberty) – Opposition Block, Party of Peace;
July 13: Batkivshchyna – Radical Party;
July 15: Servant of People – Voice; and
July 19: European Solidarity – Opposition Block, For Life.
Political Café in Kharkiv
June 12 – Kharkiv Press Club held a “Political Café” in Kharkiv, where political analysts, sociologists, human rights activists, representatives of civil society organizations, political parties and journalists discussed the political situation in the run-up to the July 21 parliamentary election.
The agenda included topics related to the upcoming decision of the Constitutional Court regarding the legality of President Zelenskiy’s call for snap parliamentary elections, and forecasts for which political parties will win seats in parliament, based on polling data.
The participants in the discussion drew the conclusion that the Constitutional Court was faced with a difficult task, since both options – recognizing President Zelenskiy’s order to dissolve parliament as legal or illegal - are problematic, since a decision either way could be perceived as a political ruling rather than one grounded in constitutional law.
The participants also condemned the recent attack on TV camera operator Vadim Makaryuk. On the evening of June 7, an unidentified group attacked and assaulted Makaryuk, who was filming a conflict at the Barabashovo market in Kharkiv. Makaryuk suffered a stroke as a result of the attack and is in hospital in a serious condition. Before the discussion began, Kharkiv’s journalist community protested the attack on Makaryuk and demanded law enforcement conduct a full and impartial investigation.
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