by Olga Soroceanu and Irina Odobescu
In post-soviet countries like the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia mass-media`s speech is suppressed. At the same time, censorship isn’t a forgotten subject for journalists. Governments often use their power in order to silence opposition`s voices. The Political side tries and generally succeeds dictate the color of glass through which people see the world. According to the European Journalism Observatory, the post-soviet space remains one of the most dangerous regions for journalists and journalism in general. When we speak about Ukrainian freedom of expression there are also some exceptions.
The project “Media Dialogue 2021 – for Conflict Sensitivity and Research” offered us the chance to visit some journalistic institutions where freedom isn’t just a word.
Перший Захiдний (First Western) is a tv channel and radio station from Lviv, Ukraine. This national channel was founded by the Lviv Regional Council. Nowadays in this council there are politicians from nine parties. Every five years after local elections the members of the Council are changing. This way, the discussion between the head of the channel and the politicians must be .
Even if the channel was founded to reflect social sides of the society, according to, director of Перший Захiдний, Olga Tsap, the politicians are discontented with the political content of the channel. The director says that politicians feel „underestimated”.
All over the world governments have many ways of controlling the media in their country. At the extreme, governments can own and run media outlets, dictate their content, and censor any dissenting voices.
„Перший Захiдний is an open panel for all politicians. There is no censorship. Our channel is a brand and people trust us. The strategy of this channel is based on transparency and trust, this is why we are still alive. We`re proud that we manage to establish a transparent mechanism of cooperation with all the parties and we have not even an idea of buyers” said Olga Tsap.
Every year Перший Захiдний pays about 4 millions hryvnias to share the content in eastern Ukraine, controlled by Russia. This channel now produces about 65% of it`s own content and only 35% are videos.
The National TV and Radio Council established a platform in 2019, a hard year for media in general, for sharing content between and for all media institutions. Now the Перший Захiдний`s content is shared to 19 outlets.
One of Перший Захiдний`s most known stories is about a hero who was fighting with russian aggression. They filmed a movie about a Ukrainian paramedic. He saved over 100 people in Donetsk. This film can also be viewed at the cinema in Ukraine now. The movie reflects the real situation in the conflict zone.
From the discussion with the director of the Перший Захiдний, we understood that Ukrainians civil society and particularly the civil society in the East Ukrainian conflict zone deserve a closer examination to identify capacities, opportunities for development, and areas that need support. So the media can therefore not only influence society before the conflict by recognizing and properly addressing the issue but also afterwards.
