“Dunno servants” and alarming ratings. Why did the scandal erupt with Bankova’s pressure on the media?

In the Ukrainian media space a scandal broke out. Host of the talk show “Countdown” of the TV channel “Public Broadcasting” (UA: Pershiy) Miroslava Barchuk accused the Office of the President of putting pressure on the program and controlling the speeches of the People’s Deputies “Servant of the People” on the air. The site “Segodnya” found out what the essence of the conflict is and what Bankovaya is afraid of.

Scandal on TV

The TV presenter announced the conflict with the President’s Office on her Facebook page. Barchuk noted that the “staff” of the President’s Office accused the program of violating journalistic standards, namely, the lack of balance of opinions in the newscast aired on October 18.

“The president’s office has long and tightly monitored the presence of MPs from the Servant of the People faction on the air. Candidates for broadcasts are coordinated with the OP. – secondly, recently the OP has been putting forward conditions for our editorial office and issuing ultimatums about the presence of “servants of the people” on the air.– she said.

According to Barchuk, such ultimatums were put forward on Bankova Street regarding the guests of the program on October 11 and 18.

“Last Monday there was an ultimatum # 1: on the topic of energy security on the air of Zvorotny Vidliku there will be either two“ servants ”(both non-expert), or none. We decided not to accept ultimatums and invited Lyudmila Buimister, who no longer obeyed On the last Monday there was an ultimatum # 2: “servants” (two) will come on air only if the editorial board refuses the previously invited Geo Leros “, – said the presenter.

She noted that the editors of the program perceived such demands as pressure and refused to comply with the ultimatum, as a result of which the representatives of the mono-majority did not come on the air.

“We received accusations this morning that we did not have representatives of the mono-majority on the air and that this was” non-observance of journalistic standards. “, – wrote Barchuk.

The TV presenter also reported on the current situation on the air of the program. Relevant video posted by People’s Deputy Geo Leros on your Facebook page.

Threats to freedom of speech, as under Yanukovych

According to Barchuk, this is a threat to freedom of speech and independence of the media.

“I have been in the profession for a long time, I remember very well how it all began in 2010, when first Anna German (Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Viktor Yanukovych – ed.) Determined the guests on the channels, then the presenters of these channels, then they simply took licenses from opposition TV channels, and then a catastrophe happened. Therefore, I urge my colleagues not to succumb to pressure and speak out loud about cases of pressure and blackmail. I also urge MPs from Servant of the People not to participate in this blackmail, to come on air, to represent their position and thereby protect parliamentary democracy in the country, because that authoritarianism is a threat to everyone “– she emphasized.

The Union of Journalists demands an explanation

Head of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine Serhiy Tomilenko I am sure that the pressure of the authorities on the editorial policy of the media is unacceptable.

“Journalists have the right to independently choose the formats and topics of discussion, invite guests to the broadcasts. And the fact that many Ukrainian politicians refuse invitations to broadcasts is more proof of politicians’ lack of independence and a rigid, non-democratic party vertical,” he says to Segodnya.

Tomilenko also stressed that the public accusation of the President’s Office of pressure, which was voiced by Miroslava Barchuk, requires maximum public attention and discussion.

“This is a scandal and resonance! The authorities must present their arguments. The TV channel’s management must also express an official position,” Tomilenko tells us.

The authorities are afraid of falling ratings

Political scientist Vladimir Tsybulko called the incident an act of direct censorship.

“Rudeness and pressure on freedom of speech. In the West, after such statements, officials would have already resigned,” the political scientist says to Segodnya.

According to the expert, this behavior of the Office of the President testifies to the fear of a drop in the ratings of the ruling party.

“According to today’s research by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), over the past month, the rating fell by 9%. The President’s Office understands that Ukrainians have accumulated a huge number of questions to the authorities that journalists will ask MPs. Given the incompetence of many” servants of the people, ” their answers on television could provoke an even greater drop in the rating of Zelensky’s team, “the political scientist explains.

In his opinion, Bankova is trying to maintain its position, avoiding open discussions, during which criticism of the authorities can be heard.

Temniks are a salvation for non-professionals

Political scientist Svetlana Kushnir notes that the policy of the President’s Office to control which of the “servants” will speak on the air and what they will say is correct for Bankova, since most of the people’s deputies of the pro-presidential party have no experience in politics and are incompetent in many issues.

“If the People’s Deputies of” Servants of the People “were professionals and had a political background, one could say that temniks are evil. In this case, temniks are salvation for them. which will be able to cause another criticism of the authorities, “- says Segodnya Kushnir.

She also noted that representatives of other factions of the Rada act as experts on television, according to their competence.

“For example, the People’s Deputy of Batkivshchyna, Aleksey Kucherenko, professionally comments on housing issues, since he was previously the Minister of Housing and Utilities. And what can the” servants “comment on?” – asks Kushnir.

Media control

The political scientist also noted that the President’s Office was often accused of pressure on the media.

“We hardly remember such a number of closed TV channels under any of the previous authorities. Sanctions have been imposed on some of the media. criticize the authorities and open the way for praise. Thus, turn independent media into parquet editions, “Kushnir tells us.

Weak politicians – reputational losses

Political scientist Igor Petrenko believes that the scandal is exaggerated, and the journalists of “Suspilny” exaggerate.

“We could talk about censorship if the Office of the President dictated to the media who to invite them to broadcast, what to write about and what to broadcast. appearances on TV for their own reasons, “- says” Segodnya “Petrenko.

At the same time, the expert notes that many deputies of the “Servant of the People” are politically “poorly grounded.”

“The speeches of such speakers will bring reputational losses to the party in particular and the government in general,” says Petrenko.

Reaction from the Office of the President

Meanwhile, Bankova responded to the scandal. Advisor to the Head of the President’s Office Mikhail Podolyak rejected statements about pressure and ultimatums from the OP, stressing that representatives of the authorities regularly appear in the programs of “Suspilny”, including the program “Zvorotny Vidlik”.

“It is incorrect and unreasonable to talk about any special attitude of the authorities. Moreover, the independent editorial policy of any media is a key sign of a healthy society and a modern state.”, – said Podolyak in a commentary on Radio Liberty.

He also added that on television all parties to the dialogue should have equal opportunities, and journalists should not abuse their political positions.

“But if one or another representative of the authorities sees on the air a consistent and stubborn imbalance of positions, a constant and obvious engagement of the presenters and the editorial board, then one can understand the extremely small desire of people to go on the air of this particular project.”, – Podoliak explained.

Earlier, the site “Segodnya” reported that a draft law “On Media” initiated by the Servant of the People party was registered in the Verkhovna Rada. It develops a content monitoring tool for analogue and online media.

The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine opposed this law. The journalistic community demanded to reject the bill and start a dialogue with media representatives on reforming the media sphere.