ANALYSIS: Media watchdog group finds campaign coverage biased (04/21/02)

ANALYSIS

Media watchdog group finds campaign coverage biased

by Jan Maksymiuk
RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report

On April 1, the European Institute for the Media (EIM), a non-profit, nongovernmental research institution, published a preliminary report on its monitoring of media coverage during the parliamentary election in Ukraine (a period from March 10-31). This was the fourth EIM media-monitoring mission in Ukraine. The project was partly funded by the European Commission.

The EIM concluded that, on the whole, voters were not well served by the Ukrainian media during the election period, in terms of having access to impartial and balanced information about the parties/blocs involved in the election.

Media coverage on the UT-1, Inter, ICTV and 1+1 television channels in particular was found to be biased in favor of For a United Ukraine and the Social Democratic of Party Ukraine (united) [SDPU], and against the opposition parties.

The print media tended to be partisan and not to distinguish between editorial opinion and news coverage.

On a positive note, the EIM said the media provided voters with a wide range and large volume of information that could have assisted them in making their political choices.

Some of the EIM findings regarding Ukraine's most-prominent nationwide media outlets (TV channels and newspapers) are reproduced below.

Television channels

UT-1:

The state broadcaster failed to live up to standards of impartiality and balance provided by the election law. During the three weeks of EIM monitoring, the main state broadcaster devoted nearly eight and a half hours of coverage during prime time to the party of power - For a United Ukraine. The next-most-mentioned party after For a United Ukraine was the Winter Crop Generation Team with just under two hours of coverage. The discrepancy between coverage of For a United Ukraine and other parties was explained by the head of the channel as being a result of having to cover party representatives carrying out their government duties. However, the fact that the party of power received more than four times the amount of coverage devoted to any of the other parties, plus the demonstrably positive tone of that coverage, showed a bias on the part of the state broadcaster. This was a clear breach of the election rules and a continuation of the practices of the state broadcaster in all previous elections monitored by the EIM.

Negative coverage on UT-1 was noted in particular toward the Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko blocs, both parties in opposition to the government. The party of power also had 52 percent of all news coverage on UT-1, compared to 13 percent for Our Ukraine. The tone of news coverage was positive toward For a United Ukraine, while coverage of Our Ukraine tended to be negative.

INTER:

The private broadcaster Inter continued its practices of 1998 and 1999 by devoting the majority of its coverage during the monitored period to the SDPU-o, demonstrating a clear bias in favor of this party. It also devoted a large amount of positive coverage to the For a United Ukraine bloc. Our Ukraine received the second-largest amount of time on the channel, but nearly 80 percent of this time was devoted to negative and critical coverage.

ICTV:

ICTV devoted the most airtime in this period to the Winter Crop Generation Team, closely followed by For a United Ukraine. Coverage of Winter Crop and For a United Ukraine was positive for around 50 percent or more of the time allocated.

Opposition parties like Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, and the Socialist Party, tended to receive negative coverage on this channel.

STUDIO 1+1:

This privately owned channel devoted the most coverage in this period to the opposition party Our Ukraine, followed by the SDPU, For a United Ukraine and the Democratic Union-Democratic Party.

However, while the tone toward the For a United Ukraine bloc and the Democratic Union-Democratic Party was assessed as being either positive or neutral, coverage of the Our Ukraine bloc was assessed as more than 50 percent negative in character.

STB:

The most frequently mentioned party/bloc on this channel was For a United Ukraine, followed by Our Ukraine. Coverage of the parties was mainly neutral, although small amounts of negative coverage were reported for the Our Ukraine bloc and the Communist Party.

NEW CHANNEL:

This private television channel (Navyi Kanal) devoted the most airtime to Winter Crop, For a United Ukraine, Our Ukraine and the Green Party. Apart from news programs, however, most of the party information was paid advertising, although the channel also took sponsorship from the above-mentioned parties for some entertainment programs. The tone was mainly neutral, with the exception that the coverage devoted to Winter Crop tended to be positive in nature.

Newspapers

STATE-FUNDED:

The state newspaper Uriadovyi Kurier demonstrated a clear bias in favor of the For a United Ukraine bloc, which had more than 14 times as much coverage as any of the other parties. The party of power was treated positively, while the small amount of space devoted to the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc was almost all negative. The parliamentary paper "Holos Ukrayiny" had a more fair distribution of information about the parties - For a United Ukraine was still the most-mentioned party with a large amount of positive coverage, but Our Ukraine and the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc came second and third in terms of quantity. Their coverage was mainly neutral. The only party to receive significant criticism in the paper was the Socialist Party.

PRIVATE AND PRO-GOVERNMENT:

The private Fakty newspaper devoted by far the most space to the Winter Crop Party. Coverage of Winter Crop Generation and For a United Ukraine was positive, while significant amounts of coverage of the opposition Our Ukraine and Yulia Tymoshenko blocs were almost all critical.

Kievskii Telegraf devoted the most space to Our Ukraine and For a United Ukraine. The paper demonstrated a clear bias in the tone of its coverage in favor of the pro-government For United Ukraine and against the opposition Our Ukraine bloc.

PRIVATE AND PRO-SDPU:

Kievskie Viedomosti devoted the most coverage to the SDPU and Our Ukraine in order to praise the qualities of the SDPU and criticize those of Our Ukraine.

Den (The Day) also devoted the most coverage to the SDPU in order to praise it. For a United Ukraine also received a large amount of coverage, although the tone was mainly neutral. The opposition Our Ukraine and Yulia Tymoshenko blocs were singled out for criticism.

PRIVATE AND PRO-SOCIALIST PARTY:

Silski Visti supported the Socialists, devoting by far the majority of its election coverage to this one party. Unity was well treated in the newspaper and For a United Ukraine was also mentioned, but normally in order to criticize it.

PRIVATE AND PRO-OUR UKRAINE:

Ukrayina Moloda devoted most of its coverage to Our Ukraine, which it covered mainly in a positive light. The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc was also covered positively, while the For a United Ukraine bloc received criticism in the paper.

PRIVATE AND PRO-TYMOSHENKO:

Vechernie Vesti devoted most of its coverage to Ms. Tymoshenko's bloc in a positive way, while criticizing the pro-government parties.

PRIVATE AND INDEPENDENT:

Dzerkalo Tyzhnia devoted most of its coverage in the three weeks of monitoring to a mix of parties: For a United Ukraine, the Socialist Party, the SDPU, the Communist Party and Our Ukraine. Of these, most were treated neutrally, apart from the Communist Party, which received more than 70 percent negative coverage.

Jan Maksymiuk is the Belarus, Ukraine and Poland specialist on the staff of RFE/RL Newsline.

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