'censorship'

two journalists who complained of political censorship and quit their jobs as news anchors on national tv channels late last year have signed on with a new television project that plans to start broadcasting nationwide in the run-up to presidential elections next fall.

though the backers of the new channel have not been identified, the project has been linked with wealthy business figures from the oppositionist our ukraine bloc led by viktor yushchenko. the channel is expected to attempt to provide an alternative to the overwhelmingly negative coverage of the bloc in the pro-presidential media.

andry shevchenko, a former novy kanal news anchor and the president of the kyiv independent media trade union, and roman skrypin, former host of stb’s vikna u pivnochi (windows at midnight) program, said on may 12 that they were working with a joint venture involving the nbm regional tv channel and the expressinform tv production company.

nbm is preparing to launch national broadcast operations and is currently building a television production studio on kyiv’s rybalsky peninsula.

shevchenko and skrypin will likely direct the revamped nbm’s news programming and appear as news anchors.

“our most important goal right now is to spell out a precise and transparent editorial policy,” shevchenko said.

skrypin said that the channel would be guided in its reporting by the provisions of the law on censorship signed by president leonid kuchma on april 28. the law defines censorship and makes it a criminal offense for officials to “deliberately intervene in the professional work of journalists.”

“we need to exercise the rights recently accorded journalists by law,” skrypin said. “if we don’t, no one else will.”

nbm spokesperson alena matuzyko said on may 14 that the company is still putting the finishing touches to its project, which she said would be officially presented at a press conference on may 22.

over the past five years, nbm has positioned itself as a family-oriented channel covering 12 oblasts in western ukraine. the company, which also owns the niko fm radio station, began broadcasting from chernivtsi in 1997. its programs have been accessible in kyiv via cable since last august.

expressinform, founded in 1993, was re-registered in 1995 as a closed-stock company. it includes the informexpress news wire, energobusiness, a newsletter providing analysis of the nation’s energy sector, as well as the expressinform television company.

expressinform tv director vladislav lyasovsky and nbm tv general director ivan adamchuk share offices in kyiv and oversee a combined staff of about 100.

both men declined to specify how their television venture would be organized. neither would they identify the venture’s financial backers.

lyasovsky refused to speculate about when or if the national council for television and radio broadcasting would approve nbm’s application to expand its television broadcasting coverage to oblasts in eastern ukraine.

“i’d rather not put the cart before the horse,” he said.

adamchuk said nbm programs currently reach over 10 million households, primarily in western oblasts. he said he expected revenues to grow after the station’s programs reached a larger audience.

“the station will be self-sustaining,” adamchuk said. “this is an economically viable project.”

low advertising revenues mean second-tier “multi-regional” channels like the one lyasovsky and adamchuk plan to run generally depend for their survival on financing from wealthy backers, who in return reflect the backers’ political agenda in the channel’s news coverage.

natalia lihacheva, chief editor of telekritika, an internet site funded by the international renaissance foundation, told the post on march 14 that based on unofficial information it is “patently obvious” that nbm is being bankrolled by petro poroshenko, an influential businessman and our ukraine deputy. (...)

(may 15, 2003)