Analysis Of Ukrainian Democracy: Journalist Day In Ukraine
Ukrainian Democracy: Freedom of Speech and its «Dark» Side.
June, the 6th is officially known as Journalist Day in Ukraine and is being celebrated by mass media workers all over the country. Initially, the goal of the holiday is to glorify all the means of mass media and to thank Ukrainian journalists, reporters, and editors for their contribution to the prosperity of the freedom of speech– the leading tool of the new democracy in the country. The right for freedom of speech is mentioned in numerous normative legal acts, including the Human Rights Declaration, Convention for Human Rights and the Constitution of Ukraine. The later one says accordingly:
«Everyone is guaranteed the right to freedom of thought and speech, and to the free expression …show more content…
There is a darker side of it hidden underneath.
Thus, in the course of the previous year numerous cases of oppression of the mass media workers by national and local officials have being registered. Mostly, those are the journalists that touched «sensitive matters» in their articles and reports, exposing corruption and other government drawbacks. That is, there is a clear government interference into the mass media matters, who sees them as a threat to national security. Under the impact of war with Russia, violent attacks on the media take place. Thus, Kiev’s government shows rather intolerant attitude towards any «unconventional »views expressed in the press and on the television. As a result, most Russia-based TV channels are being closed and numerous media workers are being trapped and even physically abused. Thus, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) broke into the office of the newspaper «Vesti» in Kiev, attacked the workers and shut down the website. A television station «Inter» is being under investigation. Blamed for propagandistic ideas, the channel is being a victim of hard harassment by current Ukrainian authorities. Moreover, there are records of mysterious disappearances and deaths of the mass media workers with no proper investigations following. For instance, in spite of the requests from the international …show more content…
Whether this degrading tendency is going to continue is an open question, the answer to which depends on the course the country will chose regarding the freedom of speech aspect.
It goes without saying, the country does possess a huge theoretical base, where all the basic principals of the freedom of speech may find its realisation. That is, there are lots of various publishing houses, channels and other means of media that reflect different, often opposite views. Nevertheless, one can speak of a lack of a perfect mechanism that will help to materialise the freedom of speech into legal acts. In other words, all the improvements and steps should find its reflection in theory, as well as in practice.
Thus, finding a balance between concerns about national security and the freedom of speech could be a possible solution, since both are vital for democracy in the
June, the 6th is officially known as Journalist Day in Ukraine and is being celebrated by mass media workers all over the country. Initially, the goal of the holiday is to glorify all the means of mass media and to thank Ukrainian journalists, reporters, and editors for their contribution to the prosperity of the freedom of speech– the leading tool of the new democracy in the country. The right for freedom of speech is mentioned in numerous normative legal acts, including the Human Rights Declaration, Convention for Human Rights and the Constitution of Ukraine. The later one says accordingly:
«Everyone is guaranteed the right to freedom of thought and speech, and to the free expression …show more content…
There is a darker side of it hidden underneath.
Thus, in the course of the previous year numerous cases of oppression of the mass media workers by national and local officials have being registered. Mostly, those are the journalists that touched «sensitive matters» in their articles and reports, exposing corruption and other government drawbacks. That is, there is a clear government interference into the mass media matters, who sees them as a threat to national security. Under the impact of war with Russia, violent attacks on the media take place. Thus, Kiev’s government shows rather intolerant attitude towards any «unconventional »views expressed in the press and on the television. As a result, most Russia-based TV channels are being closed and numerous media workers are being trapped and even physically abused. Thus, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) broke into the office of the newspaper «Vesti» in Kiev, attacked the workers and shut down the website. A television station «Inter» is being under investigation. Blamed for propagandistic ideas, the channel is being a victim of hard harassment by current Ukrainian authorities. Moreover, there are records of mysterious disappearances and deaths of the mass media workers with no proper investigations following. For instance, in spite of the requests from the international …show more content…
Whether this degrading tendency is going to continue is an open question, the answer to which depends on the course the country will chose regarding the freedom of speech aspect.
It goes without saying, the country does possess a huge theoretical base, where all the basic principals of the freedom of speech may find its realisation. That is, there are lots of various publishing houses, channels and other means of media that reflect different, often opposite views. Nevertheless, one can speak of a lack of a perfect mechanism that will help to materialise the freedom of speech into legal acts. In other words, all the improvements and steps should find its reflection in theory, as well as in practice.
Thus, finding a balance between concerns about national security and the freedom of speech could be a possible solution, since both are vital for democracy in the