You're reading: EuroMaidan activists call for boycott of Inter TV channel

EuroMaidan activists call on politicians, advertisers and regular viewers to boycott Inter, Ukraine’s arguably most watched and influential television channel. According to Jan. 5 statement, such move is caused by the channel’s increasingly biased coverage of mass protests taking place in Kyiv since late November.

“During the
recent weeks, the (Inter) channel’s editorial policy has undergone catastrophic
changes,” the statement of Maidan, a recently registered people’s movement behind EuroMaidan, reads. “Without any objective reasons, the issue of
Maidan has disappeared from the news. If covered, it does so in such a
distorted way that it has nothing to do with the reality.”

In late December, media watchdog Telekritika reported, citing anonymous sources at the media outlet, that two executives and an adviser at Inter resigned over censorship of news coverage.

A source at Inter TV, who asked anonymity because
the person is not authorized to speak publicly, said that Anna
Bezliudnaya, a longtime associate of billionaire Dmytro Firtash, an owner of
more than 70 percent of Inter group, took over management of Inter holding on Dec. 24, and is assembling her
team of managers.

Maidan’s
statement alleges that the recent managerial changes are to blame for the
editorial policy shift at Inter.

“Considering
certain staff changes, which preceded these (editorial) tendencies, we have to draw
a conclusion that this is the conscious policy by president’s administration
that uses Inter channel for the worst propaganda goals, trying to create an
impression that all is quiet in the country and millions of Ukrainian citizens protesting
against the government simply don’t exist,” the statement reads.

Considering
this, Maidan calls for regular viewers to stop watching the channel to “lower
its influence and profitability,” while the advertisers are asked to refrain to
place ads with Inter.

The
statement also calls on opposition politicians and activists to refrain from
commenting and distributing news to Inter for one week, until its editorial policy
is restored back to “universal standards of objectivity, impartiality and truthfulness.”