More than 20 journalists say they are planning to leave UMH Group, one of the biggest media holdings in Ukraine, because of new pro-government ownership and management, interference in editorial independence and censorship.
“More than 20 people are
leaving Korrespondent, both the magazine and the site,” Kristina Berdinskikh, an ex-journalist of Korrespondent magazine
wrote today on her Facebook page. She said the brand “beat” a sister publication, Forbes Ukraine, in the number of journalists who quit or plan to quit. At least 13 journalists left Forbes — quit or got fired — in the ownership change at UMH Group.
“I already
counted 24 people. Tomorrow is the last working day for the chief editors Vitaly Sych and Julia McGuffie,” Berdinskikh wrote. Sych edited the magazine; McGuffie edited the website.
However, Andriy
Ovcharenko, acting chief editor of Korrespondent, told the Kyiv Post that the number of departures at the magazine is fewer than 20.
“There
are six people from the magazine and 11 people from the site who decided to go,” Ovcharenko said, despite making counter-offers to get them to stay. “It is very sad that
they are leaving.”
In April 2011, former Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko purchased KP Media, which included korrespondent.net website and bigmir.net web portal. Poroshenko later sold his shares to UMH Group, which in June was sold to multimillionaire Serhiy Kurchenko’s VETEK holding. After he took over the group, Kurchenko pledged to support editorial independence and deneid censorship.
It is not surprising that journalists are leaving, according to Natalya Ligacheva, a media watchdog with Telekritika website. “All
these events are the consequence of the changes in the management of the
magazine and the site, new editorial policy and creation of the “censorship
department”, Ligacheva said.
Some journalists questioned by the Kyiv Post privately confirmed that the
main reason for leaving Korrespondent is infringements on editorial independence and the adoption of a pro-government stance.
Kurchenko, who is considered as a pro-government businessman, closed on
the deal earlier this month. The holding includes Forbes Ukraine and some 50 other
brands on the internet, radio and print in Ukraine and Russia.
Earlier, on Nov. 13, 13 journalists from Ukrainian Forbes resigned. They also accused
chief editor Mikhail Kotov of rejecting without
explanation several political stories that they had pitched.
Sych, the longest-serving chief editor of Korrespondent magazine,
was removed on Nov. 18 from the position he held for more than a decade.
The new strategy appears to be bad for business. Some
readers have already refused to renew subscriptions. Many readers also said they planned to delete
Korrespondent.net from their bookmarks and stop reading the website.
Mariia Shamota can be reached at [email protected]
