Istil Group, owner of the Kyiv Post, rejects allegations of “censorship” and “breaking international laws” as pure nonsense and an emotional reaction to Chief Editor Brian Bonner’s exit from the newspaper.
Anybody who reads the Kyiv Post newspaper or visits its website will agree that the newspaper is one of the most independent and outspoken publications in Ukraine’s media market. The Publisher of the Kyiv Post is proud of the fact-based reporting and high ethical standards of his journalists and their commitment to fulfilling their role of informing society in a balanced and objective manner. Moreover, the Publisher of the Kyiv Post has withstood numerous legal claims in court intended to shut down the newspaper. Most recently in London a libel suit against the Kyiv Post was rejected by a court of law. The Kyiv Post publisher has proved and defended his commitment to freedom of speech and press on numerous occasions.
The Kyiv Post interview with the Minister of Agriculture that served as the basis for “censorship” claims by some was, according to the publisher, based on speculative questioning without any factual back up. There were no calls from government officials to remove the interview. The interview was published in the last edition of the newspaper and remains on the newspaper site for all to read. If the publisher was intent on killing the story he could have stopped the press run from being distributed and would have pulled the story off the site. That did not occur.
The difference of opinion between the publisher and chief editor of the Kyiv Post that led to Mr. Bonner’s departure from the newspaper lay in the editorial content and competitiveness of the Ukrainian/Russian language edition of the Kyiv Post site. The publisher’s goal is for the Ukrainian/Russian language site to be as editorially interesting and captivating as the English-language edition.
Mr. Bonner’s tenure with the Kyiv Post has led to several successes, including a team of talented and loyal journalist committed to an editorially superior product. We wish him well in his new endeavors. The Kyiv Post will continue publishing on schedule and the publisher is committed to sustaining the publication’s commitment to independence, trust and community.
