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Ukrainian journalists on Nov. 6 staged a protest in Kyiv against the widespread practice of paid-for news. KP Media, photo by Konstantin Klimenko Journalists staged a symbolic protest against the blatant practice of paid-for news in Ukrainian mass media

ymbolic demonstration on Oct. 6 against the broad practice of paid-for news reports and pledged to prevent their production and dissemination in the media.

Journalists said they would monitor 10 leading Ukrainian national TV channels for airing made-to-order reports, called “jeansa” in Russian, which is slang for “money in the pocket.”

“Paid stories in news broadcasts, guests buying airtime, and wholly ordered TV programs are no longer just a few cases. They have become a widespread phenomenon, a well-managed industry, which drives out real news, analysis and discussions,” read the journalists’ statement.

Ihor Sobolev, protest leader and news presenter at Ukraine’s 5 Kanal (Channel 5), said that “jeansa” is currently rampant in broadcasting.

“Today there are more paid-for materials in the mass media than at any other time,” Sobolev said.

Protesting journalists signed a pledge to not take part in the proliferation or presentation of pre-paid news.

Sobolev also said that each case of purchased journalism should be made public. “We hope that by the end of the month we will have accurate information on paid-for materials broadcasted through TV channels.”

Journalists plan to award a monthly “anti-hero” prize of Hr 30 ($6) to their colleagues caught in the act.

The rise of “jeansa” is associated with the recent elections.

“On some TV channels, all broadcasted election video materials were paid for. In most cases, it was a conscious TV management policy,” said Viktoria Syumar, director of the Kyiv-based Institute of Mass Information, a media watchdog.

Speaking at a conference devoted to paid-for reporting several weeks ago, Natalia Ligachova, chief editor of the Telekritika media watchdog publication, said that “during the [parliamentary] election campaign, some TV station owners made $30-40 million. Television became a mere mouthpiece of messages from big business and politics, whose interests usually diverge from those of civil society.”

Paid-for reports were present on all TV channels during the election campaign, albeit in varying degrees, according to experts.

“We’ve been fighting with censorship from the authorities for so long that we’ve eventually been censored by money,” noted Syumar.

Commenting on the journalists’ protest, Syumar said, “We would rather have heard this statement not today, but during the peak payment period of the election campaign. It would have been more appropriate then, but we still welcome this statement.”