If you don’t believe me, or if you have a different opinion, maybe you should watch First National TV Channel [UT-1]. The taxpayer-financed station thinks everything is falling in place – the country is in safe hands and moving in the right direction. Sleep easy, worrywarts! Drop that negativity, pessimists!

No clouds marred the station’s report on President Viktor Yanukovych’s visit to Germany on Aug. 30. “The European – Ukraine Association Agreement [which could bring the nation closer to European Union membership] should be signed in the near future.” This was announced by Yanukovych in Berlin after his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.”

It’s not clear why the reporter is so certain. The lyricism regarding their “friendly handshake” and how the chancellor “personally checks that the honor guard is ready to greet the high-ranking guest” is somewhat embarrassing.

It would be understandable if all these sweet and positive comments were made through the president’s website – this is what it’s there for.

But actually, we are dealing with the news on the First National TV channel, which is there to inform the public of important events in the country and abroad. Whatever other roles it may be performing, this task it abysmally fails.

The headline from one of the world’s biggest information agencies, Associated Press, said it all: “Germany’s Merkel voices concerns over media freedom in Ukraine at president Yanukovych’s visit.”

The chancellor, we are told, urged Yanukovych to strengthen media freedoms in the country and spoke of Germany’s interest in a continuation of democratic processes. They apparently had a very open discussion on the subject.

Are we to assume that UT-1 simply decided that this theme was of no interest? Well, not quite.

The subject was not ignored. It was covered differently: “The issues ranged from energy security, joint innovative projects, an increase in trade between the countries to the processes of democratization in Ukraine.”

I have to especially stress that this news item came from the national channel, financed by supporters of various political forces, believers of different faiths, etc. But it was this channel that saw fit to mislead viewers, for example, by failing to mention the appeal by Germany’s Reporters without Borders [a free-speech watchdog organization] to Merkel to raise the issue of threats to freedom of speech with Ukraine’s president.

It was just as silent over the damning report published by Reporters without Borders on Sept. 1 with an equally telling title “Temptation to control.”

Silence was extended to the court ruling on Aug. 30 by the Kyiv Administrative Court of Appeal, which upheld the cancellation of the results of the January tender for frequencies and declared the subsequent licences of Channel 5 and TVi invalid. This is entirely logical if you follow the logic of UT-1’s deputy director, Walid Harfouche, who believes the channel must only speak positively of the regime.

So, it’s no surprise that the channel goes mute when confronted with the extraordinarily negative consequences of this civil case where the plaintiffs are part of Ukraine’s largest media holding, owned by Valery Khoroshkovsky, who is also head of the State Security Service and a member of the High Council of Justice, with direct influence on the appointment and dismissal of judges.

Quite possibly, Merkel, French Persident Nicolas Sarkozy and other world leaders sometimes dream of a blissful day when the press will lay off or write only glowing praise about their actions.

They remain, however dreams. Most leaders know this is the price of being in power. The Ukrainian authorities who react to critical comments by hushing them up should follow suit.

What can be said about a TV station’s management with a policy of blanket avoidance regarding subjects inconvenient to those in power?

Given Yanukovych’s words about the wish of the Ukrainian people “to do everything to become part of a common European great family,” warnings from Reporters Without Borders should be mentioned.

After the attempt in June, initiated by the State Security Service, to briefly prevent Nico Lange, director of the Kyiv office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, from entering Ukraine, it was easy to predict that Merkel would raise inconvenient issues regarding observance of democratic norms and human rights.

Then, when on Aug. 30 the Verkhovna Rad finally backed down to criticism and changed an undemocratic election law for the better, UT-1 protrayed the reversal as proof of “a responsive government versus the mean and ungrateful opposition.”

One can even argue that UT-1 even thought about presenting a“balance of views” since in the first of the two features on this theme we even hear two sentences from a disgruntled Deputy from YuliaTymoshenko’s Bloc (BYuT). And after all, it’s not their fault that the viewers will understand nothing of this comment.

All of this is like in soap operas – binary, simplistic and false. The well-founded concerns and voices of both Ukrainian and international specialists warning of the threat to democratic elections and democracy are left out of the camera’s focus and unheard.

The authorities can forget their facile assurances regarding the number of critical websites, newspapers etc. Most people in any country receive their information from television. Those in power are well aware of that, just as they are of the state of the First National TV Channel under the management appointed by the coalition’s Cabinet of Ministers back in March.

When asked about Germany’s response to the case involving Channel 5 and TVi, Lange predicted that “Germany’s reaction will depend, among other things, on the processes and reaction to the frequencies issue of the Ukrainian public themselves.”

Developments over recent months make it likely that the same can be said of any encroachments on democracy – that their success will depend on the reaction of the Ukrainian public. In this case, when confronted by the flagrant manipulation of public opinion by the mass media, silence will be fatal.

Halya Coynash is a member of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group.