Ukraine’s status as one of the freest nations among former Soviet republics requires eternal vigilance because it is under assault from within.
The nation’s biggest television channels – Inter, Ukraina, 1+1, STB and ICTV – are owned by oligarchs Rinat Akhmetov, Dmytro Firtash, Victor Pinchuk and Ihor Kolomoisky. They seem to do the bidding of President Petro Poroshenko, owner of Channel 5, in shutting out dissenting voices.
Ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Nov. 28 claimed these channels had reached an agreement with Poroshenko to stop covering him. The Content Analysis Center, a media monitoring group, said that the main oligarchic channels, and others, had not covered a pro-Saakashvili rally in Kyiv.
According to a VoxUkraine analysis, there are almost no negative mentions of Poroshenko on top Ukrainian channels’ Sunday news shows.
The main channels are now also off-limits for independent journalists. Top television hosts Andrei Kulikov and Yevgeniy Kiselyov left, respectively, ICTV and Inter earlier this year. Another top host, Savik Shuster, has been thrown out of First National, 112, 1+1 and other stations. He created his own small channel, 3sTV, but said on Dec. 1 that it is closing on Jan. 1, 2017 due to a lack of funding and pressure by the government. Meanwhile, Zurab Alasania on Nov. 1 resigned as CEO of the National Television Company, citing worsened relations with the authorities due to critical anti-corruption shows.
At the same time, independent Hromadske television has been attacked by Poroshenko’s supporters.
To add insult to injury, Vadym Troyan, who was suspected of conducting surveillance of journalist Pavlo Sheremet before he was killed in July – though he denies it – became the National Police’s acting head on Nov. 14.
Poroshenko and the oligarchs appear to have a deal – they don’t have to fear any prosecutors or tax inspectors – as long as they hold up their end of the bargain: Stifle or ignore dissenting voices.
