And it’s not a good feeling.
On Jan. 19, a story broke on an aggregator website – citing anonymous “informed sources” – that the Kyiv Post has decided to form an alliance with ex-Verkhovna Rada speaker and ex-Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, who is touted as an opposition leader and a possible candidate for president in 2015.
There was no call for response from the Kyiv Post or Bonner. And there was nobody quoted from Yatseniuk’s side.
The story is simply not true. But with the lightning-speed of the Internet, the strange report got picked up by at least a half-dozen websites – copied and pasted, word-for-word. Naturally, Kyiv Post owner Mohammad Zahoor – who has adopted an editorial policy that the newspaper should be politically non-partisan – wanted us to find out the basis of the story.
As far as we can trace, the story originated on vlasti.net, which contains a price list on its website, charging up to $600 for 24-hour placement of a “top story.” It was first posted on the Internet about 11 a.m. on Jan. 19 and appeared almost simultaneously on several other such aggregator websites that claim to be news organizations.
The timing and volume suggest a mass purchase of space, either with the intention to embarrass Yatseniuk, Bonner, the Kyiv Post or all three.
Our fervent belief and hope is that discerning readers will see through such black PR for what it is: bogus.
One big clue that a story is suspicious and might not be legitimate news is attribution to anonymous sources.
The Kyiv Post does use anonymous sources, but sparingly. Sometimes it’s the only way to get the story. But we also have a practice of explaining to people why we granted the person or persons anonymity.
Examples are that they legitimately fear for their safety or are not authorized to speak publicly on the issue by their employer.
In all cases, the top editor needs to know the identity of the anonymous source and, if the possibility of a lawsuit exists, so do the newspaper’s publisher and lawyers.
Even when we agree to grant anonymity to a source, we do our best to identify the person’s position or why they are considered reliable in the article.
The best practice, of course, remains identifying people fully by name and position and trying to ascertain the validity of the information that is given to us.
Moreover, the Kyiv Post also makes every effort to reach people for their side of the story if they are accused of any kind of wrongdoing. To do less is simply unfair and, yes, even yellow journalism.
At the Kyiv Post, we strive to practice the highest standards of independent, ethical, fair and factual journalism. When we fall short, we correct our mistakes and, if warranted, apologize.
We wish others would do the same.
