On
April 23, 2013 on the leadership of TVi was suddenly changed. The new
management’s first step was the removal from further broadcast on
April 23rd of the programme “Today About the Most Important”,
the cancellation of the programme “At Night with Pavlo Sheremet”
and the firing of its host, Pavlo Sheremet. Such actions were treated
by TVi journalists as an act of censorship. In response, the
journalists were forced to declare a strike and to refuse to go on
air.
At
present time the strike has been joined by the editors and
journalists many
programmes
at
the channel, including: “Today” (news programme), “Today
About The Most Important”, “Today. A Digest”, “At
the Night with Pavlo Sheremet,” “A Game of Words and Not
Just”, Alberteinshtein”, “Civilization 2.0”,
“Dear Deputies” and others.
The
preparation of new programmes was also suspended by the editorial
groups of “Exclamation Point” and “Tender News»,
whose journalists conducted their own investigations of the events
leading up to the change in ownership and management of the channel,
as well as the steps by which the change in ownership occurred. The
investigative editorial groups demand that the station’s ownership
end its interference in the investigative process, and also guarantee
that the results of the investigations be aired on TVi.
A
number of demands were given to the new management, including:
non-interference in the professional activities of the journalists,
establishment of a transparent corporate ownership structure,
disclosure
of
the true owners of TVi, and the adoption of a moratorium on the
termination of employment of journalists and technical staff.
A
number of community organisations have extended their support to the
Journalists Union of TVi, including Reporters with Borders, the
Independent Media Union of Ukraine, International Federation of
Journalists, European Federation of Journalists, the Stop Censorship
Movement. These organisations deem the events at TVi as censorship
and attempts to exert pressure on the journalistic practices of the
station.
As
well, TVi’s employees wish to advise of the involvement, without any
legal or formal authorisation, of Mykola Kniazhytsky, member of the
Ukrainian Parliament and a member of the Batkivschyna parliamentary
group in the conflict between the journalists and management. TVi’s
journalists view this as an effort by the station’s management to
exert pressure on the journalists and station employees.
The
journalists, editors, producers, operators and technical employees,
who are members of the Union, advise that they do not support any of
the sides in the conflict. They wish to ensure that news and
information continues to be broadcast in an objective and impartial
manner.
The
Journalists Union of TVi underlines its readiness, at any moment, to
resume working in the event of the fulfillment of the Union’s
demands. However, at the present moment, the channel’s management
categorically refuses to enter into negotiation with Journalists
Union and does not recognise its demands.
As
a result, the Journalists Union of TVi appeals to the representatives
of foreign governments in Ukraine with the request that they evaluate
the facts of censorship and pressure on the channel’s employees, as
well as the events that took place April 23, 2013 by which the
station’s management was changed in a less than transparent manner.
