COMMENTARY

Zynovy KULYK, Editor-In-Chief , Polityka i kultura:

Financial independence is, in my opinion, one of the cornerstones of the free press. The only cases when the press was absolutely independent financially go back to before World War II. After the war, the press began to commercialize, and for this reason in the countries that are called developed democracies, the mass media’s existence hinges on several or, at least, on one factor: receipts from advertising. As of today, there is no financially independent mass media, but a certain degree of independence of this or that press outlet is in direct proportion to its financial stability and independence. For this reason, one should not be afraid of any cash injections into our information industry from abroad.

As to this particular grant released by the United States government to support the independent press, I could give my exact evaluation if I knew the terms on which this grant will be given: who the recipients are, what the terms are, who is to allocate the money and establish the degree of independence of recipients, and what the money is intended for — to support some journalists or to provide economic assistance to mass media outlets. Still, there is no doubt that such shots in the arm are vitally needed by the Ukrainian press, as there are no original Ukrainian outlets that can pay their own way so far. In this context, reprinting materials from the Russian press can bring a good profit, for production costs are low while circulation and the amount of advertising can be great. Given the lack of original Ukrainian outlets and unprofitable character of those that exist, each hryvnia, dollar, or cent received in help is needed.

On the other hand, the $750,000 earmarked to support the independent press in Ukraine is a trifle not worth mentioning because it constitutes about an annual budget of an average press outlet. But I wholeheartedly support the inflow of experienced and wealthy American owners and managers. To make this a reality, we have to enact the appropriate legislation, on the one hand, to protect their investment, and on the other hand, to elevate the status of the Ukrainian language and protect information environment. If, by implementing their projects here they could demonstrate how to make money in the mass media, it would be extremely useful for us. Isolated injections to support independent media by the American government and international public organizations can encompass only one or two publications or a score of books and cannot have a noticeable impact on the overall situation in a country with a 50 million population.

Valery IVANOV, President of the Ukrainian Academy of Press, Deputy Director of the School of Journalism, Taras Shevchenko National University:

In my judgment, such a step by the American government is absolutely natural with regard to the developing countries. Unfortunately, Ukraine is still a developing country, especially in terms of the development of democracy. In similar cases, the United States would give support to any mass media outlets which are not founded by state agencies and which support the development of democracy. Hence, I see no threat at all to the Ukrainian press from such help. I think this help should be accepted with gratitude, unless there are some strings attached. Besides, we have to realize that we live in a world where there are superpowers which want to influence other states. Not only the United States, but also Russia, Germany, and all the other countries are eyeing Eastern Europe as a sphere of their interests and are trying to influence us, something which is quite in line with accepted international practices. In its days, the Soviet Union tried to get some leverage on the United States’ public opinion by various means, including the press.

Typically, the allocation of such cash infusions for Ukraine is done by mass communications experts. But their decisions are inevitably partially subjective as there is no independent mass media in Ukraine. The experts thus have to establish the degree of dependence of media outlets and analyze their development trends.

Peter SAVCHYN, press attache of the US Embassy in Ukraine:

The fund in support of the independent mass media in Ukraine announced by the US Embassy in March should be viewed as part of the general US assistance program for Ukraine in its efforts to build a strong civil society, secure the supremacy of the law and democratic freedoms, with the freedom of expression being an integral part of it. At the present moment, we are at the early stages of implementing the program to support independent mass media in Ukraine. Our purpose is to use balanced and transparent approaches for program implementation. The bulk of the grant money will be allocated through open tendering. Money will be distributed not only among the mass media but also among non-governmental organizations supporting the press and the freedom of expression, schools of journalism, and other institutions.