Dystopia on The Day of Journalism

Viktor Yanukovych’s press conference, held in the Ukrainian House on occasion of his first 100 days of presidency, became a kind of test of the degree of freedom (or lack thereof) granted to mass media in this country. It is curious that only the representatives of the central media ventured to ask “annoying” questions, including those concerning freedom of speech. As fas as the regional media go, their representatives only asked “correct” questions.

Only a few dared wear tee-shirts with “Stop Censorship!” written on them. “I can get kicked out of work for this,” confessed one of the regional journalists representing a state-owned periodical.

Thus, about 50 journalists met Viktor Yanukovych wearing shirts with the inscription “Stop Censorship!” – a sign of support of the civil movement initiated a couple of weeks earlier. However, the president’s words revealed that both the journalists and himself “held the same views.”

“Your wearing these T-shirts here, and inviting me to stay with you, testifies to the fact that we are confederates. No one has ever stopped you, nor are they doing that now, nor will it be done in the future,” assured Yanukovych answering a question asked by the STB’s Natalia Sokolenko about his attitude towards the movement “Stop Censorship!”

Right there, at the press conference, Yanukovych handed Valerii Khoroshkovsky, director of the Security Service of Ukraine, and Anatolii Mohyliov, Minister of the Internal Affairs, a statement listing the movement’s demands, and charged them to “consider the problem, meet the initiators of the statement, and develop suggestions aimed at solving the issues raised.”

These president’s words caused bursts of laughter and applause in the audience.

Soon afterwards, on Sunday June 6, The Day of journalism, the movement “Stop Censorship!” held another action, a March for Free Speech. Its activists gathered in the Maidan and marched down Hrushevsky Street to the Verkhovna Rada building, and then down Bankova Street, to the Administration of the President of Ukraine.

On the way to their destination, the journalists handed out copies of the satirical dystopian newspaper Ukrainian nonPravda [Ukrainian Lies] of June 6, 2014, created and published specially for the occasion. In this issue, renowned journalists reported on fictional events from one day from Ukraine’s future, June 6, 2014, in case the reduction of civil rights in Ukraine gains impetus.

“The genre of dystopia, chosen by the authors of the materials in Ukrainian nonPravda, shows that this is literature rather than forecast. Although we cannot rule out that there might be people who would be quite happy to see this scenario implemented,” explained Sokolenko, a member of the “Stop Censorship!” movement, in her comment to The Day. “The need for such a demarche by journalists had been brewing for years. However, we couldn’t speak out before the election: we were persuaded that politicians would use our protests to their own advantage.

“And this is the drawback of the journalist community: we had left the previous four years in Yushchenko’s control. Instead, supporting the freedom of speech requires continual effort.”

Sokolenko intimated to The Day the movement’s further plans.

“Now, we’re thoroughly preparing for the meeting with Valerii Khoroshkovsky. At this meeting, we are going to present all the available facts about the limitation of freedom of speech and infringements upon journalists’ rights – as many facts as we have – and we’re also going to demand that these facts are investigated, and the culprits found and punished.

“We are also developing a mechanism of cooperation and efficient reaction to the situation in the regions. We are also working towards developing legislative initiatives. Last week, Arsenii Yatseniuk registered a draft law which largely coincides with those legislative demands put forward by the “Stop Censorship!” movement. Now, let the MPs vote on it.”