JOURNALISTS’ DAY IN UKRAINE

June 6 marked Journalists’ Day in Ukraine, instituted in 1994 by Decree #251/4, signed by President Leonid Kravchuk, thus putting an end to Soviet Press Day (May 5). The new date commemorates the accession of the Journalists’ Union of Ukraine into the International Federation of Journalists in 1992. The historical date was first considered May 15, 1848, when the first Ukrainian-language newspaper Zoria Halytska [The Dawn of Galicia] began publication in Western Ukraine. This idea was up for much consideration, but in the end Yevhen Verbylo, then head of the JUU, supported by the First All Ukraine convention of newspaper and magazine editors, had the final say. This year, it should be noted, celebrating Journalists’ Day farther away from May 1st [International Labor Day] was good for the organizing committee of the protest action Khvylia Svobody [Freedom Wave], giving MPs over a month to submit Khvylia’s proposals on amendments to the law on the media, primarily with regard to the marginal amount of damages. Was it long enough?

Oleksandr ZINCHENKO , Chairman, Freedom of Speech and Information Committee, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, told to The Day :

“Some systemic amendments should be made to a number of legislative acts. I think the key point is to limit the amounts payable under the lawsuits filed against the media. Today, there are two approaches to solving this problem, to be submitted for discussion in parliament in the nearest future. In the first version, the journalist practically bears no responsibility, and in the second one, more realistic and with chances of being supported, in my opinion, the amount sued for must not exceed the payments prescribed by law in case an individual dies in the line of duty. Such payments are of quite a concrete nature. I think it immoral when the amount sought for the publication of 10-12 lines greatly exceeds the amount of benefits for the loss of a human life.’’

The Day took advantage of Journalists’ Day to interview Ukraine’s leading journalists, asking them to cite examples of corporate professionalism.

We consider this aspect of utmost importance in trying to assess the status of our printed media, the kind of journalism we offer society, and the kind that society expects (or maybe no longer expects) from us. Professional journalism is a notion made up of a great many factors, ranging from the basic ability to write well to the ability to answer the sacramental question, In the name of what?

One must agree that keeping the public informed in an exhaustive and unbiased manner is our journalists’ essential function, without which there is no journalism. And so The Day ’s next question could be something like “Was there anyone in Ukraine to celebrate Journalists’ Day?” or “Does this country really need it?” One can only hope that such questions will never be posed. The questions actually posed to the respondents were, “If you were asked about professionalism in journalism, what examples from your experiences would you cite?” and “What do you consider unprofessional in journalism?”

Olha HERASYMYUK , TV Channel 1+1:

If you do your job very well you can be considered professional, the more so that you know you will be paid very good money for this job. And I am not sure others should blame you. For example, you can work on a collective farm and be paid on a daily basis, doing your job well, and you can work in the field and love this work. In both cases you are professional. Personally, I prefer professionals that love their jobs. I call them emotional professionals. They can be zealots in their own way, prepared to pay with their own lives just to keep their class. Such professionals are my ideal. I don’t mean that everybody should be that way, but such people thrill me. I know many such examples and you won’t find their names on newspaper pages or lists of ratings. The times were different. No one here will recall a woman by the name of Halyna Badanova. She was one of my teachers, fanatically dedicated to the Communist idea. She never succeeded in instilling her dedication in me, rather to the contrary, but she taught me to work. In a way she treated me like old-time soldiers do young conscripts, bullying and ordering me around. She would make me rewrite an answer to a letter a hundred times, saying that my reply must be absolutely exhausting and refined, both in form and content. I thought she was deliberately tormenting me. In reality, she taught me the right way to do my job. There were others, among them Valentyna Bondarenko and Mikhail Frenkel. Other journalists are known in Ukraine today — and not always the best, I should say. The ones I have mentioned are examples of true professionalism and dedication, strict observance of facts and truth. There was a man named Borys Mahyda. He was almost blind, but I have never met anyone with such subtle reporter’s intuition. He was one of the few who knew what nonpareil is (a 6-point type). At the time he knew things no one even needs to know these days. Regrettably, his kind is in extinct.

A lot of true professionals are out of circulation now; no one seems to need them. Also because the current notion of a journalist is a figure with long legs and a long and often dirty tongue. Yet these are no professionals. Also, professionals are people belonging to a certain age group, which is now considered a drawback. You won’t see a journalist past 40 on television. Wrong! At such an age you are better trusted by your audiences. Like I said, almost all such professionals are not professionally employed, and some have gone over and down the hill. This is a very serious problem. I wish their names were remembered and expected.

Mykola NAZARCHUK , head of the agribusiness desk, Podilski Visti (Khmelnytsky):

Of all central Ukrainian newspapers, I prefer The Day and I think that Larysa Zhalovaha’s article “Post-Afghan Syndrome” is an example of professional journalism. It was published right after the presidential elections when most that had voted for Leonid Kuchma were triumphant and the minority of the electorate preferring other candidates were looking for answers to questions that worried them the most. The Day was not among those campaigning for Kuchma. And so the Syndrome article appeared as a timely and successful attempt to explain to the editors and their educated readers what had exactly happened and why one ought to respect the majority vote. In fact, the article became the newspaper’s program document in the post-election period. It is a model political publicist writing, done quickly, honestly, masterfully, and convincingly. The author believes every word she writes. And decency is the cornerstone of professional journalism. There is also an example testifying to the contrary. I mean Pravda Ukrainy ’s miserable attempts to whitewash Pavlo Lazarenko.

Praskovia DVORIANYN , head of Lviv News, Radio Lux:

I consider 1+1’s news bulletin TSN an example of professional broadcast journalism and among their authors I would single out Olha Herasymyuk. She is more than the author and hostess; she tells about a problem and is actively involved in solving it, doing so in the best Western tradition. Also, Viacheslav Pikhovshek. There are times I dislike him, but the man allows all sides to argue their cases. I will not mention entertainment programs, but there is a graphic example of unprofessionalism: the recent Komsomolskaya Pravda publications about Ihor Bilozir’s death in Lviv. There are mistakes in almost every sentence. And they wrote that all street stands and cafes were vandalized. It was as though the city was swept under a tidal wave of violence.

Veronika MAKOVIY , Radio Promin:

Being a first-rate journalist means not only wearing an intelligent look and an expensive tie. It also means having a sense of the times, an ability to do one’s homework well, and absolutely no fear, dependence or poverty. Writing lies and being paid for this is a very strong temptation. Thank God, we have true professionals to learn from. It suffices to recall the wise and tolerant Anatoly Streliany, Andriy Vandenko’s newspaper interviews (his is a rare case when thoughts are committed to paper in a jiffy, coming out smooth and natural), a model approach to the interlocutor, with due attentiveness and respect — I mean Larry King with his rolled sleeves, and the tireless romantic with a sure touch of pessimism, Oleksandr Kryvenko. On a broader range, I would single out the entire BBC staff with their enviable care for objectiveness, when every piece of information is checked using three sources.