On March 2, 2023, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics received a complaint by Arnold Varus about the story of the ITV channel People Dissatisfied with Modular Town in Rivne Oblast dated March 1, 2023, which was posted on the TV channel’s YouTube profile.
The applicant believed that the story was based on the journalist’s subjective impression. In particular, in his opinion, the story created a negative impression of internally displaced people who settled in temporary modular towns in the Radyvyliv community.
He also claimed that the team of the TV channel did not adhere to the standards of credibility and balance, and some statements of the journalist on air (particularly about the stability of the modular houses in the climate of Rivne Oblast, about the houses “essentially hanging on the balconies of a residential building”) are not confirmed by independent experts and comments of local residents who participate in the story and constitute the journalist’s own opinion.
Following the Commission’s communication with TOV TRK Rytm, which is the legal entity in the media sector broadcasting under the ITV brand, the story was removed from the YouTube channel: it is no longer available at the link that the complaint was filed about. The Commission welcomes this step on the part of the TV channel and its readiness to respond to the complaints of its audience, promptly removing content that could contain violations of journalistic ethics from public access.
The Commission understands the sensitivity of the subject related to covering the life of internally displaced people in new communities and the difficulties of their integration. When covering this subject, it is necessary:
- to avoid any manifestations of discrimination and hate speech, so as not to reinforce prejudices that may already exist at the local level regarding IDPs from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine;
- to adhere to the standards of balanced presentation of information, asking the opinion of IDPs regarding accusations that may be expressed against them by local residents;
- to remember about the journalists’ own role in reducing social tensions at the local level, which is consistent with the main goal of journalism — serving the interests of the community as enshrined in the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist.