The Commission on Journalistic Ethics expresses its indignation at the report that on July 12, a Telegram channel with over 140,000 followers published a call to “destroy” the editorial office of the online publication Cukr. The threat is connected with the article about the life of LGBTQ+ people in Sumy.
The Commission strongly condemns this gross pressure on the editorial office of an independent media. The purpose of such threats is to influence the publication’s editorial policy and journalists’ adherence to professional standards. Editorial independence is an important prerequisite for quality journalism. This allows journalists to freely choose topics for coverage, including those related to the lives of various social groups. In this case, the publication about the life of LGBTQ+ people highlights the problems encountered by the characters of the material, making them visible and helping overcome the discrimination of this group.
As stated in paragraph 1 of the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist, freedom of speech and expression is an integral part of a journalist’s activity. The pressure on the media forces them to abandon topics that appear “dangerous,” leads to self-censorship and ultimately to silencing problems or rejecting criticism. As a result, journalists cease to adhere to professional and ethical standards in their work.
Further, paragraph 15 of the Code says, “No one shall be discriminated against on the grounds of sex, language, race, religion, national, regional or social origin or political opinion.” By analogy, this list also refers to the inadmissibility of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Commission on Journalistic Ethics calls on the National Police to thoroughly and promptly investigate the pressure on the editors of the online magazine Cukr and identify the authors of the threats. We hope that those responsible for the threats will be brought to justice, and that journalists will not need to be afraid to do their job.