Background
On February 20, 2023, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics received a complaint from the Representative of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for equal rights and freedoms, rights of national minorities, political and religious views Mykhailo Spasov against the material of UNIAN online publication written by Mykhailo Hannytskyi: Companions in Misfortune. Azerbaijan’s Path Followed by Ukraine” of January 31, 2023, available at https://www.unian.ua/world/brati-po-neshchastyu-shlyah-azerbaydzhanu-po-yakomu-yde-ukrajina-12128349.html.
The journalist wrote an article comparing the historical situations and challenges faced by Ukraine and Azerbaijan in fighting off the aggressors — Russia and Armenia, respectively. According to the author, comparing Ukraine’s situation to Azerbaijan recovering control over Karabakh can serve as a good example for Ukraine after deoccupation of the territories and their reintegration. The material presents the historical context of Armenians populating the Nagorno-Karabakh area and the contemporary Armenia, claiming that it only happened in the middle of the 19th century. In the 20th century, Armenians started having new political “whims” about the Karabakh territory, which resulted in the war in 1992-1994 and the creation of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh.
The material contains several controversial statements, including that “Armenia became a perpetual reliable ally of Kremlin imperialists on the military and diplomatic front (for example, it is now supporting Russians killing Ukrainians in the UN),” “’Crucified boys in underwear’ shared by Russian propagandists in 2014 is a walk in the park compared with the falsifications and systemic information campaign carried out against Azerbaijan” etc.
The author of the material describes the experience of demining, construction of roads, restoration of houses from local materials and building up forces. Among these statements, there is one about Armenians turning mosques into barns. The author’s final message is that “there can be no peaceful negotiations until the Armed Forces of Ukraine regain control over every square inch of our land; otherwise, history will repeat itself.”
The applicant believes that the material may contain untruthful, distorted and inaccurate facts, as well as false tendentious statements which incite international hostility. The complainant believes that the author may mislead the readers, encouraging them to believe that Armenians are involved in the killing of Ukrainians by Russians. In view of this, the applicant believes that the journalist violated the requirements of clauses 9 and 15 of the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist in his publication.
On June 19, 2023, the Commission asked UNIAN to provide commentary on the material and on the reasoning provided in the complaint. There was no response from the media.
Relevant ethical standards
Clause 9 of the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist: “Facts, judgments and assumptions must be clearly separated from one another. The dissemination of information containing bias or unfounded accusations is unacceptable.”
According to paragraph 15 of the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist, “No one shall be discriminated against on the grounds of sex, language, race, religion, national, regional or social origin or political opinion. Relevant features of a person (group of people) should be indicated only in cases where this information is an essential part of the material. It is necessary to refrain from hints or remarks concerning physical defects or diseases of the person, to avoid use of offensive expressions, profanity.”
Regarding violations of the requirements of the Code, cl. 9 and 15
Clause 15 of the Code prohibits spreading hate speech and discriminatory statements. This prohibition particularly applies when the media cover ethnic or political conflicts which may occur in various parts of the world. Dissemination of biased information is less severe, but still a violation of the Code, namely clause 9. These provisions should be distinguished based on the amount of harm that may be caused by the material following inciting contentious or hateful attitudes in society: biased materials inciting contempt towards a certain social group which can evolve into negative consequences in real life will be prohibited under clauses 9 and 15 of the Code, while materials covering a historic event in a biased manner, unless the historic fact in question is fully established and unequivocal, will only be prohibited under clause 9 of the Code.
Mykhailo Hannytskyi’s report is an example of an original report. Such materials give the authors freedom to express their views — however, they still have to be aware of the responsibility if they reinforce segregation or polarization in society with their materials. While the war in Nagorno-Karabakh is covered in the material, the author does not look at whether the Azerbaijani side committed international crimes during the war. In addition, the material leads the reader to believe that the Azerbaijani minority in Ukraine supports its territorial integrity, unlike the Armenian minority, although these claims are not substantiated in any way. Alongside other statements (about the perpetual ally of Russian imperialists, the mention of brutal fascists under Armenian flags), the material generates bias against Armenians, which violates the Code.
On the other hand, the material does not create the atmosphere of hostility and does not incite hatred towards the Armenian minority in Ukraine: a significant part of the material places the blame for what happened in Azerbaijan equally on Armenians and Russians. In this context, the Commission cannot conclude that the material may lead to incitement of enmity, despite its bias. Regardless, its publication still violates clause 9 of the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist.
Conclusion and recommendations
In view of the above, the Commission believes that the UNIAN material written by Mykhailo Hannytskyi “Companions in Misfortune. Azerbaijan’s Path Followed by Ukraine” of January 31, 2023, violates clause 9 of the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist.
The Commission issues a warning to the publication and the journalists and refers them to its own statement on opinion journalism. The Commission also urges journalists to be cautious with historical parallels and conclusions on similarity of historical processes in different contexts, as well as to avoid hate speech which can incite violence and hostility in society.
The Commission also emphasizes that its findings cannot become the basis for conclusions of public agencies or regulators on violations of the law in certain materials. Putting pressure on the media and journalists with the help of the Commission’s decisions is unacceptable.