Decision
Description of the situation
On October 17, 2023, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics received a complaint from Olga Buzuluk about the material of Maksym Kosyur, a journalist of the online media “Competitor” named “How the drug trafficking market works in Lutsk and who is “crushing” it (video)” dated October 16, 2023, available at the link : https://konkurent.ua/publication/125377/yak-u-lutsku-pratsue-rinok-narkotorgivli-ta-hto-yogo-krishuevideo/.
The material is an editorial processing of the original story of TRC “Avers” about a person accused of selling prohibited substances. The accused claims that he is involved only in their use, and explains that now the drug market in Lutsk is “crushing”, and “if someone new and not “crushing” enters the market, he is closed after three months or six months.” The accused does not directly indicate the authorities involved in this practice, limiting himself to the quote: “Now it is crumbling … I will tell you later by whom, but I think you understand.”
After processing the original material, Maksym Kosyur provides information about the accused, as well as the comment of the applicant, who is the spokeswoman of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Volyn region, about ways of countering drug crime in Volyn by law enforcement officers. She notes that drugs mostly enter the region from other regions, as well as online stores, where you can buy the relevant substances, are administered from other places. The comment provided by the police representatives also contains detailed statistics on investigations in the Volyn region of crimes in the sphere of illegal trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues and precursors.
According to the applicant, the title of the material and the image used in it distort the content of the material and do not take into account the position presented by the National Police about the actual absence of problems with drug trafficking in the Volyn region. The image used also hints that law enforcement agencies are involved in the “crushing” of this market.
On December 6, 2023, the Commission appealed to the online media with a request to provide comments regarding the presence in the specified material of violations of the requirements of paragraph 8 of the Code of Ethics of the Ukrainian Journalist and the arguments specified in the complaint. The answer was received on December 8, 2023.
In it, the editor-in-chief of “Konkurent” Andriy Luchyk indicated that Maksym Kosyur purposefully asked the National Police for a comment before publishing the material in order to avoid problems with the balanced presentation of information, which was allowed in the original material of TRC “Avers” regarding a similar issue. The image used in the text of the material is a collage of two photos that were published on the network by law enforcement officers during one or another arrest, and one of them shows a law enforcement officer detaining a potential offender. In the background of this collage, there is a photo of seized narcotic drugs, as well as a hand with money in the frame, which illustrates the illegal benefit that a criminal could receive in the case of selling narcotic drugs. The editor-in-chief of “Konkurent” also considers the headline to be legitimate, because it reveals the topic of the material, which concerns a specific person, and not how Volyn law enforcement officers fight drug crime.
Appropriate ethical standards
Clause 8 of the Code of Ethics of a Ukrainian Journalist: “Editorial processing of materials, including pictures, text, headlines, correspondence of the video sequence and text accompaniment, etc., should not falsify the content. It is necessary to inform the audience about the presentation of rehearsed and reconstructed news.”
Regarding violations of the requirements of paragraph 8 of the Code
Clause 8 of the Code primarily serves as a safeguard against such phenomena as clickbait and manipulation of illustrative materials, which can lead the consumer to form an attitude towards a certain material even before getting acquainted (and sometimes, instead of getting acquainted) with it. The consequence of this can be the distortion of the main idea, which was embedded in the material, in favor of sensationalism, confirmation of prejudices or stereotypes, which can often be done by the media with a political goal or to obtain benefits from various players.
The material of “Competitor” is an example of performing journalistic work instead of unscrupulous media. Maksym Kosyur duly requested a comment from representatives of the National Police. It is important to note that the response of the law enforcement officers occupies a significant part of the material, which allows us to assert that the presentation of information is properly balanced.
At the same time, the title of the material does not distort the content of the material itself. It contains the positions of the accused in the commission of crimes related to the sale of prohibited substances, with a hint that the drug trade market is “crushed” by law enforcement officers, and the position of the police, which does not deny that the drug market exists in the region, but only claims that that it is influenced by other regions. Even the statistics provided by representatives of the National Police indicate the presence of certain problems with drug trafficking in Volyn. Therefore, the headline “How the drug trade market works in Lutsk and who is “crushing” it” does not, in the opinion of the Commission, distort the content of the material, because in it you can learn about opposing positions regarding the state of this market.
The Commission also agrees with the arguments of the editor-in-chief of “Competitor” regarding the perception of the collage placed at the beginning of the material. It cannot be unequivocally regarded as an indication that police representatives are involved in the “crushing” of the drug market, because on the contrary, it indicates the activities of the police in combating crime. Like any artistic work, it can be perceived ambiguously, but such an expression of views is subject to additional protection from the point of view of international standards of freedom of speech. In view of this, the Commission concluded that there were no violations of journalistic ethics standards in the material under consideration.
Conclusion and recommendations
Taking into account the above, the Commission concluded that the material of the journalist of the online media “Competitor” Maxim Kosyur “How the drug trafficking market works in Lutsk and who is “crushing” it (video)” dated October 16, 2023 meets the requirements of the Code of Ethics of a Ukrainian journalist.