Comedy TV shows created during the period of Ukraine’s independence became one of the inherent parts of holiday celebrations for part of the Ukrainian audience. The jokes usually covered a wide range of topics — from political satire to mocking the language, regional, religious and ethnic features of the population. Othering could apply to anyone in these shows, regardless of their status in society.
And although when this genre emerged back in the 1990s, this boldness could appear as a sign of lack of censorship and artistic freedom, ethical norms and society’s development led to a different perception of some subjects for humor, requiring a more cautious approach on the part of the authors.
Unfortunately, the authors of these comedy shows, who gained traction and wealth enjoying a large audience on major TV channels, did not always keep up with these changes in society. Despite multiple scandals connected with the dissemination of discriminatory statements in the show and despite the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion into Ukraine, shows like Kvartal 95, Diesel Show and others continue using the same old patterns to create content. Monitoring by media organizations repeatedly pointed out humor that can cause discrimination of internally displaced persons and people residing in temporarily occupied territories, misogyny and propaganda of alcoholism, as well as sexism and racism.
Paragraph 15 of the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist emphasizes that, “No one shall be discriminated against on the grounds of sex, language, race, religion, national, regional or social origin or political opinion.” It also urges to avoid offensive language and profanity. The Commission is aware that there is quite a thin line between humor and ridiculing a certain phenomenon, on the one hand, and discrimination and hate speech, on the other hand. Freedom of expression does protect not only positively perceived information or ideas or ones that are considered inoffensive or do not cause public outcry, but also ideas that are offensive, shocking, or disturbing. However, in assessing whether certain humor can cause discrimination, it is important to analyze the context of the statement and its reach.
National TV channels with the largest audience must be aware that they have some of the biggest impacts on the formation of public opinion, unlike things like content actively sought by individuals on online platforms. As major media outlets with significant resources available for pre-release examination of materials, they have to be especially careful with potential manifestations of discriminatory humor and take all the necessary precautions to avoid discrimination and stereotyping of vulnerable groups on air.
The list of such groups is quite extensive and includes ethnic communities and races (including Roma, Jews, Crimean Tatars, Africans, and often, following the example of our northern neighbor, ethnicities of Central Asia and the Caucasus), religious groups (Muslims, the Jewish etc.), the LGBTQI+ community (gay, lesbian, trans, and queer individuals), certain social groups (refugees, IDPs, residents of temporarily occupied territories), language minorities, people with disabilities, and others.
The Commission does not deny the media the right to choose the subjects of jokes independently, but urges them to approach the audience’s experiences more cautiously, since humor or satire are used as entertaining content and should not additionally traumatize people who may recognize themselves as the characters of such sketches.
Furthermore, humor should not reinforce certain stereotypes, typically false, about representatives of certain groups, painting them as inferior.
In the past, this technique was widely used in products targeting several markets at once (Ukrainian, Russian, the so-called CIS), and it not only led to an overly simplified understanding of the ethnopolitical situation in many countries, but also normalized the sense of inferiority of Ukraine’s own culture among a large part of the Ukrainian population.
On January 2, 2024, the Commission received a complaint from journalist Yevheniia Virlych “regarding the New Year episode of Kvartal 95 Studio broadcast by channel 1+1.” According to the complainant, this episode discriminates against residents of Southern and Eastern Ukraine based on language and against women.
In the specific situation with the New Year episode of the Kvartal 95 show by 1+1 Ukraine, the Commission welcomes the steps taken by the media outlet to reduce the harm caused by the show by removing the sketch from YouTube and editing the entire episode to remove the discriminatory sketch. Although this happened following a public outcry, particularly the statement by the major of the temporarily occupied Skadovsk, and the video remains publicly accessible as of the moment of writing, this response indicates that the TV channel realized the potential harmful consequences that may arise due to further dissemination of this video. This response is also in direct contrast with the authors of the show, who claim it’s “much ado about nothing” and helping the enemy, thus shifting the blame for a potential violation onto the audience.
Looking at the sketch with the internally displaced woman from Skadovsk in terms of the introduction by Yurii Krapov that takes place before the sketch and the response of the male character who invites the heroine on another date after the conversations, the authors’ arguments that they wanted to “show it’s never late to learn Ukrainian even if you never spoke it before” may indeed appear acceptable. However, the deliberate exaggeration of language peculiarities of the IDP appears excessive and unnatural, achieving the level of garbled Ukrainian exhibited by a former PM from Yanukovych administration, thus clearly evoking a negative connotation in Ukrainian society due to links with a specific historic period and individuals whose activity eventually led to the ongoing war.
The Commission on Journalistic Ethics believes that professional ethics requirements should apply to entertainment content created to meet the needs of media consumers.
Compliance with paragraph 15 of the Ethics Code, which prohibits the dissemination of discriminatory language and hate speech, is among key requirements for comedy shows. In order to ensure compliance with the Ethics Code, the Commission recommends that the media:
- avoid divisive rhetoric, especially during the war, which contributes to reinforcement of stereotypes that incite hostility and form a biased negative attitude to a specific group of people;
- engage representatives of vulnerable group and/or human rights defenders in the creation of comedy product to reduce the risks of creating discriminatory content;
- shift away from the creation of content that normalizes stigmatization of certain social groups, even if such content is in demand with part of the media’s audience;
- develop and implement systematic measures to create non-discriminatory content in TV shows, such as the presence of a tolerance and inclusion department or specialist, annual non-discrimination and gender equality training for media employees; provide special resources for these measures; and regularly carry out systematic review and reporting on their implementation; develop and implement equality and non-discrimination policies in content and on the editorial team;
- keep in mind the media’s crucial role in the formation of media consumption skills and education of the audience, particularly when it comes to fostering tolerance in society.