Decision
Description of the situation
On 18 March 2022, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics received a request from journalist Oleksandra Ryskalchuk to assess her informational material prepared for VSIM online media outlet, entitled “We show and tell where are pregnant women taken during air alert in Khmelnytsky” on compliance with professional standards of journalism. The material was published on 18 March 2022 and is available at: https://vsim.ua/hmel-nic-kij-i-zhinka/kudi-vedut-vagitnih-pid-chas-sireni-v-hmelnitskomu-pokazuemo-i-rozpovi-11540863.html
The material is the journalist’s news story about a shelter set up in one of the city’s hospitals, where pregnant women hide during air alerts. The material contains photos taken inside the premises depicting beds, a director of the institution, chairs and tables arranged for labor and babies. The director of the institution also talks about the procedure for using the shelter during air alerts.
The editorial board of the online media outlet received a number of complaints and threats from outraged readers who believe that the material poses a threat to patients of the perinatal center from Russia.
Relevant ethical standards
Paragraph 3 of the Code of Ethics of Ukrainian Journalists: “A journalist shall respect a person’s private life. This does not preclude their right to a journalistic investigation related to certain events and facts if the public importance of the information collected and disseminated by a journalist is higher than the private interests of a person.”
Paragraph 18 of the Code of Ethics of Ukrainian Journalists: “A journalist shall be especially careful when covering issues related to children. A journalist and an editor shall have reasonable grounds for covering the private life of a minor person (persons) and shall obtain permission from his / her parents or guardians to do that. It is unacceptable to reveal the names of minors (or to reveal features by which they can be identified) who have been involved in illegal activities or have participated in events related to violence.”
Regarding violation of requirements of the Code
The norms of the Code of Ethics of Ukrainian Journalists are largely designed for peacetime. However, during hostilities, the protection of privacy is of particular importance in the broadest sense. Disclosure of location of military equipment, critical infrastructure facilities, industrial depots, etc. can pose a significant threat not only to private but also to physical lives of individuals due to the risks of an enemy using the information to adjust fire or create new targets.
At the same time, a certain amount of information is necessary for residents living in the area of hostilities. To ensure their safety, residents must have information about shelters. This information should be public and conveyed to the widest possible local audience by local authorities.
The role of journalists in disseminating such information is important as they are intermediaries between the authorities and the community, even in the era of Telegram channels and the widespread use of the mobile Internet. They also have the right to create materials that cover the state of readiness of such civil defense facilities as bomb shelters as this is part of the function of journalists to cover socially important information. This information, among other things, can be important proof of the sufferings of the Ukrainian population in future international trials over aggression. However, its publication would be contrary to the standards of journalistic ethics if it threatens the lives of people and especially children.
In the Commission’s opinion, the analyzed material does not contain information that would pose a threat to the patients of the healthcare institution. The fact that this institution has a shelter is logical given the functional purpose of hospitals. Moreover, the information about this shelter can be found on the Map of Protective Buildings of the Khmelnytsky Community which is publicly available, including for foreign users. Photographs taken directly inside the shelter do not show the faces of those hiding there and do not provide additional insight into its location.
Unfortunately, given the behavior of the aggressor state’s armed forces, no target is protected, despite the norms of international law on the laws and customs of war. The Commission understands the media audience’s concerns about information that could potentially be used by the enemy army. However, in this case, the journalist’s material did not create an additional risk for hospital patients and newborns: information about the location of any hospital is available from a large number of open sources. That is why Oleksandra Ryskalchuk’s material does not violate the right to privacy and meets the requirements of the Code.
Conclusion and recommendations
In view of the above, the Commission considers that the material “We show and tell where are pregnant women taken during air alert in Khmelnytsky” authored by Oleksandra Ryskalchuk, a journalist of the VSIM online media outlet, published on March 18, 2022, meets the requirements of the Code of Ethics of Ukrainian Journalists.
The Commission welcomes the journalist’s request to assess her material and is ready to offer its services to other journalists who take a responsible attitude to the consumers of information created by them, especially during hostilities in Ukraine and problems arising from media coverage of war-related information.
In addition, the Commission points out the need to pay attention to the specifics of the dissemination of information during the war, set out in its Recommendations on Confidential Information.