Background
On June 26, 2023, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics received a complaint by Iryna Martynenko against a material by Glavkom online publication’s journalist Nadiia Karbunar “Book Arsenal: President Zelenskyy Compared to Yanukovych” of June 25, 2023, available at https://glavcom.ua/country/culture/knizhkovij-arsenal-prezidenta-zelenskoho-pririvnjali-do-janukovicha-937235.html.
The journalist claims that Volodymyr Zelenskyy was accused of linguicide during the exhibition and essentially compared to Yanukovych and Stalin. The journalist drew this conclusion based on the exhibition called Linguicide, organized by an NGO, where the timeline of events related to the destruction of the Ukrainian language also features the name of the head of state during a certain event. Next to the 2022 event “destruction of Ukrainian books,” which was carried out by Russian troops during occupation and hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, you can see Zelenskyy’s name.
The complainant believes that the title of the material is manipulative and based on the journalist’s own conjecture. She notes that the Linguicide project directly refers to the responsibility of the Russian invaders for the destruction of Ukrainian books and about the manipulative version of history, and this information is fully available at the QR codes provided, which the journalists evidently did not look at.
On June 18, 2023, the Commission appealed to the online media with a request to provide comments regarding violating the requirements of clause 8 of the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist in their story and the arguments specified in the complaint. There was no response from the media.
Relevant ethical standards
Clause 8 of the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist says: “Editorial processing of materials, including pictures, texts, headlines, the consistency of the video sequence and the text commentary etc. should not falsify the content. The audience should be informed about presenting rehearsed or reconstructed news.”
Regarding violations of the requirements of the Code, cl. 8
Clause 8 of the Code serves as a safeguard against a number of negative phenomena in the media — clickbait, lack of analysis of the material used, and distortion of the meaning embedded in events, projects or other objects of coverage within the framework of journalistic creativity. Such falsification can often be done with a political purpose or in order to gain benefit from various actors, which distorts the discourse around the issues at hand.
In the material under review, the journalist interpreted the Linguicide exhibition without even attempting to delve into the senses intended by the authors of the exhibition. She should have inquired about additional information about the project before preparing the news that Zelenskyy was compared to Yanukovych and other figures who committed negative actions and crimes against the Ukrainian culture, also contributing to linguicide. Nadiia Karbunar failed to provide context in which the burning of Ukrainian books while the incumbent president is in office was referenced, which led to falsifying the idea behind the exhibition that she covered. This distortion of meaning, particularly when it can lead to further polarizing society in the political context, is unacceptable and incompatible with the requirements of journalistic ethics. In view of this, the Commission agrees with the complainant and states that this material does violate the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist.
Conclusion and recommendations
In view of the above, the Commission believes that the material of Glavkom journalist Nadiia Karbunar “Book Arsenal: President Zelenskyy Compared to Yanukovych” of June 25, 2023, violates the requirements of clause 8 of the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist and thus publicly denounces the journalist and the media outlet.
The Commission recommends that the media treat headlines with the utmost care and insists that the events and phenomena covered by journalists be faithfully reproduced in journalistic materials. The journalist’s role of providing reliable information, criticizing the authorities and serving society by initiating and actively participating in socially important discussions is incompatible with the creation of materials with headlines that distort the content of the publication. What is more, such materials can be used to further escalate tensions in society, which, despite a temporary respite, remains divided along political lines.