On December 13, 2024, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics and the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine signed a memorandum of cooperation, agreeing to coordinate efforts to advance the co-regulation and self-regulation of media and journalistic work in Ukraine.
“The development of self-regulation has been one of our key priorities in recent years. It focuses on improving the quality of journalistic content by ensuring that journalists and editorial offices adhere to the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist.
The signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation with the regulator is a positive signal that indicates mutual respect, understanding of the role and mission of each party, and readiness to cooperate to achieve a common goal: providing Ukrainian citizens with high-quality and reliable information. Joint regulation and self-regulation are two components of the process when the industry is ready to take on some of the responsibility for content,” Andrii Kulykov, Head of the Commission on Journalistic Ethics.
For over 20 years, the Commission has consistently worked to ensure that audience complaints are resolved through mediation, encouraging editorial offices to correct mistakes and improve the quality and value of their content for the audience. After all, self-regulation is not about punishments or sanctions — neither in Ukraine nor anywhere else in the world.
“By signing this Memorandum, the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine has demonstrated its understanding of and support for the reform processes underway in the country following the adoption of the new Law on Media. We are committed to working with industry representatives and the public.
Joint regulation and self-regulation aim to protect the audience and reflect the media’s sense of responsibility for content quality. In this process, we are ready to cooperate with the Commission on Journalistic Ethics,” said Olena Nitsko, Executive Secretary of Ukraine’s National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting.
The Memorandum between the Commission and the National Council serves several key purposes:
- To declare the shared values of both organizations. To coordinate positions and areas of cooperation.
- To promote open discussion of important public issues. To guarantee freedom in the media field.
- To improve the quality of Ukrainian media content. To align Ukrainian media with European standards.
- To protect the rights of media service users.
- To ensure access to comprehensive, reliable, and up-to-date information, as well as the pluralism of opinions and responsible dissemination of information.
To achieve the goals of the Memorandum, the Commission and the National Council have agreed to:
1. Exchange information (excluding restricted or personal data) and coordinate efforts to:
- Protect independent, professional, and ethical journalism, as well as media freedom.
- Analyze content that may violate media laws or international treaties.
- Provide users with access to comprehensive, reliable, and up-to-date information.
2. Make recommendations to journalists and the media to prevent violations of the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist and applicable laws.
3. Organize joint events and meetings to enhance cooperation and explore new solutions.
For example, on December 10, 2024, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics held the first international online conference on the interaction between self-regulation and co-regulation of media in Ukraine. Representatives of the National Council attended the event, and Executive Secretary Olena Nitsko was one of the invited speakers.
The Commission and the National Council will share further results of their joint work on their websites and social media.
The text of this material is prepared by the Commission on Journalistic Ethics with the support of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) as part of the project ‘Media in Emergencies.’ Funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).