On June 1, 2024, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics received a complaint from Sofiia Kochmar against a reel by Suspilne Mykolaiv on Facebook, which was a short version of the full story published on the media outlet’s YouTube channel.
The complainant stated that the purpose of the story was unclear, since the journalists failed to explain either citizens’ complaints about tests of dairy products, or the state-provided food safety rules, only provoking anger against the government in the comments.
In order to resolve the conflict between the Suspilne office and the audience, the Commission sent the complaint to the newsroom of Suspilne Mykolaiv to get a comment on the situation.
The newsroom admitted that the quote selected for the reel was chosen poorly, and the reel format itself was not suitable to cover a conflict due to the 90-second limit.
This fact, alongside the comment of the character included in the reel, which did not contain factual content, as well as the short timing allocated to the government and guest commentary may have influenced the viewers’ perception, suggesting that they side with a particular side of the conflict.
Representatives of Suspilne Mykolaiv also reported that they had discussed the problematic moments of the reel within the team and decided not to use short forms to cover conflicts, and in case if such a form is used — to follow the timing and make sure that all parties get equal screen time.
The Commission additionally analyzed the entire story and did not find any violations of the Ethics Code of the Ukrainian Journalist, and therefore decided not to continue the proceedings on this complaint.
The Commission commends the willingness of the Suspilne regional office to improve its original content and work on the optimization of various media formats for different types of materials.
Public media should keep in mind their role in informing communities about socially significant events in line with journalistic standards and serve as an example for local media. This hard work is what helps Suspilne (Public Broadcasting) rise as an independent institution trusted by the public and used for reliable information at critical moments.