Reporting On Elections Widely Observed

Michael Hedges March 29, 2019 - Follow on Twitter

The disinformation stove-pot is piping hot. Every election is a new opportunity. There is both popular and political pressure to turn down the heat. Activist writers posing as journalists have always added fuel to flames. The result is to be expected.

Presidential elections in Ukraine are set for this weekend (March 31). There are 39 candidates, including at least one comedian. It’s the first of two rounds, the second coming in three weeks. The drama has been playing out for months, mostly on television. Disinformation is rife. Media interest is worldwide. Authorities in Ukraine has taken note.

Moscow correspondent for Italian public broadcaster RAI Marc Innaro was stopped on arrival in Kiev (March 24). He and a camera operator planned to cover the presidential elections and intended to interview Ukraine president Pyotr Poroshenko and other candidates. They were expelled.

The Ukrainian Border Guard service said the RAI team did not have proper accreditation. Mr. Innaro argued that the press passes were at the election commission office. Further, Border Guard service spokesperson Oleh Slobodyan said the entry denial was because of Mr. Innaro "frequently engaging in anti-Ukrainian rhetoric in his reports,” quoted by the AP (March 25).

Earlier in the month Austrian public broadcaster ORF Kiev correspondent Christian Wehrschütz was denied entry to Crimea, the Ukrainian territory seized by the troops of the Russian Federation. The Ukrainian Security Services (SBU) cited his reporting; “justification of (Russian) annexation of Crimea” and “anti-Ukraine propaganda.” He was sent away.

This brought a protest from ORF director-general Alexander Wrabetz, who called the expulsion “unacceptable interference with the journalistic profession,” quoted by Austrian daily Die Presse (March 7). Herr Wehrschütz is, said Dr. Wrabetz, “one of the most renowned experts on Eastern Europe.” Several years ago, he tried to get Dr. Wrabetz’ job, with support from the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), the far-right political party that has a “cooperation pact” with Russia’s ruling political party United Russia.

Herr Wehrschütz filed a lawsuit against the SBU, reported media portal Telekritika (March 27), seeking to overturn the decision. His legal representative is Andrei Portnov, once deputy to former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych, currently living the exile life in the Russian Federation.

The SBU ordered deported Russian writer/photographer Margarita Bondar this week, according to its website (March 27), saying she is associated with the ukraina.ru propaganda site operated by the notorious Russian disinformation agency Rossiya Segodnya. “She published inaccurate and provocative material about the violation of the rights of national minorities by representatives of the local nationalist organizations and the alleged inaction of the Ukrainian law enforcement system,” said the SBU press statement. She had been interviewed by the SBU a week earlier and said she did not want to return to Russia and only wrote that stuff for the money. For now, reentry is banned from Ukraine for three years.

President Poroshenko settled a libel lawsuit against UK public broadcaster BBC this week, reported the Guardian (March 28). for an erroneous report broadcast in May 2018 linking him to bribes and the illustrious characters attached (formerly) to US president Donald Trump. The BBC “accepted liability for libelling Mr Poroshenko,” made a statement to this effect in court and published an apology on its website. A monetary settlement was “substantial.” The original article by Paul Wood has been removed from the BBC website.

The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJ) opened a hot-line this week for reporters covering the presidential elections. “Election day for the presidency of Ukraine is a professional challenge for every editor and every journalist,” said chairman Sergei Tomilenko in a statement, quoted by Telektitka (March 26). “Any journalist or media organizations that has been subjected to harassment, obstruction of professional activities, victim of attacks, denying access and the like can appeal to the NUJ.”

See also...

• Hot Topics - Elections and Media

• Hot Topics - Media in Ukraine