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Panel discussion «Ukrainian journalism: professionalism, social responsibility, censorship/self-censorship?»
One of the first program activities of the PR-festival this year was the panel discussion «Media literacy».
In the first section debate on «Ukrainian journalism professionalism, social responsibility, censorship/self-censorship?» representatives of all the main areas of the mass media took part: traditional television (Bogutskiy Alexander, Director-President of the ICTV), Internet TV (Vadim Denisenko, Chief Editor at Espreso. TV), Internet information portal (Sevgil Musaeva, Co-founder and Editor of Hubs), news agency (Anton Podlutsky, RBC-Ukraine news agency) and the Periodical Press (Alexei Pogorelov, General Director at UPPA).
The program discussion actually was preceded by another one, unplanned, which arose after the speech of Vice-President of the Ukrainian PR-League Elena Derevianko. It has become a sort of «rehearsal» for further discussion within the stated theme. Festival participants commented on a number of key industry and society issues. In particular, the chief editor of «Business» Igor Sergeyev said that the low level of development of the domestic communications industry and the weakness of the domestic media in the current information war largely resulted from the lack of state support. «Information wars are not won with just bare enthusiasm,» – he stressed. In turn, the participant of the upcoming panel discussion, Director-President of ICTV Alexander Bogutskiy appealed directly to the PR-industry representatives, having focused their attention on the benefits of television as the most large-scale and reliable communication channel, and also touched upon the so-called «white noise» topic.
Interim discussion moved smoothly into the program one. Key topics for discussion, as expected, were a low level of professionalism in the modern Ukrainian journalism, the role of the various categories of media in communication process, ratings and their dependence on the subject matter and content format, professional ethics, and more.
The debate was opened by Vadim Denisenko, who developed the «white noise» theme started by Alexander Bogutskiy, by stressing that in the West, most channels do not have such high ratings, like their counterparts in Ukraine. However, their impact on the target audience is very significant, and the performance can be envied by many leaders of national rankings. He also noted that the last time in Ukraine has decreased overall professional level of journalism, serious intellectual, monthly and even professional yellow editions have completely disappeared, which led to the destruction of the classical pyramid of information transmission.
Next panelist, Sevgil Musaeva, continued the theme of content rating and raised the question about the prospects of «opportunistic» media: «Revolution has showed that those media which created up-to-date content considerably went up in the rankings. But the question is what will happen to such media after the passions subside. Taking into account that they do not have their own products.» She also stressed that the time of new media, universal products, and new mechanisms of information presentation is coming: «Exactly ... a mix of journalism, convergence, which we are talking past five years, will be considered as a trend in the nearest perspective. Journalist in the traditional senseis no longer relevant.»
Sevgil Musayev was supported by Podlutsky Anton, who said that the new formats of information presentation in the next 5-10 years will develop rapidly. At the same time, he noted that in terms of many of the new trends in the field of information, such as infographics and others, and their commercial viability in professional circles, there is no clear opinion: «It's beautiful, but what will be in the long term considering this media Versailles yet nobody can’t really tell.» Regarding to the current situation in the communications industry, according to Podlutsky, the events of recent months have led to a drop in the level of professionalism, «Media makers have not rallied around professional principles – prudence, verification of information, the hotter the fact is, the colder it should be served. Many shifted from the positions of journalism to positions of openly ideological propaganda. Accordingly, many of the media in these realities simply have lost the right to be called the media» – he said. Podlutsky also stressed that representatives of the communications industry is extremely important to stick to the principles of professionalism and be very responsible in terms of broadcast information.
Another panellist, Alexey Pogorelov, outlined his position by theses on all key issues discussed and summarizing at the same time symbolic results of the previous statements of his colleagues. He «dismissed» the idea of monopolizing the media, explaining it by the fact that readers and audience when choosing media guided not by ranking leaders but their own needs; stated that the Ukrainian telecommunications market sharply lacking professional media managers; focused on the financing, stressed that the diversification of sources of their income allows media to be less dependent, and, moreover, predicted that in the next two or three years the industry will experience a development of niche topics, increase in the role of specificity and in the demand for professional staff. «All the media, regardless of the channel – is the media business with a unique function and influence on the minds of the audience. How we work, ultimately depends on the way we live. Social media's role is extremely important and it is good that there are many media that express different points of view» – he concluded.
Summarizing the discussion, the participants made the following conclusions. Every crisis offers new opportunities and incentive to develop. Growing competition increases the demand for professionals and professional product. What remains is to use these opportunities: focus on the training of professional staff and an information product quality, the cultivation of common professional interests and field solidarity, re-learn how to call a spade a spade. And, as Anton Podlutsky noted, «work by Chan Kim and seek our own «blue oceans».»