“Reporters Without Borders” (RSF) has called on the Ukrainian government to end the telethon and return to media competition in order to strengthen pluralism, RSF reports.
The international human rights organisation notes that the telethon’s viewership rating has reached a record low of 10 percent, only 20 percent of those surveyed consider it still relevant, it is criticised due to the government’s condescension and self-censorship of journalists. The RSF wrote on their site:
The “United News Telemarathon” was useful and effective in combating the unprecedented wave of Russian disinformation that swept the country in February 2022, but it has become obsolete and, above all, is now undermining media pluralism.
The United News programme, co-produced by Ukraine’s leading TV channels from 24 February 2022, was designed to provide accurate news coverage, but its format is controversial. Media organisations such as the Mass Media Institute (IMI) – RSF’s local partner – and Detektor Media say the programme is too condescending to the government, accuse its journalists of self-censorship and, as RSF did in 2023, lament the lack of opposition TV channels.
Launched by the TV channels themselves before being formalised by a government decree, the “United News Telemarathon” is produced by four privately-owned channels, Inter, 1+1, We Ukraine and ICTV, and two public channels, Suspilne and Rada, with each given its own production niche.
