Ukrainian sociologists convince us that somewhere there are people who watch the United News telethon and even trust it. True, as of February 2024, there were almost half as many of them as in May 2022.
Accordingly, now the public demand for stopping the telethon is extremely high. But this will not happen in the near future, notes Ukrayinska Pravda.
Representatives of the oligarchic groups, who at the beginning of the great war sacrificed their information resources for the noble goal of ensuring round-the-clock information to the public, simply do not want to withdraw TV channels from United News.
After all, on Bankovaya this will be interpreted as a political gesture. And none of the oligarchs are ready for an open fight with the authorities, who are most interested in continuing the telethon.
It is not beneficial for the political leadership of the state to stop this media mechanism. With the existence of the telethon, the authorities provide themselves with stable information support and minimize any manifestations of political competition.
The President's Office has the opportunity to directly or indirectly influence the information policy of United News, which is being created by the TV channels Suspilne, Rada, united ICTV and STB, 1+1, We are Ukraine, and Inter. This control is manifested in limiting topics and blocking “undesirable” speakers on air. Analyzing the content of United News, we can conclude that the telethon is the mouthpiece of the OP.
United News has actually turned into a television holding company of the President's Office. It’s also completely free - with the money of the oligarchs and taxpayers.
The Ukrayinska Pravda publication asked how the telethon now works, who controls its work, and why the authorities do not want to give up this information tool.
Telethon without Tkachenko and Tymoshenko
At the very beginning of its existence, the “single marathon” had two guardians from the authorities.
On behalf of the government, he was managed by the former general director of the 1+1 media holding and already former Minister of Culture Alexander Tkachenko. At the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion, the telethon was supposed to become part of the country's information policy, so Tkachenko's participation was quite logical.
In the Office of the President, the main “marathoner” was the then deputy of Andrei Ermak, Kirill Tymoshenko.
As Ukrainska Pravda wrote in the summer of 2022, the deputy head of the OP influenced the editorial work of the telethon through Vladislav Matyash. Before the full-scale Russian invasion, they together relaunched the parliamentary TV channel Rada.
Even earlier, Matyash participated in projects of Tymoshenko’s agency GoodMedia and before the imposition of sanctions by the National Security and Defense Council he worked in Viktor Medvedchuk’s media holding “112 Ukraine”.
Tkachenko personally held weekly meetings with the heads of TV channels, during which they discussed the content plan for the telethon. And Tymoshenko was responsible for promoting the topics needed by the President’s Office and coordinating the production of content in general.
Both officials were deeply involved in the life of the “marathon”. Therefore, after the dismissal of both Tkachenko and Tymoshenko, a fundamentally new stage began in the history of United News.
On the one hand, without constant control, the channels felt greater freedom, on the other, a kind of information “Makhnovshchina” began.
“Now everything there is in a semi-anarchic state. There is some minimal coordination between TV channels. But there is no such thing as it was under Tkachenko, when at meetings they discussed specific topics that should be emphasized,” one of the members of the presidential team tells UP on condition of anonymity.
UP's interlocutors associated with the creation of the telethon recall that Tkachenko systematically pushed different media groups into a single information frame. Now, acting Minister of Culture Rostislav Karandeev is trying to stay away from the telethon.
There was also not one person in the OP who would take over the influence on the media sphere after Tymoshenko.
“Now on Bankova everything is quite chaotic. Dasha Zarivnaya, who seems to be responsible for Ermak’s media only, took over a lot, but her influence spread throughout the entire Office. On the other hand, there is Dima Litvin. He writes texts to the president, but at the same time gives him media advice. There is also Podolyak. But he increasingly closes himself in his office and only goes on air,” one of the influential members of Vladimir Zelensky’s team tells UP.
Natalya Larioncheva, who has been working in the information directorate of the OP for a long time, is also involved in the telethon.
Previously, she was involved in preparing speakers from the Office of the President for broadcasts, and when “Ermak’s team” entered the “We are Ukraine” TV channel, she became the informal curator of this media asset. Therefore, from the very beginning of work, the channel’s on-air slots work out exactly the narratives required by Bankova.
“In a word - everyone is a strategist! All are very important people, but if they screwed up something, then no one wants to answer,” the interlocutor adds.
How does the telethon work now?
Meanwhile, the “united news” coordination meetings introduced by Tkachenko continue to this day.
Typically, meetings of media group leaders are held once a week. They are attended by the Chairman of the Board of NOTU Nikolay Chernotitsky, General Director of StarLightMedia Alexander Bogutsky, General Director of 1+1 Media Yaroslav Pakholchuk, General Producer of “We are Ukraine” Yuriy Sugak, member of the Supervisory Board of Inter Sergey Sozanovsky.
The parliamentary TV channel “Rada” is represented by the editor-in-chief of news broadcasting Natalya Yastrubenko and producer Lyudmila Pisanko.
Representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy join periodically. The role of moderator is performed by Vladislav Matyash.
But now these meetings are not like big meetings. Interlocutors of the UP among those present at the planning meetings say that now they last 10-15 minutes. They quickly discuss coverage of events, the creation of special projects, and business trips of correspondents to the front or abroad. Occasionally the conversation turns to something interesting, for example, financial issues.
Approximately once a quarter, TV channel heads communicate with government officials, in particular with President Vladimir Zelensky.
At such meetings, the situation at the front and in the state as a whole is discussed. According to the participants in the conversations, this communication occurs in order to better understand the real context of events.
Interlocutors of the UP from among the heads of television holdings present at the meetings state on record that they do not receive instructions from the authorities regarding topics or guests.
“Our task is to show everything in accordance with the standards. We understand all military restrictions. It is important for us to maintain a balance between the authorities and the opposition,” notes Nikolai Chernotitsky, chairman of the board of NOTU, in a commentary to the UP.
StarLightMedia CEO Alexander Bogutsky also denies the presence of external influences on editorial policy.
“Regarding instructions, this is not for us. Our news has names. This is Elena Frolyak and Vladimir Pavlyuk. They have been in journalism for many years. They don’t need any instructions,” he assures in a conversation with UP.
UP's interlocutors among media managers convince that there is no classical censorship in the telethon. But if the “topics” are called “information frameworks”, and the “black lists” are renamed “stop lists”, then their essence will not change.
Natalya Ligacheva, chairman of the NGO Media Detector, told the UP that most TV channels, with the exception of Public, do not maintain a balance in the representation of political forces.
According to monitoring data from the Media Detector, in the first quarter of 2024, representatives of opposition political forces appeared on the telethon much less frequently than MPs from the ruling Servant of the People faction.
For example, members of the “Voice” faction were included in the telethon 43 times - usually on the air of Public, least often - by "Rada", never - by "Inter".
And the deputies of “European Solidarity” appeared in “United News” 26 times and only in the Public slots.
But “servants of the people” were included in the telethon broadcasts 262 times. And, unlike representatives of opposition factions, they were invited by all television channels.
The interlocutors of the UP convince that there is no influence of the authorities, but an analysis of the content of TV channels working in United News indicates the opposite.
Obviously, lately there has been no daily and operational control over all content by the Office of the President, but the strategic information frame is still set by Bankovaya.
Therefore, the viewer can see the prophecies of fortune tellers on the “1+1” broadcast, but it is unlikely that Petro Poroshenko during the “We are Ukraine” slot.
Fear of protest. Why don't oligarchs withdraw channels from United News?
By the way, about fortune tellers. Their appearance on air, like the appearance of a purely showbiz audience on the once very serious United News, has a simple explanation. In this way they are trying to increase the low ratings of the telethon.
Every month, fewer and fewer viewers watch the “marathon”, and even fewer trust it.
“After the invasion began, almost 80% of Ukrainians trusted the telethon. This is May 2022. According to the latest survey, conducted in the first half of February 2024, this figure was about 36%. For the first time in two years, there were more people who do not trust - 47%. That is, we see a transition from prevailing trust to distrust,” Anton Grushetsky, executive director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, tells UP.
According to him, this is due to the general trend of growing distrust in various government institutions.
“In general, the situation in society is difficult. It is reflected, among other things, in growing criticism of the authorities. Accordingly, it also affects things that are associated with power. The marathon is associated with her, and therefore arouses great criticism,” adds the executive director of KIIS.
This new reality hits not only the power, but also the brand influence of major channels. This raises a logical question: why do TV channels, most of which are the main products of oligarchic holdings, still play a game called “Unified News”?
Since the merger of the leading channels into a marathon, representatives of large businesses have lost absolute influence over their information resources, and with it the ability to fully promote personal interests.
“Now the oligarchs, due to the lack of politics and the prospects for holding elections, have agreed to give their information assets to a common pot. As soon as the marathon format ceases to be a compromise for oligarchic groups, as soon as some electoral processes begin, commercial channels will quickly return to traditional work,” explains the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn.
Part of the reason the marathon exists is because of the financial aspect. The volume of the Ukrainian advertising market has decreased significantly since the beginning of the great war. And budgetary financing of the marathon is, albeit some kind of financial assistance.
Although political inertia served more to continue working in a joint format. None of the channel owners wants to be the first to leave United News, because this will inevitably be interpreted, if not as a protest, then as a political gesture.
As long as the main media resources work as a “united front,” their owners can hope that this will be perceived by the authorities as loyalty and readiness to work together.
Information budget employees. Why do the authorities need a telethon?
However, the main reason for the existence of the telethon now is that the political leadership of the state is interested in this format.
That is why, according to UP sources, there are no plans to close down United News in the near future. It is not beneficial for the authorities to lose such a media tool.
No matter how anyone feels about the marathon, it makes it possible to keep the information field in a more or less manageable state. For the authorities and the country as a whole, this option is very important in conditions of military and information aggression.
The only problem is that the government’s media team partially interpreted the initial noble impulse of television holdings to unite in order to jointly resist Russian propaganda as a chance to put together their own media holding. Plus it's completely free.
Now, by continuing the telethon, the OP is not so much protecting the country as providing itself with stable and comfortable media support. In particular, from oligarchic holdings. Previously, such services either cost a lot of money or required political alliances.
Now the authorities use this media resource simply because they can afford it.
Criticism of power, like true political pluralism in the marathon, is noticeably limited. Often television companies neglect the balance of opinions, giving preference on air only to government speakers.
The desire of the authorities to reduce the political influence of the opposition as much as possible is confirmed by the disconnection from digital broadcasting in the spring of 2022 of the TV channels “Direct” and “Channel 5”, which belong to the conditional media pool of Petro Poroshenko, and “Espresso”, which was founded and is still partially owned by the deputy’s family “ Eurosolidarity" by Nikolai Knyazhitsky.
"Espreso" in the commentary of the UP separately insists that the channel was not and is not included in the "Poroshenko pool", although the information policy of the mentioned media is carried out almost synchronously.
And, it must be admitted, the channels from Poroshenko’s pool pay the authorities in the same media coin: they cannot be called restrained, constructive or even balanced.
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The main consequence of the existence of the telethon is not even the ability of the OP to direct the work of the “old” holdings.
Perhaps the most important thing that the government’s media team has managed is a fairly successful attempt to create and promote its own media group, which, moreover, is openly supported exclusively by funds from the state budget.
In addition to United News, several resources should be included in this power group. Firstly, the rebranded parliamentary TV channel “Rada”, and with it the channels “Dom” and “Freedom”. It is these resources that were the government’s entry point into the media market, and are used, for example, to distribute public funds for TV series and films.
Already during the great war, the “We are Ukraine” channel was created on the ruins of Rinat Akhmetov’s media empire. It was initially run by people who were considered affiliated with Bankova. The channel's lightning-fast entry into the telethon and receipt of budget funding removed any doubts.
Now, using the facilities of this asset, the launch of the second channel “We are Ukraine. Plus". Some of the projects on it are directed by the author and actor of the Kvartal-95 Studio, Vladimir Martynets.
It is not difficult to guess in whose interests the new resource will work.
It’s worth adding here the huge state news agency Ukrinform. The “office” management team recently visited it and already managed to announce “new rules” of work, which are suspiciously reminiscent of good old censorship.
All of the above together looks like a fully formed pro-government media holding. MX, which is able to solve complex information problems and does not cost customers any of their own money.
