Maintaining public trust in state institutions is of key importance in times of war, given that the lack of public confidence in the government contributes to societal polarization. Critical reporting and self-censorship by mass media are among the factors that have an impact on the level of public trust. Therefore, it is essential that every Ukrainian media outlet answers the question of what is the meaning of political process in a country without elections. This statement was made by the chair of the board of Civil Network OPORA Olha Aivazovska, who acted as a moderator of panel discussion “Media’s responsibility for achieving a sustainable society: mass media serving as the fourth estate” at the National Media Talk held on September 20, 2024.
“During the war, our society reached a consensus on Ukraine’s integration into the European Union and accession to NATO. Furthermore, the people of Ukraine arrived at a common view on the system of government that they would like to have in the post-war period. Today, we are witnessing an unprecedentedly high level of public support for democracy and a stronger than ever desire for effective democratic institutions. According to the results of latest survey carried out by the National Democratic Institute, 86% of our citizens believe that democracy is the only correct system of government. On the other hand, according to KIIS, 72% of Ukrainian citizens currently hold an opinion that the elections should be held after the end of the war and abolition of martial law, while at the end of year 2023 this opinion was shared by 81% of Ukrainians. In other words, the number of citizens who do not support the idea of holding elections in war-time has decreased over the past twelve months, which directly correlates with the declining level of public confidence in state institutions. Maintaining public trust in government institutions is of key importance in times of war. A lack of trust in the Commander-in-Chief, the Armed Forces, the Parliament or the Government may polarize the society or individual citizens and prompt them to edge away from the needs and interests of the state. There is a direct correlation and a cause-and-effect linkage. The shrinking of freedom of speech in war-time is a casual effect that is manifested in the introduction of martial law and corresponding legislation. However, democratic decline also comes as a result of the fact that Ukrainian citizens and institutions, including media outlets, are deprived of the opportunity to exercise the freedom of speech under current conditions. That’s why every media editor bears a portion of responsibility for determining the level of self-censorship, openness and critique that can be ensured here and now in the absence of elections,” said Aivazovska.
Aivazovska also proposed to discuss the very existence of political process in a country without elections and the direct role of mass media in this process: “political process is not about elections, and it’s not even about the parliamentary or extra-parliamentary opposition. Elections account for only 5-7% of the total political cycle time. Political process is a discourse between different population groups that hold differing views on how to implement certain policies. If we are talking about national defense and security, then let’s ask ourselves whether we have a discourse that involves journalists, NGOs, potential extra-parliamentary opposition, volunteer movements, and other stakeholders? I think we do have this process in place. When it comes to peace formula, we are constantly discussing the quality of peace summits, the documents that were presented at these summits, the vision of how should the war end, and what constitutes a victory in the war. These are all elements of political discourse. In my opinion, the media should take on the role of discussion moderators and ensure the continued improvement of the quality and cultural level of this dialogue. Unlike the countries of former Yugoslavia, Ukraine did not emerge as an independent nation on the debris of other states during the war. We’ve already had our own statehood in place, developed our own practices, and held fair and free elections in a highly competitive political environment. Lowering this standard would signal the end of our country as we know it. This would be a totally different state and a different society. That’s why I wish all media outlets to rise to the occasion and fulfill their tasks related to the political process during and after the war; prevent the deaf-and-dumb populist struggles that may well take place in the future; help our society improve the quality and cultural level of dialogue and political discourse. And last but not least, it is important to bear in mind that there are members of civil society who have yet to realize that they are the future leaders of these political groups, cycles, processes and policies. We just need to help them become aware of this, provided that they have appropriate professional and moral qualities to accomplish the tasks and goals of our state,” Aivazovska stated.
The following media representatives took part in the panel discussion: Denys Bihus (Bihus.info); Dmytro Lykhoviy (AFU/Novynarnia); Tetiana Troshchynska (Suspilne); Khrystyna Kotsira (hromadske.ua); Yulia Mostova (Dzerkalo Tyzhnia).
According to Denys Bihus, there is an ongoing political process in Ukraine, but it is rather chaotic and primitive. The voice of mass media is no longer similar to the voice of school teacher – the audience can just walk out of the classroom, that is, turn off the media and go on TikTok. In his opinion, this makes the challenges of current reality faced by traditional media a little more difficult and frightening.
In the words of Yulia Mostova, even the polarized population groups have at least one thing in common – the future. As a media representative, Mostova is afraid of overlooking the bearers of concepts and ideas who can offer a new vision for tomorrow. In her opinion, the media should undertake a mission of searching for such people and ideas.
Tetiana Troshchynska stresses the need to rationalize the media space of Ukraine – find the islands of trustworthy media where we can be sure that journalists cross-checked the information that they present. However, this is not the case, among other things, because media reach is often prioritized over managerial decisions.
Khrystyna Kotsira noted that the audience has disassociated itself from the war to a significant extent. For example, news reports from the frontline received 3-4 million views in no time in the first few months of full-scale invasion, but now they get about 100 thousand views. However, she is convinced that the mission of journalists is to inform people that the war is not over yet.
According to Dmytro Lykhoviy, Ukrainians are a highly politicized nation. Therefore, the role of Ukrainian media is to keep this political process within the bounds of responsibility and maturity, maintain control over politicians and save our country.