Tag Archives: Ukraine

45 headlines of The New York Times featured Ukraine in last three months

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While working on my research on agenda setting effects in Ukraine, I have collected The New York Times headlines featuring Ukraine during last three months. Through the analysis of The New York Times e-newsletter, sent to the readers on the daily basis, I have found that 45 headlines had appeared in Top News on the site of The New York Times. The period analyzed – January 25-April 24, 2014. The list includes the following headlines:

January 26 – Opposition Says No to Ukraine on Power Share

February 6 – Ukraine Chief Loses Support in Stronghold

February 7 – Russia Claims U.S. Meddling Over Ukraine

February 20 – Ukraine Leader Strains for Grip as Chaos Spreads

February 21 – Ukraine’s Forces Escalate Attacks Against Protesters

February 22 – Ukraine Has Deal, but Both Russia and Protesters Appear Wary

February 23 – Archrival Is Freed as Ukraine Leader Flees

February 24 – Ukraine Rushes to Shift Power and Mend Rifts

February 25 – Wary Stance From Obama on Ukraine

February 28 – Grab for Power in Crimea Raises Secession Threat

March 1 – With Military Moves Seen in Ukraine, Obama Warns Russia

March 2 – Kremlin Deploys Military in Ukraine, Prompting Protest by U.S.

March 2 – Making Russia Pay? It’s Not So Simple

March 5 – Putin, Flashing Disdain, Defends Action in Crimea

March 5 – No Easy Way Out of Ukraine Crisis

March 6 – U.S. Hopes Boom in Natural Gas Can Curb Putin

March 7 – Crimea Approves a Secession Vote as Tensions Rise

March 8 – For First Time, Kremlin Signals It Is Prepared to Annex Crimea

March 11 – Titans in Russia Fear New Front in Ukraine Crisis

March 14 – Russian Troops Mass at Border With Ukraine

March 15 – U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Fail to Ease Tension

March 16 – Russia Seizes Gas Plant Near Crimea Border, Ukraine Says

March 17 – Obama’s Policy Is Put to the Test as Crises Challenge Caution

March 18 – Putin Recognizes Crimea Secession, Defying the West

March 19 – Putin Reclaims Crimea for Russia and Bitterly Denounces the West

March 19 – If Not a Cold War, a Return to a Chilly Rivalry

March 21 – Obama Steps Up Russia Sanctions in Ukraine Crisis

March 22 – Russia’s Shifting of Border Force Stirs U.S. Worry

March 22 – As Sanctions Start, Russia Feels a Sting

March 24 – 3 Presidents and a Riddle Named Putin

March 25 – Russia Is Ousted From Group of 8 by U.S. and Allies

March 27 – Obama Renewing U.S. Commitment to NATO Alliance

March 29 – Putin Calls Obama to Discuss Ukraine, White House Says

April 8 – In East Ukraine, Protesters Seek Russian Troops

April 14 – Ukraine Forces Storm a Town, Defying Russia

April 15 – Ukraine Falters in Drive to Curb Unrest in East

April 16 – Russia Is Quick to Bend Truth About Ukraine

April 16 – Ukraine Sends Force to Stem Unrest in East

April 17 – Russia Economy Worsens Even Before Sanctions Hit

April 18 – Deal is Reached to Ease Tension in East Ukraine

April 19 – Pro-Russian Insurgents Balk at Terms of Pact in Ukraine

April 20 – In Cold War Echo, Obama Strategy Writes Off Putin

April 21 – Photos Link Masked Men in East Ukraine to Russia

April 22 – Under Russia, Life in Crimea Grows Chaotic

April 22 – New Prowess for Russians

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Framing protests in Ukraine – viral video “I am Ukrainian”

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Yulia Marushevska, a student from Kyiv, who participated in anti-governmental protests in Ukraine, became famous in the West due to the one video, posted in YouTube. Marushevka appeals to the world, explaining why Ukrainians were fighting against government. The video came viral – it got 7,990,000 views as far as April 5, 2014. Now Yulia is on tour in Canada and the States. She was invited by TV channels, city councils, think tanks and universities to talk about Ukraine and the protests. On April 8, Yulia gives a presentation at Stanford University. On April 13-15 she is visiting Boston.

The effects of viral video “I am Ukrainian” appeals ideally to the Western audience since it demonstrates personalization of the protests in Ukraine.  Yulia stands as an ideal hero – she is a protester, she is young and passionate, she speaks simply and sincerely and  the language she talks is English. She is a direct victim of the drama, also her family members participated in protests. She symbolizes a new generation of Ukrainians – she is English-speaking, devoted to the civic values and is in the list of young professionals.

At the same time, some authors mention the controversy of the video.. Yulia as a hero is too perfect to be real. Her message shows the developments in Ukraine in black and white, silencing the violence from protesters.

A discussion at Stanford University

A discussion at Stanford University

Another video, filmed by Ben Moses, posted by a user “Yulia Marushevska”, dated Dec 06, 2013, explains more about the protests in Ukraine. The caption states:

Finding myself in the epicenter of the protests – often referred to here as a revolution – I decided to interview some of the people in the streets. There is one factual error: the heavy outpouring of people into the streets occurred over several days after the beatings, not immediately the next day.

Discussions on viral video with Yulia Marushevska:

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-26272546

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/i-am-a-ukrainian-video-goes-viral-in-bid-to-shine-light-on-protests-1.1695425

http://video.dailyheraldtribune.com/search/all/source/calgary-sun/i-am-ukrainian-star-yulia-marushevska-on-sun-news/3414241159001

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Overview: The Internet freedoms in Ukraine 2013

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To consider the Internet freedoms in Ukraine, one should consider the latest developments in media industry in Ukraine, in particular, the segment of the Internet and social media. Such analysis must foresee a broader perspective, including the development of the Ukrainian Internet as an industry as well as the role of government that directly and indirectly regulates the Internet.

49,8% of adult population in Ukraine had access to the Internet as of Sept 2013, reports Kyiv Institute of Sociology (KIIS). The Internet access expanded from big cities to regional centers and small towns. The market for online advertising has grown 20-30% annually and the forecast for 2013 was $250 million. Online purchases became an everyday habit for hundred thousands of Ukrainians. The segment of tablets in the market was rapidly growing – 784 000 tablets were imported to Ukraine during the first three quarters of 2013. The growth of tablets sales in the 3rd quarter of 2013 was 233% compared to the same period of 2012.

The market of Internet providers in Ukraine was diverse and competitive since late 90s, the time when it has been constantly developing. An average monthly payment for broadband Internet access is around  $12-15, one of the cheapest in the world. The cost of the Internet in Ukraine made the service accessible to new customers and helps the market to grow. A Ukrainian cyrillic domain zone .УКР for websites was registered in 2013, expanding the variety of domain names for local business and media.

The government interference targeting Internet companies was among the most disturbing factors of the industry development. In 2013 the government took actions to control the online payments and the distribution of content online by using the effective but legislatively doubtful method – to invade the offices of the companies and eject network servers. In 2013 the law enforcement agencies targeted the following offices: IT-company GlobalLogics, Russian social network VK.com, online payments company WebMoney, Internet-provider Volya, file exchange service company FS.com. On Dec 9, 2013, the government used the same method against their political opponents – police invaded into the headquarter of oppositional Batkivchyna political party and ejected the servers. Continue reading →

Russian propaganda targets Russian-speaking population of Ukraine

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Russian informational agency ITAR-TASS, one of the oldest in the world, has turned to be a propaganda machine of the Russian government. During the Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, ITAR-TASS disseminates false news, in particular, the one, that Ukrainian government ordered to delete Russian-language pages of official sites in Ukraine. Those so called news are absurd and are not proved by any sources.

Recently, Ukrainian journalists have launched at least two sites that analyze fake news and false from Russian media – stopfake.org and fakecontrol.org. Nevertheless, Russian media continue to lead informational war against Ukraine by means of all government-controlled media by disseminating false and propaganda. It worths to admit, there are many balanced news from independent Russian Internet sites, in particular: www.novayagazeta.ru, www.vedomosti.ru, www.themoscowtimes.com, www.gazeta.ru

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Ukraine and Venezuela – United by Human Rights

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A joint rally by Ukrainian and Venezuelan communities living in Boston was organized on March 2nd. 2014. The protesters called Russia to withdraw their military from Crimea and stop Venezuelan government to attack citizens demanding freedom and human rights in Venezuela.

About 80 participants came on Sunday in front of  the monument of Samuel Adams, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. In their speeches Ukrainians and Venezuelans supported the people of two countries by encouraging them to fight for their independence and human rights.

putin.jpg sos DSC_0858 notowar.jpg DSC_0791 DSC_0846 DSC_0905

Russian aggression against Ukraine. Ukrainians ready to fight

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On March 1, 2014 Russia has started a military operation against Ukraine by sending troops to Crimea. Seen as an act of aggression of Russia against independent Ukraine, the international community reacted immediately – Western governments urged Russia to withdraw its troops from the peninsula. On the eve of the conflict Obama warned Russia to avoid military conflict but Putin ignored the White House.

The diplomatic pressure on Russia has been exercised by dozens of governments – the UK called his ambassador back from Moscow, the United Stated and EU called for economical sanctions against Russia. Also all G-7 states cancelled the Group of Eight meeting to be held in Sochi, they also plan to expel Russia from the G-8.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian government chose a tactic of peace – not to provoke the development of force scenario and requested an assistance within international community. Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea were confronted by Russian military who used power to seize military bases.

Ukrainian soldiers (top) defend their military unit being confronted by Russian armed soldiers (bottom)

Ukrainian soldiers (top) defend their military unit being confronted by Russian armed soldiers (bottom) in Crimea. March 2, 2014

The US diplomats admit that Ukrainians are ready to fight and defend their country. The Ambassador Taylor wrote in the Washington Post:

The Ukrainians will fight. For the past few days, the Russian military has attempted to provoke the Ukrainians into making the mistake the Georgians made in 2008: shooting first. First, Russia sent unmarked troops off their base in Sevastopol; the Ukrainians did not take the bait. Next, the Russians sent armored units up the road to Simferopol, the capital of Crimea, but still the Ukrainians did not respond with violence. Then these unmarked troops took over airfields and administration buildings around Crimea, effectively occupying the peninsula. The Ukrainians put their military forces on high alert and called up their military reserves — but have not attacked. This restraint is wise but agonizing. If the Russians attack Ukrainian forces in Crimea or eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military will respond, and the war would be terrible.

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Driven by revolution, social media and Internet continue to play significant role in Ukraine

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Ukrainian revolution would have not resulted if social media and the Internet had not been available to the citizens. The first call to come to the Independence square to protest has been posted in Facebook by a journalist Mustafa Nayem on Nov 21, 2014. But even more, the development of digital culture will be crucial for the success of Ukraine in the nearest years.

How do social media and the Internet influence the social order? Here is a digest of recent developments:

The New York Times refers to Facebook as a source by quoting Ukrainian officials:
“Berkut is gone,” the acting interior minister, Arsen Avakov, announced in a posting on Facebook. Many Ukrainian progressive politicians see social media as a direct tool to spread a word of their appeals and calls.

UT-1, an official first TV channel in Ukraine agreed to provide Hromadske.tv, which is online TV channel, couple of hours of broadcasting per day. The context: UT-1 has bebe the most manipulative TV channel during Yanukovych regime and it was fully controlled by the previous government.

A new news site HUBs http://hubs.com.ua has been launched on Feb 21. The project is run by ex-journalists of Forbes Ukraine, who retired from the magazine in Nov 2013 as a protest against censorship by a new owner. The project has been working for two months, initially the articles have been published in Facebook until the site was built.

The issue of lustration for politicians and ex-state officials is widely discussed in the Internet. Hundreds of Facebook posts have been published during last days. There are couple of sites targeting the issue:
– #НеБутиСкотом http://skoty.info/ – a comprehensive crowdsourcing approach to collect information about politicians, police, judges and thugs (titushki) on one resource.
– We remember http://lustrationukraine.org/ – a site I have launched two days ago to collect video with the speeches of the most outrages politicians.
– Activists have published a questionary on state officials in Kyiv, asking users to report in those who should be under lustration.

Ukraine in blood: police killing dozens of protesters

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Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 was the darkest day in the history of Ukrainian independence – at least 18 protestors killed, more than 1000 wounded during the clashes in Kyiv.

Clashes started in the morning, when pro-government parties refused to adopt a a legislation to limit the President’s power. Protestors moved in the direction of Parliament. Since then police started shooting at protestors. Photos of police with AK47 Kalashnikov fire arms were taken by journalists on Instytutska St. The hardest fight took place on Instytutska – two people, including a 60-year old woman, where shot. Their bodies were located in front of Khreshtatyk metro stations.

Father and son today in Mariyinskyi Park in the morning after clashes with police and thugs, called titushki. Both are lecturers in the largest technical university of Ukraine. Their last name stands for Kuznetsov.

tutors

The government announced anti-terrorist operation in Kyiv against 30 000 protestors. Police attacked Maidan Nezalezhnosti.  Metro was closed since the afternoon. Thousands of people could not reach their destinations. Also thousands of Kyiv residents assisted wounded in hospitals. A protestor died on the hands of my online friend in Kyiv hospital #17 – he was shot in head and stomach – link to my friend reporting on it.

The President of Ukraine refused to stop violence – he demanded every protestor to leave Maidan Nezalezhnosti. Police continued to attack protestors. As my friend Yevgen Truhin wrote: “Riot policeman is paid 600 USD per month. For 600 $ he destroys and kill people to protect the regime, crazy. Is it worth?”

flame Dec 18

Media attention in social media worldwide switched from Olympic games to events in Ukraine:

ukrainesochi

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Интернет и эмоциональная журналистика времен Евромайдана

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lights

Киев, 15 декабря 2013. Автор фото неизвестен

15 декабря 2013 года 200-тысячный Майдан Независимости засветился десятками тысяч мобильных телефонов и фонариков. Люди держали телефоны и фонарики высоко на головами, исполняя хором гимн Украины. В тот же день участники пели хором на пару со Святославом Вакарчуком, лидером “Океана Эльзы”, чей концерт был посвящен демонстрантам, избитых спецотрядами милиции 30 ноября. Светящийся Майдан на несколько минут преобразился в манифест нового общества – людей, подключенных к Интернету и мало зависимых от пропаганды подконтрольных правительству телеканалов.

За три года правления Януковича власть прозевала технологический сдвиг в обществе – Интернет стал ключевым источником информации для представителей образованного класса, включая журналистов, гражданских активистов, бизнесменов, служащих, студентов. Именно они были среди первых 1500 киевлян, которые вышли протестовать против правительства на Майдан Независимости поздно вечером 21 ноября.

Уже несколько лет Интернет, ставший главным общественным форумом страны, является одним из главных фактором давления на политический режим в Украине. Заметную роль в этом процессе играют и журналисты. В условиях правительственного контроля над многими СМИ, сбалансированное информирование о действиях власти от Интернет-СМИ – само по себе является ударом по легитимности правительства и Президента.

Однако роль украинских журналистов не ограничивается только информированием о событиях в стране, как это следовало бы ожидать в любой демократической стране. Имея довольно высокий запас доверия в обществе и понимая потенциал соцмедиа и Интернета, часть журналистов видят себе также и в роли гражданских активистов. В условиях зачистки свободной украинской журналистики времен Януковича, этот активизм выглядит вынужденным шагом со стороны медийщиков. Более того, часть сообщества украинских журналистов видит себя не только последним бастионом свободы слова в стране, но и свободы общества в целом. Перефразируя слова Евгения Евтушенка о том, что “поэт в России — больше, чем поэт”, в Украине журналист – чуть больше, чем журналист.

События Евромайдана, ставшего крупнейшим протестом в истории независимой Украины, возможно бы не состоялись без участия журналистов. Ведь именно со стороны журналистов в соцсетях прозвучала идея собраться поздно вечером 21 ноября на Майдане Независимости с целью высказать протест против отказа Украины от евроинтеграции. Несколько дней спустя, 1 декабря, без выложенных в YouTube роликов, весь мир возможно бы и не узнал правду о жестокости спецотрядов милиции во время разгона студентов на Майдане в ночь на 30 ноября. И возможно не узнал бы и об избиении около 40 журналистов возле Администрации Президента вечером 1 декабря.

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Киев, 7 декабря 2013. Автор фото: Олег Мацех

Как же развивались события в первые дни протеста и какова в них роль журналистов? Continue reading →

Petition: Do not let Prof.Petro from The University of Rhode Island manipulate public opinion in the States regarding protests in Ukraine

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We, representatives of Ukrainian Fulbright community, are deeply concerned about the article of Nicolai N. Petro, professor of politics at the University of Rhode Island, published in the National Interest, defending recent laws enacted by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of the Ukrainian government. Here is the link to the article.

{to sign public petition, pls. follow the link}

We believe that as an American citizen who has the freedom to express himself, Mr.Petro is taking advantage of that freedom in expressing his views in his above mentioned article. By defending the unconstitutional laws passed by the Verkhovna Rada, however, Mr.Petro is denying this freedom to every Ukrainian citizen.

We believe that it is Mr.Petro, not the US government who seriously misreads the situation in Ukraine. Mr.Petro has provided no arguments to refute that the government of Ukraine is responsible for the escalation of violence there. If one has been following the protests closely, then he/she must have seen that the protests were peaceful until the events at Hrushevskoho street provoked a violent response to the government crackdown; accordingly, it could not be that such a response was the strategy of the opposition from the beginning, which Mr.Petro, quite mistakenly, claims to be the case. As a scholar, by making statements like that, Mr.Petro needs at least to cite sources, from which he derives his information. Continue reading →