Is there a reservation for journalists in Ukraine: what do editorial offices and parliament say?
4 April 2024 16:18
ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ
“There is no need to talk about the reservation of journalists,” Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, was quoted by the media as saying in a recent interview.
At the same time, TV presenter Timur Miroshnychenko, who works for the TV channel and holds the rank of junior lieutenant, says that he is still not at the front because he has armour from the TV channel.
Komersant Ukrayinsky 
decided to find out whether journalists have reservations and which media outlets are entitled to them.
What the Committee on Freedom of Speech says
In a comment specifically for Kommersant Ukrainian, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn said the following.
“All media workers will be booked according to the same procedure as employees of other enterprises and companies. There will be no special procedure for booking media workers,” he said,
– he said.
Serhiy Shvets , secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, also believes that there should be no separate reservation for journalists.
“If a journalist is a person with a disability or has three or more children, or any other official reason, they should be exempt from service. That is, everything that is provided for on a general basis should also apply to journalists. I am against exceptions. Journalists are no different from other citizens of Ukraine,”
– he summarised.
Serhiy Shvets, who used to work as a special correspondent and anchor himself, noted that many of his former TV colleagues had long ago gone to fight at the front.
According to the MP, he himself will join them after completing his parliamentary term.
Booking procedure: what is known about it?
The procedure for reserving persons liable for military service during martial law is regulated by a Cabinet of Ministers resolution of 27 January 2023.
As previously explained by the Institute of Mass Information, by this resolution, the Government simplified the procedure for obtaining reservations for news channels and radio. This means that some TV and radio journalists do receive it.
“We have a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers that regulates reservations for enterprises. If it is a large enterprise, for example, a TV channel, and it is important in terms of infrastructure, then its employees are subject to reservation. I can’t say which TV channels have reservations… I assume that they are probably those that participate in the telethon,”
– oksana Romaniuk, Executive Director of the Institute of Mass Information, told Kommersant Ukrainian in an exclusive commentary.
In his turn, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn noted that the list of enterprises that belong to the critical infrastructure is determined by the Cabinet of Ministers.
“The list of such enterprises is determined by the Cabinet of Ministers, regardless of whether it is the Single Marathon or not – the same procedure applies to all enterprises. In fact, all the TV channels complain about the lack of male employees because they are liable for military service,”
– yurchyshyn said.
That is, according to him, the proportions of bookings for the media are the same as for other companies.
“The only thing it recommends is to simplify the procedure in terms of timeframes, etc. Booking of journalists, regardless of where they work and by whom, is regulated by a procedure common to all Ukrainian companies,” he added,
– he added.
Special status or which TV channels have the right to be booked?
Thehead of the National Union of Journalists, Serhiy Tomilenko, said that media outlets that are supported by taxpayers have the right to apply for reservation for some of their employees, but the final decision is made by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Culture.
“To ensure the sustainability of the marathon in 2022, it was decided to book media workers involved in both the United News and the foreign broadcasting marathon (FreeDom). However, the Government, in particular the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Defence, determines the amount and other details. The Ministry of Culture can answer how and who is booking now,”
– tomilenko said.
He noted that Public Broadcasting definitely has the right to book its employees, as part of the team works in the team of the nationwide news telethon “United News”, which started in Ukraine from the first days of the large-scale invasion. In addition to Suspilne, 1 1, We Are Ukraine, ICTV/STB, Rada and Inter TV channels also broadcast daily as part of the marathon.
“Most of the bookings relate to the Public Broadcasting Company, which provides the national telethon “United News”. This procedure has not been worked out for the commercial media segment,” he said,
– he said.
What do journalists say?
Indeed, many media workers have received calls and gone to the front. Among them is Yegor Checherinda, the host of the Espresso TV channel.
“I received a call-up. I went to the TCC. There is no armour on the TV channel (Espresso – ed.). Perhaps those who work at Yedynyi Novyny have it, but they still depend on their military speciality. No one on our Espresso TV channel has armour,” he said,
– he said.
Meanwhile, Tymur Miroshnychenko, who works as a presenter at 1 1 TV channel (part of the United News marathon), said that he did have a reservation from the TV channel.
“I’m a junior lieutenant and I’m liable for military service (…) I have a reservation from my job because I work on television, and as a media outlet, it is part of the country’s critical infrastructure. So I have bookings,” he said,
– he said in the programme “In Bed”.
What about regional media?
While some national TV channels have the right to book a number of their employees, regional media have almost no such option.
“There are small regional media that are really important to their audience. Over the past year, we have had several cases where all men were taken from such newsrooms, and the newsroom itself was closed because it could not work with only two journalists,”
– said the executive director of the Institute of Mass Information.
Oksana Romaniuk adds that the media play an important role in times of war, but the issue of booking journalists is actually quite controversial.
“In our circumstances, I don’t even know if we can talk about booking for all journalists. Perhaps the Cabinet of Ministers needs to take a deeper look at this situation so that at least important frontline newsrooms are not left without local media. This is a very complex, controversial and ethical issue,”
– oksana Romaniuk summed up.
Additionally
Later, in a comment to Detector Media, Yurchyshyn said that journalists or media workers would not be booked because of “belonging to the profession”, but the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine can grant any enterprise or organisation the status of critical during a special period, which allows booking a certain percentage of employees.
Kommersant Ukrayinsky also sent a request to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy to provide a complete up-to-date list of media outlets that have the right to book their employees and to what extent to fully understand the situation.
Author – Iryna Shevchenko
