Some 51% of polled foreign journalists in Ukraine face problems with obtaining information from authorities – survey

KYIV. Jan 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – More than half of the foreign journalists surveyed in Ukraine consider difficulties in obtaining information from the authorities a significant problem, according to a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) and the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

According to the analytical report on the results of the survey, 51% of the interviewed journalists indicated that difficulties in obtaining information from the authorities are a "significant" and "rather significant" problem.

Among the main problems, journalists mentioned a biased attitude towards the media; inability of press services to work with journalists; unwillingness to give official comments or take responsibility for the decision; too long and complicated process of coordinating and gaining access to officials and institutions subordinate to them (complicated access to medical institutions was most often mentioned).

Also, according to foreign journalists, in Ukraine there is a lack of information about events at the front: military statistics, information about the latest course of the event.

"At the same time, most of the respondents consider this situation to be quite predictable, because during the war such information is a secret. However, according to a significant part of journalists, even under these conditions, the authorities could publish more information. In their opinion, the disclosure of their own losses and the recognition of mistakes increased level of confidence in it," the report says.

In addition, it is noted that foreign journalists consider attempts to hide errors and too carefully control and censor information to be a significant reputational risk for the Ukrainian authorities.

Among other potential risks of insufficient communication, they cited a focus on only a few major media outlets (predominantly TV) instead of a more even distribution of attention across different media types, regions and sizes, which would keep the attention and commitment to Ukraine among a much larger audience.

As for the information that the media could not get, most often such information concerned statistics – the number of victims, wounded and prisoners, in particular, it is impossible to obtain permission to film on the territory of hospitals.

The survey was conducted in September-December 2022 using the method of personal interviews among foreign media journalists who visited Ukraine at least once after February 24, 2022 and published at least one material about the war in Ukraine. Some 55 respondents (reporters and foreign media correspondents) were surveyed, representing 28 countries, as well as five Ukrainian fixers who had experience working with foreign journalists in Ukraine. It is noted that most of the respondents were representatives of the G7 countries and countries neighboring Ukraine.

The KIIS emphasized that the study is not representative of all representatives of foreign media working in Ukraine, and expresses the opinion of only those who took part in it.