MAIDAN…WHERE IS THE TRUTH?

Ukrainian and international

media that cover this event

Euromaidan was a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on the night of 21 November 2013 with public protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kiev, demanding closer European integration.

WHAT DOES IT ‘MAIDAN’?

The scope of the protests expanded, with many calls for the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych and his government.

The protests ultimately led to the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. Many protesters joined because of the violent dispersal of protesters on 30 November and "a will to change life in Ukraine". By 25 January 2014, the protests had been fueled by the perception of "widespread government corruption", "abuse of power", and "violation of human rights in Ukraine".

So let’s find out how different medias (Ukrainian and international) cover one story – Maidan. Let’s have a look at first Ukrainian online newspaper called ‘Euromaidan Press’. It’s quite prestigious edition that has been cited by:

Interview with French journalist Sebastien Gobert about events in

Ukraine

It’s very interesting to read international opinion about Ukrainian events. On the 21th of November 2013 all world was talking about Maidan. It was shocking either for Ukrainians or for Europeans.

So analyzing Ukrainian media attentively (like Gaseta.ua, Channel 5, European press) we can read all hurt and pain through this materials. We also can see new wave of nationalism in Ukrainian’s hurts. Ukrainian journalists don’t afraid to say about Russian participation in this cruel events…

The first heroes murdered during the Maidan protests

DOCUMENTARY FILM ‘MAIDAN’ BY SERGEY LOZNITSA

WHAT ABOUT INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE?Have a look at some official reactions of international organizations:

UN — Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated on 3 December "I appeal to all parties to act with restraint, avoid any further violence and to uphold the democratic principles of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly".

NATO — When asked about "pressure put on Ukraine" the Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen stated on 28 November "If anyone puts pressure on Ukraine in order to prevent Ukraine from deciding freely on Ukraine's affiliation, its alliances, then this will be in contradiction with the principles to which we all subscribed many years ago, in 1999, when an OSCE document was signed under which each individual country has the right to decide for itself. We're sticking to that principle, and we do hope that all of the other countries that signed that document do the same".

THE BIG MISTAKE OF TWO INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS

Believe it or not, French and UK publishers placed Crimea in Russia for one new map!Two renowned publishing houses have found themselves at the heart of a media storm for featuring maps showing the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea as belonging to Russia.

Wall in Moscow showing map of Crimea and words ‘Crimea and Russia together forever’

(Vladimir Filonov, MT)

WHAT CONCLUSION WE CAN DO?It’s true that media literacy in our country is not developed so much as in Europe BUT this revolution showed that Ukrainians journalists sometimes are more brave and truthful then any other! Any other media was more honest as Ukrainian ones during this events. So, personally I think, that Europe should learn some thing from Ukraine.