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Panteleymonov’s actions have severely injured the minds of Ukrainian citizens. And the Crimeans have made their decision under the influence of this distorted information, including such channels as ‘Inter’ and the First National channel at the National Television Company of Ukraine (NTCU).
Natalia Ligachova, founder and editor-in-chief of ‘Telekrytyka’, a media monitoring and freedom of press outlet, wrote this in her blog. She believes that ‘Svoboda’ should not be the only ones apologising.
“How can we find a way to avoid these excesses? Svoboda’s smear campaign against Panteleymonov is outrageous and unacceptable,” – says Natalia. – “But! Can we avoid having our righteous indignation creating a hero out of Panteleymonov, who would be a puppet for any corrupt government authorities?”
“I also have a question for the NTCU team: “Why didn’t you write collective appeals, why didn’t you interrupt broadcasts while Panteleymonov forced journalists of the First National channel to issue blatant LIES to our citizens?”
According to Natalia Ligacheva, the distortion of information by a dishonest media resulted in the loss of the Crimea and prejudiced the minds of [many] Ukrainian citizens.
“The actions of ‘Svoboda’ members has caused a great deal of damage to the reputation of the new government. But the actions of Panteleymonov and the information team of First National Channel have caused even greater damage to the minds of our citizens, because they made their choices, including choices related to Crimea, under the influence of distorted information about events that were broadcasted by both Russian TV and some Ukrainian channels – primarily by ‘Inter’ and First National Channel.”
“Maybe it is worth apologising to your audience as well, so as to have the moral right to complain against ‘Svoboda’” – the editor-in-chief of ‘Telekrytyka’ addresses Oleksandr Panteleymonov. Source: zik.ua
“Panteleymonov is now a martyr for freedom of speech, thanks to ‘Svoboda’
Kyiv journalist Oleksandr Golubov asserts that ‘Svoboda’ has made a “martyr for the cause of freedom of speech” out of the acting director of The Ukrainian National Television Company Panteleymonov.
“Panteleymonov, who had produced all the nonsense that we saw on ‘First National Channel’ during Maidan, was due to be quietly removed from his post in the earliest days,”- he said.
But then came the ‘Svoboda Party’ and began “fighting against the freedom of speech”. “They filmed it themselves, so that nobody missed seeing it”. So try and remove Panteleymonov now – now that he is a martyr for this very same freedom of speech”. Source: zik.ua
On Tuesday, March 18, MP’s from the ‘Svoboda’ party forced the acting director of The Ukrainian National Television Company Oleksandr Panteleymonov to resign. A video posted on the internet shows that the MPs forced Panteleymonov to resign and that they slapped his face and on the head. These actions were condemned by the Prime Minister Yatsenyuk, acting Interior Minister Avakov, as well as ‘Svoboda’ leader Tyahnybok. The General Prosecutor has vowed to objectively assess the actions of Svoboda at NTCU. While the Ukrainian State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting has issued a statement on March 19 urging politicians and activists against wrongful interference in media.
Translated by Alya Shandra
Edited by Borys Vasylyshyn and Alan Beckett
