Strength and Gore. The main trends in the information space during June 17-23, 2019. Election Detector

Українську версію читайте тут

Channels of Medvedchuk acknowledge the transformation of Zelenskyi to Poroshenko, channels of Kolomoiskyi and Pinchuk help the “Opposition Bloc”, and Lyashko is disowned by everyone except Channel Ukraine. Election Detector 2.4.

“Election Detector” is a weekly analytical review which timely captures the main topics, trends, manipulations, and changes in the information space, related to the election. Read more detailed analysis in our regular (television news, weekly TV magazines, political talk shows, information channels, Russian propaganda) monitoring studies. Issues of “Election Detector”, devoted to the presidential campaign are available here.

Archive: “Election Detector” for June 10-16, June 3–9, May 22 — June 2.

 The main trends

Central TV channels determine their favorites that appear every day in the news and every week in the talk shows and vice versa those who are “forgotten to be called.” Medvedchuk’s TV channels and “Inter” are becoming more critical to Zelenskyi blaming him for the repetition of Poroshenko’s “mistakes” and reluctance to conduct direct talks with Russia. An example of this rhetoric is also demonstrated  by ZIK television channel, which – despite of assertion of unchanging editorial policy – is rapidly converting to support of the “Opposition Platform – For Life”.

The “Voice” party has become not a daily, but a regular participant in PR-digests on Pinchuk’s TV channels and on Channel “Ukraine”. And none of the TV journalists has wondered about the legitimacy and ethics of the free concerts by Okean Elzy, which come in the end of the “Tour of Changes” rallies.

In the most favorable position was the “Opposition Bloc”: Its representatives are quoted and invited to programs by all those who wish less success to “Opposition Platform – For Life” and hope that Akhmetov’s opposition will bite a piece of its electorate.

Although the lists of many parties are already known and registered, systematic analysis of personalities outside the top five or top ten in news, weekly newscasts and political talk shows is not visible. They speak only about the most scandalous confrontations or anomalies. And the “Fatherland” classified their list, answering to the question about its composition something like “it will be a mixture of youth and experience.”

Ten curious incidents and manipulations that took place this week

• Frequent guest of NewsOne talk shows Yevhen Chervonenko announced he wants to introduce a “trend toward propriety”, and soon threatened a dialog partner to “punch him on the jaw”.
• Channel “Ukraine” made a material about the wedding the main character of which suddenly was neither the groom nor the bride but Petro Poroshenko.
• Political analyst Oleksandra Reshmedylova statedthat the Ukrainian people have the desire for “catastrophic change”.
• Channel ZIK, having just moved under the control of Medvedchuk, told how Parfyonov was disappointed in Zelenskyi. It is not the same Parfyonov, but still, it sounds great.
• Channel “Ukraine” used the killing of a girl in Odesa region for promotion of Oleh Lyashko, who turned out to be the main enemy of Ukrainian pedophiles, according to the channel.
• Frequent guest of ZIK Roman Revedzhuk accused the channel of propaganda of the “Russian world”, but did not leave the program.
• “Inter” reported that Medvedchuk is taking care of the release of prisoners, with reference to Putin. The versions of Medvedchuk himself and of the Ukrainian authorities were not taken into account.
• “1+1” told enthusiastically about how Zelenskyi flees from the “communist” atmosphere of the Presidential Administration, moving … into a former Lenin museum (the fact that the Ukrainian House was the former Lenin museum, of course, was not stressed).
• Yulia Tymoshenko decoded the DNA of Ukraine on ICTV: this is, firstly, “Chervona Ruta”, and secondly, the gas transportation system.
• Matviy Hanapolskyi, presenter of “Priamyi” Channel and former citizen of Russia, confessed that: if he lived in the occupied territories, would become … a citizen of Russia.

 The most important events related to the election, which were covered in the media in the period from June 17 to June 23

A new study by the “Rating” group was published.

Hroisman claimed that the parties of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko are old — the European Solidarity called him  a traitor.

The Presidential Administration was renamed to Office and staff was laid off.

Medvedchuk has accused Poroshenko of blocking the exchange of hostages.

People’s deputy Dmytro Tymchuk died.

Research by Ukrainian Institute of Social Studies and “Social Monitoring” has been published.

The court recognized the decree on the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada constitutional.

The CEC registered the list of the “Civil Position” party.

The “People’s Front” called on Zelenskyi to convene the NSDC because of the purchase of ZIK by Medvedchuk.

The State Bureau of Investigations  looks into the  “seizure of power” by Poroshenko, Parubiy and Turchynov.

The CEC did not allow Andriy Klyuyev to  participate in the elections.

Andriy Portnov became  a TV presenter.

The leader of the “People’s Servant” does not exclude the alliance of the party with “Voice” — Vakarchuk is against it.

Students of the University of Kyiv have been able to cancel Portnov’s appointment.

The court allowed Saakashvili to take part in the  elections.

Nataliya Balasynovych was excluded from the list by “European Solidarity” party.

Zelenskyi said he would not hold a dialog with separatists.

The CEC refused to include Oleksandr Yefremov in the “Opposition Bloc” list.

The court ordered the CEC to register Onyshchenko.

The activist of the “Civil Position” party who was beaten by police in Vinnytsia died.

Zelenskyi canceled 160 presidential decrees.

Vadym Novynskyi will participate in the elections.

Manipulations

The forgiven Zhukov. On June 19, Hennadiy Kernes and Yevhen Murayev on channel “Ukraine” boasted that they returned the name of “Marshal Zhukov” to Kharkiv’s Hryhorenko Avenue. Neither other political evaluations of this event, nor legal comments were provided by channel “Ukraine”. In a similar vein was flavored the material on ICTV – they said that “Zhukov was forgiven” in Kharkiv, and that the “Opposition bloc” supported the return of the Soviet name, because, according to Murayev, a lot of calls to do so were received. There is no balance here too, just the information that the Prime Minister asked the police to check the legality of the renaming. It would seem like what does Murayev heve to do here? He leads the “Our” party, which is not represented at any council, and the renaming was initiated by Hennadiy Kernes, who recently has been member of the “Renaissance” party, and now is member of the “Trust Actions” party. The fact that these “achievements” were attributed to the “Opposition Bloc” and showed Murayev as the first number in the party’s list is an obvious evidence that the materials were ordered. Instead, Channel 5, “1+1”, STB, and “UA: Pershyi” prepared adequate and balanced materials on this subject. And in the weekly newscast “Chas. Pidsumky tyzhnia [Time. Results of the week] on Channel 5, there was a material about the renaming as a frank revenge of the pro-Russian forces.

Wedding-Commander-In-Chief. On June 22, news on channel “Ukraine” released a material about the wedding of volunteer Oleksiy Sokil and volunteer Hanna Shynkarenko. This was a joyful event, but the main character of the material was neither the groom nor the bride, but the ex-President and parliamentary candidate Petro Poroshenko. “The newly wedded couple invited them to the celebration. The guests presented the couple with an icon, which will protect the newly founded Ukrainian family“, the material mentioned. Needless to say, the channel is in no hurry to talk about weddings which are held without the participation of political leaders.

Beautiful women. Social media users have clearly noticed the scandal with Zelenskyi’s statement  about “beautiful women as a tourist brand of Ukraine”; on June 17, this was the topic number one for discussion. On June 21, “Podrobytsi Tyzhnia” [Details of the Week] on “Inter” told about the President’s neglectful remark and commented: “Maybe Zelenskyi did not mean anything like that, but he should be more careful with the words, because it was the scandal that blocked all the other news about the President’s visit to the European Union.” To continue with this topic, the program showed a material about prostitution in Ukraine as a real problem. Then again, the other TV channels were silent about this situation. Only “1+1” in “Snidanok” [Breakfast] and not in prime time news told about the buzz in social networks. They noted that “the president is being badgered for this statement mainly by women and political opponents”. Later, “Fakty Tyzhnia” [Facts of the Week] on ICTV briefly mentioned this situation. However, no one has made a detailed review of the scandal or such a selection of materials as BBC in the news on television.

And now the news of culture. On June 17, STB unexpectedly reported that Ivan Malkovych received the Vincenz Prize. The event occurred on Saturday, but a two-day delay could be justified by the fact that there are no newscasts on the channel during the weekend. However, there is much less justification for the fact that the main character of the material was not Malkovych but Petro Poroshenko, who came to hand in the awards at the festival, organized by the candidate on a single-mandate district from the “European Solidarity” and the acting member of the parliament from the “People’s Front”, Mykola Knyazhitsky. The name of the party was also mentioned in the material as well as Poroshenko’s soundbite, which had little in common with literature: “… we must step forward; we must move our country towards the European Union. On the way to the North Atlantic Alliance. Farther away from Russia, the occupying country.” But STB forgot only to mention Knyazhitskyi who organized the festival probably for his own promotion before the election. Other TV channels did not pay attention to the event, of course, except for “Espresso” channel owned by Knyazhitskyi himself.