Journalistic Ethics Commission helps National Bank of Ukraine and Obozrevatel online media to resolve the dispute

The dispute regarding publications on the Obozrevatel website criticizing the procurement policy of the National Bank of Ukraine was resolved through the mediation of the Commission on Journalistic Ethics at the site of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU).

“Complaint resolution through mediation is an important part of the work of the Commission on Journalistic Ethics,” said Lina Kushch, a member of the Commission and the First Secretary of the NUJU, who moderated the meeting. “The fact that the parties to the dispute have shown interest in meeting on a neutral site shows confidence in the self-regulatory body. Our task is not to punish journalists but to help them adhere to ethical standards. On the other hand, dialogue between editors and consumers of information is also necessary for the audience to better understand the work of journalists. In such a case, the dialogue led to an understanding and to the fact that the complaint was resolved through mediation.”

As the Commission on Journalistic Ethics explains, it received a complaint from the National Bank of Ukraine about the article published by Obozrevatel: the NBU bought a “program for business” from a seller who is involved in bribing banks: he is paid millions every year (September 1, 2023, author Oleksandr Lytvyn) and Scandalous purchases of the National Bank: prices soared, and money went to those suspected of conspiracy and bribery (September 6, 2023, author Oleksandr Lytvyn).

The author of the complaint believes that the mentioned publications were prepared in violation of the Code of Ethics of a Ukrainian journalist. As stated in the appeal, the journalist and the editors “did not contact the Communications Department of the National Bank of Ukraine with a request to confirm or deny the specified information, clarify it, or receive a comment – neither before the publication nor after.”

“After the publications with inaccurate information were published, the National Bank sent letters to the online edition of Obozrevatel, in which it pointed out the facts of the inaccurate information and provided the following explanation regarding the facts mentioned in the publications. The editors of the publication did not react to this in any way,” the complaint states.

The Commission on Journalistic Ethics asked the newsroom of Obozrevatel to provide comments on the content of the complaint.

In its response, the editors reported that they had not received any letters from the NBU after the release of the material “Scandalous purchases of the National Bank….” The information contained in the material is obtained from the procurement site Prozorro. Both the first and second materials given in the complaint are based on the analysis of open data. The editors assured that they are ready to add the NBU‘s comments to the materials, if such comments are received by mail.

In the process of examining the circumstances of the complaint, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics suggested that representatives of the NBU and the Obozrevatel newsroom resolve the dispute through mediation.

During the meeting on February 1, 2024, organized by the Commission, the parties discussed the content of the publications mentioned in the complaint, as well as other online publications mentioning the National Bank of Ukraine.

During the meeting, the parties agreed that:

1. Journalists have the right to raise any topics based on public importance and guided by editorial policy.
2. Journalists are free to choose sources, can use both official and their own sources of information, and prepare materials based on them.
3. The facts on which the material is based must be verified by journalists. The authors can make their own conclusions and assumptions, but they are based on verified facts.
4. The editors of Obozrevatel will add information about the NBU‘s position to the materials where the bank or its management is mentioned after receiving a written comment.
5. In materials based on the analysis of open data, it is important to add context: for example, whether the bank could refuse the agreement with the company, etc. Bank representatives are ready to provide such comments, and the editors are ready to take them into account in the publication.

In the end, both parties agreed that the complaint was resolved through mediation. The parties reached a consensus on the discussed issues and thanked the Commission on Journalistic Ethics for holding the meeting.