On 28 - 29 September a two-day expert seminar was held at the National TV and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine on "Regulation in the sphere of media during elections. Monitoring of the broadcasters in the context of countering information threats", organized by the European Union and the Council of Europe Joint Programme of "Strengthening of information society in Ukraine" with the National Council. The Council of Europe expert Rast’o Kužel presented the media monitoring methodology developed at the request of the National Council.

The methodology for the media monitoring has been developed by the Slovak media-monitoring organization MEMO 98 which has used it in some 50 countries around the world. It employs quantitative and qualitative methodological tools according to international standards for media monitoring. Given its comprehensive content-oriented approach, it is specially designed to provide in-depth feedback on pluralism and diversity in media reporting, including coverage of chosen subjects/themes.

“The intention of this document is to help the National Council to enhance their media monitoring capacity to observe how license holders fulfil their obligations;” said Rasťo Kužel, the Council of Europe expert. “The document provides a set of monitoring methodologies to address common issues that may be addressed by the National Council. I would like to mention, however, that the exact design of each media monitoring activity is dependent upon the exact goal of each monitoring. While the way how regulators oversee the adherence of broadcasters to their legal obligations varies from country to country, it is a good international practice that if a regulator conducts monitoring, the methodology as well as all its decisions are published online.”

The monitoring based on comprehensive international methodology is going to  give the regulator more effective tools for investigating issues of media coverage. When a broadcaster fails to respect the law or the conditions specified in the license, the regulatory authorities should have the power to impose sanctions, in accordance with the law.

The participants of the seminar included the representatives of department of management and control of the broadcasters, the secretariats of the National Council in the regions and other specialists. Rast’o Kuzel presented the methodology and carried out practical exercises for its application.

Media monitoring methodology will be piloted by the monitoring center in Kyiv for monitoring of national TV channels during the elections, in particular, in processing and analysis of the monitoring materials. In addition, it can be applied by Mr. Dmytro Shvydchenko, the head of monitoring and analysis department of the National Council in Mariupol, where he will provide methodological and consultative assistance. In addition, some regional representatives will also apply the methodology. Following these pilot monitoring projects, the National Council is expected to fully or partially adopt the methodology so it can be applied for the next elections. In addition, the National Council is considering their own draft Regulatory act on Media Monitoring which can also utilize the material prepared by the CoE expert.