Hromadske
Громадське
CountryUkraine
Broadcast areaInternet
HeadquartersKyiv, Ukraine
Programming
Picture format16:9 (Full HD, 1080p)
History
Launched22 November 2013 as Hromadske.TV
Links
Websitehromadske.ua

Hromadske (Ukrainian: Громадське; lit. Public) is a digital broadcasting station in Ukraine that commenced operations on 22 November 2013.[1] The station was announced in June 2013 by 15 journalists, before commencing operations on 22 November. It is registered as an NGO.[2]

History

The idea originated from journalist Roman Skrypin in September 2012.[2] After the April 2013 ownership dispute at TVi 31 journalists resigned from TVi on 29 April 2013, they believed as TVi employees they could not anymore "guarantee our audience to provide objective and unbiased information". They then announced on 30 April 2013 to set up a "web project in which we will do the same job".[3] The former TVi 31 journalists eventually became employed by Hromadske.TV, including the well known (in Ukraine) Mustafa Nayem.[2][3] The project also included Nataliya Gumenyuk, and was also joined by journalist Yulia Bankova, because she "in 2010, working at Pershyi Natsionalnyi for the first time [got] confronted with censorship". The project was officially announced in June 2013 by 15 journalists.[2] A Russian counterpart Public TV Russia lasted only three months due to exhausted financial resources.[4]

The channel was planned to start to operate in September 2013.[2] But its first broadcast was on 22 November 2013, at 14:00.[1] It was originally scheduled to start at 18:00; but this time was moved forward a few hours in response to the 21 November 2013 Ukrainian government decree suspended preparations for signing of an EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.[5][6] During the (following) Euromaidan-protests the channel saw its numbers of viewers heavily increasing.[7] These Euromaidan-protests were caused by the same reason (the 21 November 2013 Ukrainian government decree) as to why the channel started to broadcast earlier (on 22 November 2013).[8] On 29 November 2013, during Euromaidan, a journalist of 5 Kanal and Hromadske.TV stated they were attacked by "athletically built men in plainclothes believed to be hired thugs" in Kyiv's Mariinskyi park, while "police were nowhere in sight". The attacks occurred during filming. The reporter's camera was broken and his flash memory card stolen.[9][10]

In July 2014, an anchor for Hromadske TV cut off an interview with Tanya Lokshina, a researcher in the Russia office of Human Rights Watch, after she had insisted on speaking about civilian casualties but refused to blame Russia outright for the conflict (as HRW never comment on matters of political responsibility), despite repeated demands from the anchor, Danylo Yanevskiy.[11]

In 2014 Hromadske.TV launched Hromadske International to highlight Ukrainian news for English-speaking audiences. Articles were originally published on a Medium blog, but in 2015, Hromadske International was given its own website.[12]

On January 19, 2016, Hromadske Supervisory Board accused Skrypin of appropriating funds and plans from the NGO. The board published a list of requirements for Skrypin which included transferring the funds to the hromadske.tv domain, returning the funds he took and disclosing how he used them.[13] In April 2016 criminal proceeding were opened against him.[14]

In July 2016 The World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center denied the complaint and left the domain ‘hromadske.tv’ to Skrypin.[15]

Funding

The station is publicly and privately funded and has a bank account (Privat Bank) posted on its website. Individual contributions in 2013 amounted to over 1.1 million Ukrainian hryvnias, -₴-[16] and almost 1.5 million in the first quarter of 2014.[17]

According to the interim financial report Hromadske TV was funded in 2013 by the Netherlands Embassy (793,089 Ukrainian hryvnias, -₴-), the US Embassy (399,650 ₴) and by George Soros' International Renaissance Foundation (247,860).[16] By June 2014 Hromadske TV had received another 558,842₴ from the Government of Canada, 394,181₴ from the Fritt Ord Foundation, 287,898₴ from the Embassy of the United States, Kyiv, 207,402₴ from an auction organized by 'Dukat' (the Auction House) and 1,875,180₴ from individual contributors.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b (in Ukrainian) "Громадське телебачення" о 14:00 починає своє мовлення із євромарафону Hromadske.TV at 14:00 begins his broadcast with Euromaidan, Ukrayinska Pravda (November 22, 2013)
  2. ^ a b c d e (in Ukrainian) «Громадське ТБ»: «Все гірше, ніж ви думаєте, але надія є» Public TV: "It is worse than you think, but there is hope" Archived 2013-12-13 at the Wayback Machine, Telekrytyka [uk] (June 14, 2013)
  3. ^ a b (in Ukrainian) Найєм оголосив про старт нового проекту колишніх журналістів ТВі Nayem announced the launch of a new project of former journalists TBi, Ukrayinska Pravda (30 April 2013)
    З ТВі звільняється 31 найкращий журналіст TVi freed 31 best journalists, Ukrayinska Pravda (29 April 2013)
  4. ^ (in Ukrainian) Громадське телебачення: "пацієнт" швидше живий? Hromadske.TV "patient" rather live?, Deutsche Welle (08/09/2013)
  5. ^ "Ukraine drops EU plans and looks to Russia". aljazeera.com. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
    Ukrainian government issues decree to suspend preparations for signing of association agreement with EU, Interfax-Ukraine (21 November 2013)
    Rada votes down all bills on allowing Tymoshenko's medical treatment abroad, Interfax-Ukraine (21 November 2013)
  6. ^ Cox-Kwasniewski mission to continue until Eastern Partnership Summit, Interfax-Ukraine (21 November 2013)
  7. ^ (in Ukrainian) Громадське телебачення зараз дивиться понад 100 тис людей одночасно Hromadske.TV is now watched more than 100 thousand people at once, watcher.com.ua (December 1, 2013)
    "Громадське ТБ" б'є рекорди переглядів Hromadske.TV breaks records views, ТелеПростір [uk] (November 26, 2013)
  8. ^ "Ukraine still wants historic pact with EU". Oman Observer. Archived from the original on 28 November 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
    Ukraine police dismantle Kyiv protest camps, BBC News (9 December 2013)
  9. ^ Journalists’ safety in Ukraine must be ensured, says OSCE media freedom representative, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (29 November 2013)
  10. ^ (in Ukrainian) "Тітушки" напали на знімальну групу "5 каналу" з палками та камінням "Titushky" attacked the crew "Channel 5" with sticks and stones Archived 2013-12-02 at the Wayback Machine, 5 Kanal (29 November 2013)
  11. ^ Kates, Glenn (21 August 2014). "Few Want To Take Responsibility As Civilian Casualties Add Up In Ukraine War". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  12. ^ "У Hromadske International з'явився сайт | Hromadske.tv". 2015-03-17. Archived from the original on 2015-03-17. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  13. ^ "Скрипін про hromadske.tv: готовий віддати гроші, але не доменне ім'я". BBC News Україна (in Ukrainian). 19 January 2016. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
  14. ^ "Скрипін і Грішин vs "Громадське ТБ": нові подробиці із суду (ДОПОВНЕНО)". detector.media (in Ukrainian). 24 January 2017. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
  15. ^ "WIPO Domain Name Decision: DTV2016-0004". www.wipo.int. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  16. ^ a b Annual financial report 2013 Archived 2014-08-25 at the Wayback Machine Hromadske.TV
  17. ^ Interim financial report - 1 quarter 2014 Hromadske.TV
  18. ^ Interim financial report - 1 half 2014 Hromadske.TV

External links

Television in Ukraine
Categories