Lecture and discussion event: Media Freedom in the story of Independent Ukraine

Lecture and discussion event: Media Freedom in the story of Independent Ukraine

to Sep 28th. klo 9.00–12.00
Tampere University, Pinni B 1097
Kanslerinrinne 1, Tampere

The event is free, but a pre-registering is required. Please register to participate at the Finnish Cultural Foundation website skr.fi/kutsu and use the code PI2809.

The lecture hall can fit 90 registered participants and the seats will be filled in the order of registration. The event will be live streamed, and it will later be available for watching online.

We invite all pre-registered participants, especially the journalism students and staff of Tampere University, to participate in our unique pre-lunch seminar about Ukraine’s media and freedom.

We hear about the phases of Ukraine’s freedom of speech and media development, directly from the core of news. Our main speaker is the American Ukrainian journalist, Head of Voice of America’s (VOA) Eastern Europe Bureau and a witness to the story of Ukraine’s freedom of speech, Ms. Myroslava Gongadze.

Along with her journalism activity, Ms. Gongadze is a mentor to Ukrainian journalists. She is the moving force behind the journalism prize that carries name Gongadze and awards journalists in Ukraine who can find innovative ways of conveying information, create sustainable media, and remain faithful to professional principles. She has interviewed many international and Ukrainian leaders and top names, and during the Summer she sent globally watched news reports for example from the Lithuania-Belarus border.

This September our guest speaker also receives the Inamori Ethics Prize which is given to outstanding international leaders for their life-long work for a better humankind.

Unfortunately, the name Gongadze is also known from a tragic context, as Myroslava Gongadze is the widow of the brutally murdered journalist and media innovator Georgiy Gongadze. The Ukrainian-language online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda was founded and led by Georgiy Gongadze (1969-2000), and it was one of the first independent media in Ukraine since the country’s new independence in 1991. Today, Ukrainska Pravda remains one of the largest Ukrainian-language news media.

The murder of Georgiy Gongadze, which shocked everyone and caused the loudest political scandal of its era, is officially still unsolved, despite the promises of several governments. More than 20 years Myroslava Gongadze has relentlessly advocated for justice to Georgiy Gongadze and rule of law. In the U.S., where she moved after the unsolved murder of her husband, she actively supports many Ukrainian causes.

The seminar consists of three parts. It includes a brief introduction to the development of Ukraine´s media freedom and society during the independence years since 1991, the Tampere Freedom of Speech lecture by our guest of honor Myroslava Gongadze about Ukraine’s perspective in media freedom, and finally a panel discussion to go deeper into the topics of the Tampere Freedom of Speech Declaration.

Participating in the panel discussion are war reporter Antti Kuronen (YLE), correspondent Jussi Konttinen (Helsingin Sanomat), international affairs specialist Salla Nazarenko (Finnish Association of Journalists), chairperson Yrsa Grüne-Luoma (Reporters Without Borders Finland), researcher of public service and sustainable journalism Anna Maris (FOJO Media Institute, Sweden) and professor Kari Liuhto (Turku University School of Economics and Pan-European Institute).

The event is moderated by Lännen Media’s Editor-In-Chief Matti Posio and the currently living in Finland Ukrainian journalist Yuliia Shchetyna.

If the situation allows, we hear from the famous war reporter and photographer Andriy Dubchak, about his work in the frontlines with his media company Donbas Frontliner. The Mayor of Tampere’s friendship city Kyiv, Mr. Vitali Klitschko, is expected to take part in the seminar through a video recorded interview.