Journalists associations
The Ukrainian media landscape does not include any comprehensive nationwide professional associations that would unite all journalists. Neither is there any system of smaller associations of that kind. Those that do exist are simultaneously few and sporadic. Usually they are based on either of the two criteria: specific sector affiliation or geography.
A good example of the former is Asotsiatsiya sportyvnykh zhurnalistiv Ukrayiny (Ukrainian Sports Press Association - USPA). Established in 1999, it unites around 600 TV, radio and print and online press journalists working in the sphere of sports. Starting with 2001 the USPA is a member society of the National Olympic Committee. Together with the latter, the USPA board provides accreditation for sports journalists to cover Olympic Games, whereas the accreditation to cover European and world championships in specific sports is carried out in cooperation with the respective federations. Represented in all regions of the country by its branches, the association seeks to protect creative, social, economic, national, cultural, sporting and other interests of its members both domestically and abroad.
Another association operating based on the sectoral criterion is Spilka pravoslavnykh zhurnalistiv (Union of Orthodox Journalists). Established in 2015 against the backdrop of the standoff between Ukraine’s two Orthodox Churches, those of the Kyiv and Moscow Patriarchates, the Union tends to lean toward the latter in materials it promulgates. Notably, information about the union, including any details on its founders, editors, members and membership procedure, on its official website as well as elsewhere, is very scarce. The union is allegedly affiliated with Vadym Novynskyi, a Ukrainian MP who is a consistent member of pro-Russian political parties and patron of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
An example of an association that was established based on the regional criterion is NGO Pivden (South). Known before 2014 as the Kherson City Journalists’ Association Pivden (South), the Association was established in 1998 with a view to unite regional journalists in their professional activity. In 2014, it expanded its focus and became an NGO advocating for human rights, rule of law and other democratic values, the promotion of journalistic standards having become only one of its numerous aspects.
However, when not limited to journalistic criterion, associations in the media sector as a whole are both nationwide and numerous. These include, among others, Nezalezhna asotsiatsiya teleradiomovnykiv (Independent Association of Broadcasters - IAB), Asotsiatsiya korporatyvnych media Ukrayiny (Association of Corporate Media of Ukraine - ACMU), Ukrayinska media-asotsiatsiya (Ukrainian Media Association - UMA), Ukrayinska asotsiatsiya media-biznesu (Ukrainian Association of Media Business - UAMB), Ukrayinska asotsiatsiya vydavtsiv periodychnoyi presy (Ukrainian Association of Press Publishers - UAPP) as well as Asotsiatsiya Nezalezhni regionalni vydavtsi Ukrayiny (Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine Association - IRPUA).