News agencies
News agencies are very important in the daily functioning of the media system. Many media often rely on what news agencies put out for their content. This is especially the case for regional media, news websites, and radio stations. The problem is that the information provided by news agencies is rarely verified by the newsrooms. If mistakes or distortions appear in the initial messages put out by news agencies, they are quickly spread around the readers all over Ukraine. Even when the news agencies correct the mistakes, many media do not.
However, Ukrainian news agencies, like most other media, are scarcely independent as they are often part of big media groups owned by oligarchs. For instance, UNIAN news agency is included in 1+1 Media Group owned by Ihor Kolomoisky. Ukrainski Novyny (Ukrainian News) is a part of Inter Media Group which belongs to Dmytro Firtash and Serhiy Liovochkin. Although Interfax-Ukraine declares full independence, it operates under a license from the Russian agency Interfax. Ukrinform is a state-owned agency that is subject to the influence of the Ukrainian government. Ukraine also has offices for international news agencies such as Bloomberg, Reuters, or AFP.