1. 100,000 Tweets Do Not Make a Summer
New Media Landscape in Ukraine
Milan | Jan. 25th, 2010
paolocosta.net
2. Stats on Media Consumption (*)
(*) InternetWorld Stats, Sep. 2009; State Statistic Committee of Ukraine, Oct. 2009; Yandex, Jan. 2010
• Population: 45.7 million
• Internet users: 10.4 million
• Internet penetration: 22.7%
• Internet subscriptions: 2.4 million
• Cable TV subscriptions: 3.4 million
• Mobile phones subscriptions: 55.2 million
• Mobile phones penetration: 120%
• Twitter users: 17,000
paolocosta.net 2
5. Mainstream News Websites
Ukraynska Pravda ProUA
Launched by Georgy The newspaper for
Gongadze in 2000 professionals
At the vanguard during
the Orange Revolution
Funded by the National
Endowment for
Democracy, USA
English edition suspended Korrespondent
Online outlet of the
leading Ukrainian
weekly magazine
Published by KP Media
Kanal 5
Controlled by Petro
Poroshenko, currently
minister of Foreign
Affairs (pro NATO Obozrevatel
membership)
Internet tabloid (sport,
English edition business, photo
suspended since 2005 galleries, humor, and
politics)
paolocosta.net 5
6. Mainstream News Websites
• Korrespondent.net
top-rated news site
in Ukrainian Internet
• Pravda.com.ua still
popular (ranked 31
by Alexa)
• 2 to 10% traffic from
USA Source: Alexa.com, Jan. 2010
paolocosta.net 6
7. Grassroots Websites
• Maidan.org.ua
– An Internet Hub for Citizens Action Network in Ukraine
– Mainly user ruled, animates the community with news and rumors
– Solicits funds via Visa and MasterCard
– English version available
• Zakon404.pp.ua
– Reference destination for the civilian protest of bloggers and media
against violence of rights for free press, media and democracy
– On Twitter as well (#404uanet)
• Electua.org
– A project to help the election appear as transparent as possible
– Provides additional sources of information
– About 100,000 tweets generated up to now (#elect_ua)
paolocosta.net 7
8. Watchdog Websites: Telekritika.ua
• Founded by Natalia
Ligacheva, who
played a crucial role
in Orange Revolution
• Highlights lack of
quality in the media
landscape (self-
censorship,
accommodating
attitude, caution, …)
paolocosta.net 8
9. Candidates Websites
• Sites are poor, traditional
and with few traffic
• Sergey Tigipko is on
Facebook, but has just
155 fans
• Yanukovych is on Twitter,
but has protected his
tweets
• Tymoshenko has a
channel on YouTube Source: Alexa.com, Jan. 2010
(152,882 total upload
views)
• Everyone have a blog, but
not a single politician
posted anything
themselves
paolocosta.net 9
10. Critical Issues
• Low penetration makes Internet “a bonus for plugged-in
professionals but little influential to ordinary citizens” (Natalia
Ligacheva)
• Political communication in Ukraine is affected by paid news
coverage (jeansa, “marchetta”), accommodating journalist,
and pressure on media
• Internet is still secondary to more traditional media
• Namely television remains the main medium for political
propaganda (Sergey Tigipko’s campaign proves it: competent
use of traditional media and outdoor advertising)
• Internet is currently used more as “a tool against political
opponents” (Natalia Ligacheva )
paolocosta.net 10
11. References
• Negotiating the News: Informal State Censorship of Ukrainian Television,
“Human Rights Watch”, March 2003, Vol. 15, No. 2
• Marta Dyczok, Was Kuchma’s Censorship Effective? Mass Media in Ukraine
before 2004, “Europe-Asia Studies”, March 2006, Vol. 58, No. 2, 215-238
• Myroslaw J. Kyj, Internet Use in Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, “Business
Horizons”, 2006, No. 49, 71-80
• Joshua Goldstein, The Role of Digital Networked Technologies in the
Ukrainian Orange Revolution, The Berkman Center for Internet & Society,
December 2008, No. 2007-14
• Eberhard Sandschneider, Five Years after the Orange Revolution in Ukraine:
Back to the Future?, “DGAPaktuell”, October 2009, No. 7
paolocosta.net 11
12. Useful Websites
• Institute for Mass Information
• Human Rights in Ukraine
• Reporters sans frontières
• Freedom House
• Maidan
• Annaviva
• Ukraynska Pravda
• Matteo Cazzulani's web blog
paolocosta.net 12