The content
Introduction: Analytical model
Introduction: Analytical model
The research undertaken is based upon the communication model describing the communication space related to the agrarian and land reform in Ukraine . The detailed description of the model will be given in the final report. Here, it is enough to provide the sketch of the analytical framework.
In any situation of the communication there is a source of the information or message, the channels through which the information (message) flows to the information recipients (target audiences) and the so-called noise, i.e. any circumstances or factors distorting the message and preventing its initial meaning from being perceived as it has been planned.
The state information policy (or campaign) model is far more complicated than this basic model.
First, the feedback mechanism is added. No information campaign or state policy can properly function without evaluation or feedback channels/instruments.
Then, the same audience can be targeted by many information sources and through many information channels. The roles of the main communication elements can be interchangeable or not stable. For example, mass media can take on the functions of information channel, information source and can be the ‘noise factor’ as well, from the standpoint of the state as an initiator of the information campaign or policy. .
Moreover, such a policy under the circumstances of the transition from communist regimes to the democracy is obviously different from the models functioning in the Western democracies.
First, the transition is largely the political project in a sense that the politics and governmental activity are driven first and foremost by the power struggle, the problem-solving is of the secondary, sometimes - the last, priority.
Second, the transition is a process of ‘modernization’ or catching-up, in a sense that the postcommunist socio-political structure of the society is being fitted into the Western socio-political blueprint. Hence, there is often a situation when ‘the society is not ready’ for the reforms because the only powerful and decisive socio-political force backing and driving them is the state. Social groups of proponents and opponents of the reforms counterbalance each other and the result of their efforts is often ‘zero sum’ (1).
Third, and it follows from the above observation, as the state is the main actor, driving force of the transition, it is the most cherished prize of various reform stakeholders. Only those who had an access to the information, financial, human, even media resources (first of all, the state resources) and who had established (usually - informal) channels for pushing forward their interests into the state agenda, into governmental officials' activity at the onset of the reforms, were far more successful in 'catching' or 'stealing' the state than other stakeholder groups. Hence, there is a widespread phenomenon of 'converting the status into the financial or economic power'. The state or separate governmental offices responsible for given reforms can be held by the groups whose interests are egoistic or even antagonistic not only to the large segments of the population but to other financial or industrial groups.
In any society, the state information policy is not an independent variable. The choice of channels, scope and content of the information policy messages is determined by various factors but this very relationship is the key for understanding such a policy. The research of the Ukrainian state information policy in the sphere of the land refrom should focus on exploring such factors and 'their weight' in determining the course of the policy.
The transition often looks like a quest for the elusive ideal in the ‘alien’ direction. In Western societies the state relatively rarely has to launch full-scale information campaign targeting the whole population or its large segments. In postcommunist Ukraine or Russia the state must actively explain and justify the policy choice, if it wants the policy to be reasonably rapidly and effectively implemented.
First, there are no obvious and immediate beneficiaries of the transition (benefits are postponed in time) whereas the losers are easily noticeable. There is another side of this argument: there are easily noticeable beneficiaries (at least, they are perceived as such by significant proportion of the population), their number is small and they are located by public opinion in the richest strata of the society.
Second, the appeal of the stable and understandable Soviet society is very powerful.
Third, the new rules of the game are ‘too new’, complicated or completely unknown to the social experience of the large segments of population.
Such a factor as the credibility of the information source is far more important in the postcommunist communication space. The state institutions are largely discredited by the widespread ‘capturing the state phenomenon’. The same can be said about the mass media being more often instruments of the power struggle between few ‘clans’ than the business entities meeting information needs of their audiences.
Finally, the very notion of the state (in the context of the communication space) is distinct in postcommunist societies.
First, there are often two or even more information sources competing for the status of the single fully legitimate decision-maker and/or law-maker in the country. As a rule, the Parliament and the President are the main rivals. The candidate for the President at 1998 races and the former speaker of Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Moroz perfectly worded it: “Take the land according to the Presidential Decree but be aware you will bear responsibility according to the Law [approved by Verkhovna Rada]!”
Second, the top-down chain of the compliance with executive orders is often broken. Middle and low level state bureaucrats are often skeptical (if not antagonistic) about reforms. They are enjoying too much leeway in interpreting or even in complying with or executing the orders.
Thus, an analysis of the Ukrainian state information policy should focus on the following aspects:
- The role of the Ukrainian state in initiating, organizing, implementing and evaluating the information policy in the sphere of the land and agrarian reforms. Here, the term state means the state institutions which are responsible for such a policy in accordance with their statutes – the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the State Committee for the Land Resources and the State Committee for the Information Policy, TV and Radio Broadcasting – and those indirectly involved in decision-making: the Cabinet of Ministries, the Administration of the President and the Parliament. As a rule, the executive bodies are hierarchical constructions with the top-down flow of commands and orders and down-top feedback flow. Therefore, an analysis of the state information campaign should obligatorily involve issues of executive discipline, the distortion factor of executive hierarchy through which the information travels to the end user and feedback mechanism.
- The state institutions mentioned are not only supposed to be active actors of the relevant communication space, they are passive actors as well. It means they are the sources and interpreters of the information released and, in case of interpretation, information collected, voiced and interpreted by other actors being, to certain extent, independent of the state. Under the democratic ‘rules of the game’ the state institutions are presumed to be open enough not only to hear but to accommodate mass media opinions as well.
- In the modern society the mass media is considered to be one of the most important if not sometimes decisive channels and actors of the communication space. Importance and independence are their characteristics to be analyzed.
- Finally, the state is never able to encapsulate the communication within the only one channel ‘state-people’. The other actors are active as well. They can act as simple puppet information channels or more or less independent actors. In any case, any state information policy cannot ignore them.
The experts have been identified in the following groups: scholars, lawyers, economists, journalists, NGO activists, officials, businessmen, representatives of international organizations and projects
The interview followed the standard interview plan.
Up to now, 37 respondents have been interviewed. Half of them are journalists. The full list of interviewees’ organizational affiliation can be found here. Around 10 more interviews have to be conducted.
The role of the Ukrainian state
- There is no political agreement, compromise between legislative and executive branches of the state power over the key principles of the agrarian reform
- The significant part of bureaucrats of the central executive offices and, especially, local offices tacitly disagree with the course of reform
- Significant part of state bureaucrats do not want or do not know how to work in the market environment and to perform new functions (“they know only how to order and to distribute. They do not know anything else”)
- Bureaucrats are not personally interested in developing and implementing the state information policy. Respondents with deeper practical exposure to 'the nuts-and-bolts' of senior decision-making gave concrete examples of how other problems of the paramount state priority have been and are solved only after respective former (and current) senior officials received the so-called otkat (kind of bribe), usually equalling 10% of the amount allocated to the state programs- The lack of qualified personnel in central offices and, especially, in local offices
- The lack of financial resources
- Three respondents (having liberal or nation-democratic political views) provided more comprehensive explanation. As to their opinion, the information campaign targeting rural population is of the second importance to the national level policy-makers because the very land reform is conducted primarily for the benefit of the former heads of collectives who became managers of the new enterprises (two thirds of the former heads of collectives kept their position). It is worth mentioning here that senior state officials never indicate unambigously those social groups who do and will benefit from the land and agrarian reforms
- Another explanation by experienced journalists and scholars follows approximately the same line. First, they believe that the senior officials have to care foremost about keeping their power and position under current political system. It means that the solution of the problems is of the secondary importance. Then, the initiators of the reforms do not have comprehensive vision of the reforms. They follow the blueprints suggested by powerful international organizations such as the World Bank, IMF, etc. because they do not have 'home-grown' politically viable alternatives and they do not have necessary qualification and experience to work out the reform course of their own. Some of the proponents of such an opinion argue that the issue of the land sale is non-issue at this stage because economic effectiveness of agricultural enterprises is determined by the set of factors among which the land sale is not the ultimate priority. Institutional and market infrastructure is the current top priority or, rather, it became the top priority years ago and since then has not been developed.
It seems that the most powerful critique of the current reforms does not come from the left-wing experts and does not focus on whether agricultural economy should be based on market principles or not. The social price, the effectiveness, consistency and transparency of the current reforms are among the most debated issues.
The first group targets the group of national and regional journalists. It includes:
Overall, above mentioned measures are positively evaluated by the respondents. Some of the respondents stated that these measures are far from what the state can do to satisfy the needs of journalistic community.
- Press-conferences at the national and oblast level
- “Hot lines” of the heads of executive bodies at the National press-club of market reforms
- Seminars for the editors of the most popular regional mass media organized and conducted quarterly by the Administration of the President of Ukraine and attended by the heads of ministries and state committees
- Oblast seminars conducted by the oblast department for mass media and information and oblast state administrations
- Field trips with the senior management of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine
The second group of measures is designed for the pensioners and workers of the former collectives. The respondents were able to name only one type of such information measures: “the working meeting at the Ministry is going on, the Minister orders oblast heads to conduct such and such information events, oblast heads give this order to raion heads, raion heads gather managers of agricultural enterprises and the latter conduct information meetings with their members.” It is obvious that the very fact that such a meetings were held and the content of the information transmitted are difficult to check and control. Many respondents pointed out that the chances are very high that the information is distorted or lost (‘broken phone’ effect).
The third group encompasses the measures the state bodies take to encourage, to facilitate information activity undertaken by other actors of the communication space. Here, the state plays rather passive role, though, the state sometimes acts as a partner lending some of its resources. The actors are international projects/organizations, Ukrainian NGOs, business associations, etc .
It should be emphasized that this type of the state information activity has been mentioned and positively evaluated by almost all respondents.
The fourth group deals with the information and consultant assistance to the agricultural businesses. The network of the so-called doradchi sluzhby (agricultual consultant centers) is being developed during the last two years. But almost all centers have been initiated or managed by the international technical assistance projects. It is unclear to what extent they target the rural population at large and whether they supply the legal information to this audience.
It seems that the introduction of the information measures by the state depends upon personal initiative of separate state officials. For example, organization of the program "Silskiy chas" on the state TV channel has been initiated by the senior official of the press department of the Presidential Administration (though, it has not been his responsibility at all). Some information materials have been developed with participation of the governmental officials (for example, the officials of the Cabinet of Ministries participated in developing information material for TACIS projects). The deputy minister for agrarian policy Roman Schmidt initiated the development of the short-lived network of rural consultant and information centers last year (in close cooperation with the Rukh, the party of national-democratic orientation). Only the development of the network of doradchi sluzhby takes on the status of the state program.
It should be emphasized that respondents did not mention any state information measures targeting the urban population (the overwhelming majority of heirs live in towns and cities; more than half of peasants are above 60 years old).
Regional state administrations’ approach towards information support of the agrarian and land reforms. All respondents did not name any regional state administration which took active and independent steps towards informing the peasants about agrarian and land reforms. Regional administrations do fulfill related executive orders in this sphere, some of them use or disseminate information materials supplied by NGOs and/or international projects. The only exception may be Lviv state administration where the Center for Agrarian Reforms has been set up years ago; some of the Center’s activity is devoted to informing rural audiences about reforms.
Adequacy of existing institutional structure and capacity to conduct rural information campaign. The expert survey attempted to assess adequacy of the institutional structure and capacity of the following state institutions: the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the State Committee for the Land Resources, the State Committee for Information Policy, TV and Radio Broadcasting. The State Committee for Information Policy is included because its Statute declares coordination of the information support of the state programs as one of the main Committee's tasks. The first two institutions have raion (district) level offices, the last – only oblast level offices with quite loose center-oblast institutional connection. The Ministry has recently set up departments (centers) for agrarian reform within each oblast department of agriculture.All respondents said that the State Committee for Information Policy does not play any role in providing information support of the land and agrarian reforms. The majority of them believe that the Committee is mainly preoccupied with 'the language issue' and issues of the information security of the Ukrainian state (the security is interpreted mostly in cultural and linguistic terms). In recent interview the head of the Committee said that he can not force the general director of the most popular TV channel 'Inter' (and the head of the parliamentary committee on the freedom of speech and information!) to abide by the law regulating the language of TV and radio broadcasting!To some respondents’ opinion, the institutional structure of the first two state bodies is quite satisfactory, though an obvious disadvantage is an absence of the village level offices. The solution might be more active involvement of rural councils, however, only in Lviv oblast the Center for Agrarian Reform embarked on active cooperation with rural self-government. Respondents rarely mentioned departments (or centers) for agrarian reforms undertaking active information support of the reforms, except of such a center in Lviv oblast.
As some respondents said the local offices of the Ministry and the State Committee on Land Resources do not have the capacity to launch any consistent information campaigns. Some respondents believe that the Ministry’s initiative to create the nation-wide network of agricultural consulting centers (doradchi sluzhby ) on the basis or in close affiliation with its raion level offices is the step in the right direction. Though, almost all who mentioned this option raise serious doubts as to the effectiveness of their services.
One of the leading lawyers believes that the Committee should have set up department which would be in charge of information support of the land reform.
The openness of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and the State Committee for the Land Resources
The conclusions below are based upon interviews with journalists of the national printed and electronic mass media (18 respondents).
The journalists positively evaluated the creation of the press-department at the Ministry. However, as respondents say, the main function of the press-department is to organize press-events (conferences, tours) and interviews with the Minister and his deputies. All journalists stated that the press-department is understaffed and has very limited resources: there is only press-secretary who does not have computer and access to the Internet.
Nobody said that the press-department attempts to develop positive corporate image of the Ministry.
Some journalists receive information informally, bypassing the press-department and contacting officials directly. They state that the most valuable information can be received only through informal channels.
Some journalists reported that the current Minister I.G.Kirilenko tightly regulates the interaction of the Ministry with journalist community and outflow of information. It became more difficult to receive necessary information because its receipt is often forbidden or too complicated and the reasons of such a procedure are unknown.
The overwhelming majority remark that the senior management of the Ministry and the State Committee allow access only to the information which is favorable to them. It is almost impossible to receive information or comments about conflict or sensitive situations or alternative interpretations of the governmental information. The journalists' criticism is perceived negatively. Some journalists pointed out that even the so-called reformists (for example, Deputy Minister Roman Schmidt) do not tolerate critic of governmental actions.
The more experienced journalists provided comments on the type and quality of the governmental information. As a rule, it is statistical data and rhetorical comments. Two respondents said the senior officials do not believe statistical information as well because the system of the collection and processing of such a data is outdated.
Many journalists stated that it is much easier to contact local officials. But it is because, as one TV journalist stated, “for them TV and national newspapers are still an awful force!” Access to sensitive information is difficult to obtain at local level as well.
Journalists mentioned some oblast state administrations which, to their opinion, are more friendly towards journalists or where oblast press-departments are more professional. However, respondents’ conclusions are evidently based on their peculiar evaluation criteria and working experience, personal preferences and cannot be treated as representing opinions of the whole journalist community.
Only one journalist said that the Ministry's website has been a useful source of information. The majority of journalists do not visit the website at all because 'it is a like a business card.' One journalist who works for more than 5 years in the Ukrainian information agencies said that the Ministry's website often uses information supplied by her information agency. Another experienced journalists accused the Ministry of providing basic commercial/business information (crops, machinery, crops forecasts, forecasts of prices, etc) for money whereas such an information is available free of charge at similar websites in CEE countries (for example, in Poland)
The freedom of journalist activity
The main agrarian opposition newspaper "Silski visti" (and the most popular national newspaper in rural Ukraine) has been closed by the state two years ago. Only after impressive journalist and international protests it has been opened.
Nobody stated that he/she has been brutally forced by the state institutions to not disclose sensitive information or publish critical materials. However, the state institutions do not tolerate opposition newspapers, articles or journalists. The common practice is semi-threatening calls from the Administration of the President or the Ministry. Some journalists stated that they are often not accredited or invited to the press-conferences with senior officials because they have reputation of being too critical.
The national media outlets covering the land and agrarian reforms
Electronic media. There are two broadcasts on the state TV channel UT-1 called "Silskij chas" [Rural time] and "Okolytsja" [Outskirt] which target rural audiences and regularly highlight the reforms. The same can be said about the state radio broadcast "Kolos". As high official of the press-department of the Presidential Administration reported, the broadcast "Silskij chas" has been set up after he contacted the director of UT-1 Mr. Dolganov in January 2000 and insisted on introducing such a broadcast. It has been just personal initiative of this official and has not been within his functional responsibilities.
According to the experts' opinion, only one private TV channel "STB" regularly covers the reforms in its business newsbroadcast "Vikna-Business". This broadcast targets only business audience. Other private national TV channels occasionally provide information on the reforms only in the news. One experienced journalist recalled that one of the two main national TV channels "Inter" provided regular coverage of the land reform in the news program during half of the year after the December Presidential Decree (2). Sometimes the broadcast "The Man and the Law" (3) on the TV channel UT-2 invites the former vice-prime-minister Gaidutskij (reported as one of the authors of the land and agrarian reforms) to comment on the land and property owners' rights, legal issues of the reforms, etc. Some journalists noted that certain oblast teleradiocompanies ('TRK', usually owned or controlled by oblast state administrations) have regular broadcasts specifically designed for the rural audiences.
There is only one Ukrainian website specifically devoted to the land reform in Ukraine - http://myland.org.ua. It was set up by Natalia Korchakova within the framework of the Land Reform Information Support Project supported by the OSI. Now the website is managed by the Center for the Land Reform Policy, the successor of the Project.
Printed media. There is a small group of the so-called agrarian national media outlets in Ukraine. Their leader is the daily newspaper "Silski visti" . The circulation is around 500 000 copies. The main audience is rural population at large. The newspaper "Silski chas" initially set up by the former Minister of Agro-Industrial Complex Supikhanov (see here the anecdotical story of its birth) has been recently revived and serves as unofficial newspaper of the Agrarian Party of Ukraine. It targets rural population at large and claims the circulation up to 50 000. Some journalists believe that the circulation is artificially increased by using the so-called "administrative resource" (the APU is the party created from the top on the basis of existing network of the Ministry's oblast and raion offices). The Association of the Farmers and Private Landowners of Ukraine possesses its official newspaper "The Farmer of Ukraine", declared circulation is around 30 000. There are several attempts to fill in the niche of the private national newspaper targeting the audience of private farmers and landowners. Up to date, the most successful has been originally Donbass newspaper "The private farm" which then tried to expand into the Central and Western Ukraine. Though the progress has been impressive, the lay-off of the chief editor and leading journalists by the newspaper owner put the very existence of the newspaper under the threat.Several media outlets are designed to meet information needs of the predominantly urban business community (suppliers of the machinery, seeds, pesticides, financial instutions, grain traders etc.). The leader of this niche is the journal "Proposytsija" with circulation of around 50 000. Several other regional newspapers are trying to enter this niche of the national market.
The so-called socio-political and business newspapers are active in the sphere of the land and agrarian reform as well. Newspapers "Dzerkalo tyzhnja", "Kievskije vedomosti", "Ukraina moloda" etc. are one of the most prominent private national socio-political media outlets. "Golos Ukrainy" and "Urjadovyi Kurjer" are official newspapers of the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. "Business" and "Galytski Kontrakty" target the business community (large and medium business, respectively). The next year subscription of each of the last two newspapers is estimated at 100 000 copies.(4)
The respondents were asked to evaluate media coverage of the land and agrarian reforms on the basis of the following criteria – whether it is comprehensive (full), adequate and unbiased. The main national TV channels, radio stations and the programs targeting rural population, the main national newspapers, including those specifically targeting the rural areas, have been proposed for evaluation.
Mass media coverage of the land and agrarian reforms evaluated by respondents
The main conclusion drawn from their responses is that the media coverage is not comprehensive, inadequate and biased.
Each media outlet has its own audience and, if professionally managed, it targets information needs of its consumers. That is why the conclusion above should be corrected in relation to the following audiences:
The business community’s information needs are more or less fully addressed by the specialized business newspapers and journals such as Business, Galytski Kontrakty, Proposytsija, APKinform, etc and business programs such as Vikna-Business by STB TV channel.
- rural population at large (the differentiation between workers, youth and pensioners should be taken into account)
- private farmers and owners of large private house holdings
- managers/directors of the new agricultural enterprises set up on the basis of the former collectives
- businessmen (it is not important whether they reside in rural or urban areas) who are working in agricultural economy (processing, trade, supplies, etc)
- Ukrainian urban residents at large (here, reasonable distinctions are needed but it has not been the specific matter of the expert survey to uncover these distinctions)
- business community not connected with agricultural business
The state TV channel UT-1 with programs “Silskiy Chas” and “Okolytsja”, the state radio station “Kolos” and national private newspaper “Silski visti” target and reach the rural population at large. The UT-1 has the largest TV coverage among Ukrainian TV channels, the radio “Kolos” has approximately the same coverage. “Silski visti” (reported circulation is above 500 000) is the only national newspaper enjoying the large rural audience. There are no other national TV programs and newspapers with such a large rural audience (5).
The attitudes of the experts surveyed towards the reform coverage by the state TV and radio broadcasts can be summarized as follows.
First, some of the respondents were not able to evaluate them because they did not watch and did not listen them. The second group believes that their coverage is not adequate, not comprehensive and biased. As an editor of a newspaper told, “Silskiy chas” is an ‘asphalt program’”. The programs do not address the real information needs of the peasants, they are too abstract and driven by the state interests, not average peasant’s daily interests. They are biased because they do not adequately highlight the roles in the reform implementation of the different stakeholders: former collective heads, heads of raion state administrations, private farmers, peasants, etc. The critical appraisal of the local officials’ involvement in the reform is almost absent. The third group of respondents is more moderate and their evaluation is not united. Some of them evaluate positively one program and negatively – another one (the critique goes along above said line). Few remarked that the peasants usually work when broadcasts are on the air.
The overwhelming majority agrees that “Silski visti” presents the left-wing coverage of the reforms. It is not as much preoccupied with the question “What the peasant has to do” as with the question “Whom the peasant has to blame for”. On the other hand, the advantage of the newspaper’s coverage is the critical overview of the role the central and local state institutions play in implementing the reform.
There is the newspaper “Silskiy chas”, unofficial media outlet of the Agrarian Party of Ukraine, which targets rural population at large, though, it does not have large circulation. Some of the respondents noted that it is too early to evaluate the newspaper coverage of the reforms because it has been renewed only at the beginning of this year. Other group labels the newspaper as part of the Agrarian Party of Ukraine which expresses the state view and biased in interpreting the role of local officials in the implementation of the land reform (this viewpoint is rather incorrect because the newspaper does give critical materials about the heads of raion administrations, etc.). The last group of respondents point out the publication of all legal acts adopted by the relevant state institutions as the unique feature of the newspaper. Disseminating these documents gives an opportunity for peasants to defend their rights with relevant laws and decrees in hand.
Two official newspapers “Golos Ukrainy” (the Parliament of Ukraine) and “Urjadovyi kurjer” (the Cabinet of Ministries) do not have large circulation in rural area as it has been noted above. As a rule, the first goes to oblast, raion and, to a lesser extent, rural councils of people’s deputies, the second – to the local governmental offices. Some respondents told it was not possible to buy newspapers even in Kyiv because the circulation is small and it is rapidly sold out. Those who are totally against the course of reforms believe that coverage of the reform in both newspapers is inadequate and biased. More moderate respondents indicate that the coverage of “Golos Ukrainy” is more balanced if not critical about reforms and those who implement them at national and local levels. Almost all respondents agree that the coverage by “Urjadovyi kurjer” is skewed towards the standpoint of the Cabinet, relevant national executive institutions and their local branches.
Other national newspapers do not have large circulation in rural areas and target mostly various strata of urban population. Some respondents were not able to evaluate them because they do not read them. However, the majority shares the opinion that there is a lack of analytical articles on the agrarian and land reforms. The coverage strictly follows the agenda set by the government. Alternative approaches to the reform are rare (if “Silski visti” is excluded). “Zerkalo nedeli”, “Kievskie vedomosti”, “Ukraina moloda” are newspapers which were most frequently mentioned by experts as having more balanced and objective coverage of the reforms.
Three journalists provided insights into how raion level newspapers cover the land and agrarian reforms (5). The main conclusion is that their coverage is totally controlled by the raion administration. At best, they provide only very formal and basic information about reforms and opportunities it gives to land and property titles owners.
To sum up, according to the experts surveyed, only information needs of business community are more or less adequately met. The state media outlets and the newspaper “Silsky visti” covering the largest rural audience present politically biased and inadequate information. All respondents indicate that the information niche of private farmers and owners of large house holdings is not filled in by any national private newspaper. The lack of analytical and non-biased articles is the most frequently mentioned problem of the reform coverage by national newspapers targeting the urban population. In this relation, some journalists believe that there is the shortage of the qualified journalists to provide profound analysis of the land and agrarian reforms.
The role of the Ukrainian NGOs, international projects/organizations
It seems that the international projects and organizations played and keep playing the key role in providing information support of the land and agrarian reforms.
- The main information materials used have been developed within these projects or with their financial support.
- They targeted practically all rural audiences and, through active involvement of journalists, urban audiences as well. Moreover, only these projects launched information campaigns consistently targeting rural population at large (pensioners, workers, social sphere workers, etc.)
- International projects conducted the widest in Ukraine information campaigns (in the sphere of land and agrarian reforms) in the national electronic and printed mass media.
- For the first time, they brought the know-how of public relations to the rural Ukraine; they trained and supplied information about PR to the local state officials.
The following international projects were most frequently mentioned by respondents as those which implemented or implement the measures to provide information support of the land and agrarian reforms:
Respondents reported that only the first two projects – IFC and RONCO’s – had greatly impacted the information support of the reforms (to a lesser extent - UMREP). Some (including former consultants of RONCO project) believe that the best information campaign has been developed and implemented by IFC project. The campaign evenly targeted main audiences of the reform: all socio-professional and managerial groups of the Ukrainian village (by developing and distributing information materials, leaflets, holding regular information meetings, publishing information materials in local newspapers, organizing information trips, etc.), the Ukrainian urban population (by launching information campaign in national printed and electronic mass media), local governmental officials (by publishing and distributing the newsletter “Silskiy Reformator”, inviting them to the seminars and information meetings, etc.). It should be noted that the project’s information campaign in the rural area has been limited only to those villages where the project worked. The regional level campaign covered only several oblasts.
The RONCO project launched its information campaign at later stages of the project implementation and its scope was more limited. The project published and distributed information materials (manuals, information brochures and leaflets, etc), launched information campaign in local and national newspapers as well. However, the information work with villagers was limited and, supposedly, the majority of information materials did not reach ‘the average rural inhabitant’. The advantage of the project is that, in contrast with IFC, its activity expanded in more than half of the Ukrainian oblasts.
Both projects introduced phone “hot lines” designed to answer questions about land privatization and farm reorganization.
The UMREP did not directly target the villagers and focused primarily on journalist community, governmental officials, Ukrainian NGOs (such as the Association of the Farmers of Ukraine, the Union of the Land Owners). After the December 1999 Presidential Decree it conducted a series of ‘round tables’ and press-conferences for journalists in regions; it published manuals and information materials and distributed them among journalists, local governmental officials, Ukrainian NGOs, etc. throughout the country. The most important publication – information brochure “The Land Reform: questions and answers” – has been published three times. The circulation of the first two editions equaled 20 000 copies, the last edition – 200 000 copies. The last circulation has been channeled through various Ukrainian NGOs, rural councils, local governmental offices, international projects in rural areas. Besides that, the hot line has been introduced. It should be noted that the management of the ‘hot line’, the processing of letters, development of information materials have been performed in cooperation with RONCO consultants.
Other projects provided information and consultant services, too, but on a much smaller scale and scope and, as a rule, for specific rural audiences (usually, small and medium businesses). For example, the UNDP project set up 9 local information centers equipped with the computers and connected to the Internet throughout the country. The centers were designed to service female farmers but they provided information and consultations to all interested as well. One of TACIS projects provided technical assistance to those farms or rural inhabitants who wanted to organize agricultural cooperatives.
The role of the Ukrainian NGOs in the processes of the land and agrarian reforms is presented in the article written by me in cooperation with Natalia Korchakova and published in the special issue of the journal “National Security and Defence” of the leading Ukrainian think-tank “The Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Studies named after Rozumkov”.
The expert survey supplied more specific information about NGOs’ involvement in the activity focused on the information support of the reforms. Their involvement can be characterized along the following lines: the audiences they target, the information channels they used and information they supplied.
Perhaps, there is only one non-governmental organization in Ukraine whose information activity targets the rural population at large and covers the legal issues of the land and agrarian reforms. It is the Union of the Land Owners of Ukraine. It has the network of local offices in 23 oblasts (out of 25). The Union has been supported by the Rukh, the party of the national-democratic orientation. The party rendered its local network to the Union where it did not have offices of its own. Recently, the Union was given an opportunity to launch its own 15-minutes radio broadcast. There is the hot line. According to Vladimir Ananjev, the head of the Coordinating Council of the Union, he used 20 tons of paper to print information materials produced by the Union consultants and other organizations and projects. The Union distributes in villages information materials supplied by other organizations, mostly – by international projects (for example, the last edition of UMREP’s “The Land Reform: Q&A”). The Union local offices provide consultations free of charge and conduct frequent field trips. The legal advice (attorney services, bringing and defending the suit, etc.) is rendered for pay to all willing to pay, though, the Union members are given the discount. An interesting activity is the auditing of the new enterprises conducted by the commercial auditing company, the partner of the Union. The audit is not free of charge and, given the legal restrictions, only the Union members can hire the company. The effectiveness and actual scope of the Union activity is going to be evaluated during the field trips.
The Association of the Farmers and Land Owners of Ukraine is the first and the oldest non-state organization of the private agricultural producers set up in the Soviet Ukraine 10 years ago. The audience of the Association’s information efforts is mostly restricted to the private farmers. As it has been noted above, the Association publishes its own newspaper “The Farmer of Ukraine” (declared circulation is 27 500 copies). “The Farmer of Ukraine” is distributed through subscription only. The Association distributes other organizations’ information materials as well. The local offices (present in almost every raion center) are supposed to provide various information and consultant services to the farmers.
The national level expert survey revealed one tendency in the Association relations with the state institutions which may have direct influence on the information activity of the Association. The Association is getting more and more like a satellite of the respective governmental bodies and of the Agrarian party of Ukraine based on the state administrative network and resources.
To start with, it has never been completely independent from the state. Initial boost to the farmer’s movement has been made by the Soviet state credit line for farmers. This state support has been especially helpful in the early years of the farmers’ development but later on in 90s the state private farmers support program and fund became, perhaps, the only reliable source of credit resources available to the farmers. But the resources were extremely scarce. They have been allocated through the Association central and regional offices and it has been one of the factors fastening the Association to the central and regional governmental officials. According to experts’ opinion, the 2000 congress of the Association clearly demonstrated that the leadership of the Association chose to get rid of the remnants of its independence and to side by the state declared policy of reforms, relevant state institutions and political organizations. Some experts reported the widespread practice of the subordination of local offices of the Association to the local state bodies. Vladimir Ananjev said at the meeting of the Kyiv oblast Association of Farmers that only 4 oblast associations enjoyed an independence from the local state administrations. It is not unique when the local branches are headed by the former officials of the oblast administration (usually – the department of agriculture). An example of how some of them may perceive the freedom of mass media and information support of the land and agrarian reforms was given by the former editor of the private newspaper targeting private farmers and owners of the large house holdings (6).
However, at this stage, I cannot finalize my judgments about effectiveness and scope of the Association’s involvement into the information support of the land and agrarian reforms. More interviews with Association officials and expert survey at regional level need to be conducted.
The Center for Agrarian Reforms, Kyiv-based NGO, is an example of the non-governmental organization founded by representatives of scholarly community and aimed at providing expertise, information and consultant services to the rural businesses. The director of the Center and the main expert Lubov Moldovan developed information brochures for TACIS projects (on agricultural cooperatives) and UNDP project targeting female private farmers. She conducted a series of seminars for local officials, directors of privatized enterprises etc in 2000. The Center served as the channel of distribution of information materials prepared by other organizations. The Center managed the public awareness/education component of the UNDP project.
The Association of Private Land Tenants and Owners was conceived to become the association of the agricultural businesses. Some of German credit resources to agricultural producers have been channeled through the Association. The head of the Association Mr. Privalov has been imprisoned and spent up to one year in jail while being under examination in 2000. The Association consultants have published the newsletter exploring the issues of the land and agrarian reforms (circulation reported was up to 400). However, the audience consisted mainly of local officials, members of Association, managers of large agricultural enterprises, etc. The consultants participate in regular field trips, with state officials, other organizations, etc.
The Foundation of Regional Initiatives conducted the series of public hearings on the issues of the land reform in several oblasts of Ukraine in 2000. Perhaps, it has been the first ever attempt in post-Soviet Ukraine to bring together local officials, private farmers, civic activists, agricultural businessmen and to make them search the common ground for constructive dialogue on the issues of the land reform. The Foundation has been organized by civic activists and scholars.
The above list of the Ukrainian NGOs paying due attention to the informarion support is not exhaustive. The list will be expanded and finalized by the end of the project. There is an abvious distinction between those NGOs which are familiar to experts (and among them - leading journalists of the main national newspapers) and those which are not. For example, it seems that certain NGOs defending human rights (7) do monitor the processes of the land and agrarian reforms and provide information or legal consultations to peasants. But they are not very much concerned with making their activity known to the public, or their PR efforts are stopped by state officials or the editors of national newspapers following the state controlled agenda of reforms do not publish their materials.