What is the current state of the public broadcaster? How has it been reformed? What about funding? Participants at the conference received answers to these questions during the panel “The Phenomenon of Public Broadcasting in Ukraine.”
The speakers included Svitlana Ostapa, Chair of the Supervisory Board of Suspilne; Mykola Chernotytskyi, Chair of the Board of Suspilne; and Dmytro Kozlov, member of the Board of Suspilne.
Svitlana Ostapa recalled the creation of Suspilne: “We decided that we would do everything at the highest level, and there were high expectations for us—that we would do everything immediately. However, it wasn’t taken into account that we wouldn’t be funded either for development or survival.”
Mykola Chernotytskyi addressed the issue of funding: “Unfortunately, we are still partly in survival mode, constantly proving our necessity. The company needs UAH 480 million just for maintenance; anything beyond that would be for development.””People for whom Suspilne is their first job are confident that we have ethics, that we adhere to standards, and that we do not accept paid-for journalism,” said Dmytro Kozlov.
