The Ukrainian Presidential Office decided to tame one of the oldest information agencies of Ukraine UKRINFORM and put “their boy” there as director.
Oleksiy Matsuka scandal continues: investigating the ‘blacklists’ controversy.
Remember the loud story in May 2024 about the ‘blacklists’ from the President’s Office to the Ukrinform news agency?
If not, briefly: the President’s Office decided to tame one of Ukraine’s oldest news agencies and appointed their ‘insider,’ Oleksiy Matsuka, as director. He immediately initiated decisive reforms, leading to the creation of ‘blacklists.’ These are documents outlining top topics, the context of coverage, and specifically ‘undesirable guests.’
And how did the Ukrinform team respond? Correctly, they leaked the archive of these blacklists, along with Oleksiy Matsuka’s correspondence, to Ukrainska Pravda. The story spread so widely that it even led to a meeting between Ukrainian journalists and G7 ambassadors regarding freedom of speech in the country.
So, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, submitted a parliamentary inquiry to the Ministry of Internal Affairs demanding to qualify Matsuka’s actions. Today, the response arrived: in the distribution of ‘blacklists,’ manual regulation of the editorial office’s work, and the ‘canceling’ of speakers who do not suit the President’s Office, our Ministry of Internal Affairs sees no crime.
Well, thank God! Matsuka can be reinstated at Ukrinform because he might starve without his 2 million hryvnia annual salary!
Such are our law enforcement officers, incorruptible as ever.
