The project „Media reforms“ approved by the British government is aimed to change the attitude to the freedom of speech and the independent mass media in the entire Ukrainian society. The Center of media reforms will be created for this at the National University „Kyivo-Mogilianska Academy“.

Lugansk journalists turned to MPs with the proposition to introduce changes into the laws regulating the informational activities. The cause for this appeal was the closure of the newspaper „Rakurs-plus“.

Ukrainian journalists demand to create the Independent trade union of journalists for protecting the right to fulfil their professional duties.

The agency got under a strong pressure connected with its independent information activities, and the collective relates this with the appointment a week ago of the new head of information service, who represents the interests of President’s administration.

The international organization „Reporters without frontiers“ made public the list consisting of 139 countries with their rating by the level of the freedom of speech. Ukraine is on the 112th position, Russia – on 121st, Belarus – on 124th.

The events, which are occurring these days in Krivoy Rog, shows, it seems, that the communist party joined the opposition. The board for placing the communist press was dismounted by the order of the mayor. Poltava journalist L. Kucherenko vs. state officials. Ludmila Kucherenko, the editor-in-chief of the Poltava newspaper „Novy den“, turned to the oblast prosecutor’s office with the request to start a criminal case against state officials for impeding her legal journalistic activities. The Poltava town council impeded her activities by the refusal to give her the requested information about the town mayor.

The National Council in charge of TV and radio broadcasting of Ukraine deprived the Ukrainian-language Odessa oblast state radio company "Radio na Troitskiy" of the license.

The hard situation with the freedom of speech established in the Crimea, informed the local Committee for monitoring the freedom of the press.

The Ukrainian center of economic and political research conducted a poll devoted to the problems of mass media.

"Juridical clinics" as the main element of practical system of preparing specialists in the branch of jurisprudence: goals, problems and legal grounds.

(Journalists’ appeal)

We must confirm that the nearer is the election, the dirtier are the methods used by the power to get rid of those independent mass media, which do not say the white seeing the black. This is the problem of the freedom of speech in the Poltava oblast that was debated at the consecutive press conference of the Poltava media club.

The editors-in-chief of four leading Bukovina newspapers ’Chas’, ’Molodiy Bukovinets’, ’Doba’ and ’Chernovtsy’ are going to hand a claim against the oblast directorate in charge of the press and information of the Chernovtsy oblast administration and against its head for libel and offence of business reputation of the their editions.