The most striking, and potentially significant, public rebellion against President Leonid Kuchma and his chosen successor in Nov. 21's contested election began silently.
On the morning of Nov. 25, Natalia Dimitruk, an interpreter for the deaf on the Ukraine's official state UT-1 television, disregarded the anchor's report on Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich's "victory" and, in her small inset on the screen, began to sign something else altogether.
"The results announced by the Central Electoral Commission are rigged," she said in the sign language used in the former Soviet states. "Do not believe them."
She went on to declare that Viktor Yushchenko, the opposition leader, was the country's new president. "I am very disappointed by the fact that I had to interpret lies," she went on. "I will not do it any more. I do not know if you will see me again."
Dimitruk's act of defiance -- which she described in an interview on Sunday as an agonized one -- became part of a growing revolt by a source of Kuchma's political power as important as any other: state television.
In Ukraine, as in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union, state ownership or control over the media, especially television, exerts immense control over political debate, shoring up public attitudes not only about the state, but also about the opposition. The state's manipulation of coverage was among the reasons that observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe called the Nov. 21 vote fundamentally unfair.
But in the tumultuous week since the runoff between Yanukovich and Yushchenko ended in accusations of fraud, Kuchma's control over television has showed signs of cracking, raising questions about whether his government can maintain public support behind Yanukovich's election.
More than 200 journalists at UT-1 went on strike Nov. 25 to demand the right to present an objective account of the extraordinary events that have unfolded since the vote, forcing the channel to broadcast a feed from another network before capitulating. Dimitruk walked out of the studio and joined them, protesting coverage that was skewed almost entirely on behalf of Yanukovich's campaign before and after the runoff election.
Journalists at One Plus One -- a private station, but one that hewed closely to Kuchma's point of view -- also rebelled. After its news editor resigned, the channel's director, Oleksandr Rodnyansky, appeared on the air and admitted that the station had been biased on Kuchma's behalf.
"We understand our responsibility for the biased news that the channel has so far been broadcasting under pressure and on orders from various political forces," he said, adding that the station would from that point on guarantee "full and impartial" coverage of the events roiling Ukraine.
Since then the two channels have begun to show what until last week seemed unthinkable: the enormous protests in Kiev that have paralyzed the capital, as well as Yushchenko himself. More important, the images reach across the country, including the east, where Yanukovich's support is strongest, in large part because his is the only view given significant time on state-owned or controlled networks. Channel 5, an independent channel that has become, in effect, the opposition's champion, does not broadcast in most of the east.
Oleksandr Savenko, president of UT-1, denied in an interview that the channel's coverage of the election had been biased. He said journalists had always been free to report on all aspects of Ukrainian politics, though he suggested that if they favored one candidate over the other, they should work elsewhere.
He said Yanukovich's overwhelming presence on the channel reflected the fact he was prime minister.
He disputed that the station's agreement to the journalists' demands after their strike amounted to a change in news policy.
"There is no such thing as honest news," he said.
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Earlier this month in Newsweek, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to retake the territories lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. He stated: “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t [the PRC] take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the treaty of Aigun?” This was a brilliant political move to finally state openly what many Chinese in both China and Taiwan have long been thinking about the lost territories in the Russian far east: The Russian far east should be “theirs.” Granted, Lai issued
On Sept. 2, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal called “The US and Taiwan Must Change Course” that defends his position that the US and Taiwan are not doing enough to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from taking Taiwan. Colby is correct, of course: the US and Taiwan need to do a lot more or the PRC will invade Taiwan like Russia did against Ukraine. The US and Taiwan have failed to prepare properly to deter war. The blame must fall on politicians and policymakers
Gogoro Inc was once a rising star and a would-be unicorn in the years prior to its debut on the NASDAQ in 2022, as its environmentally friendly technology and stylish design attracted local young people. The electric scooter and battery swapping services provider is bracing for a major personnel shakeup following the abrupt resignation on Friday of founding chairman Horace Luke (陸學森) as chief executive officer. Luke’s departure indicates that Gogoro is sinking into the trough of unicorn disillusionment, with the company grappling with poor financial performance amid a slowdown in demand at home and setbacks in overseas expansions. About 95