Between Professionalism and Activism: Ukrainian Journalism after the Euromaidan

Authors

  • Halyna Budivska National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy; Mohyla School of Journalism, Ukraine
  • Dariya Orlova National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy; Mohyla School of Journalism, Ukraine

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18523/kmlpj120120.2017-3.137-156

Keywords:

journalism culture, activism, professional identity, media in transition, democratization, conflict

Abstract

A crucial benchmark in Ukraine’s recent history, the Euromaidan protests triggered many transformations across Ukrainian society. Ukrainian journalism has affected and has been affected by these changes and their challenges. Journalists’ activism emerged as one of the major features of Ukraine’s post-Euromaidan media landscape but remains understudied. Informed by the concepts of “journalism culture” and “journalism professionalism,” this article explores journalists’ perceptions about their activism, the boundaries of their professionalism and their experiences confronting the activism versus professionalism dilemma. It identifies journalists’ competing approaches to the new challenges and their complicated context and discusses these approaches’ implications for the Ukrainian media and journalism.

Author Biographies

Halyna Budivska, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy; Mohyla School of Journalism

PhD candidate in Mass Communications at the Mohyla School of Journalism (National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy), conducting her dissertation on the changes of Ukrainian journalists’ professional identity after the Euromaidan. Halyna received Master’s degrees in law and journalism from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She is also an editor of the Ukrainian website of the European Journalism Observatory network. Halyna’s research interests include journalism culture, media ethics, journalists’ role perceptions, and media transformations.

Dariya Orlova, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy; Mohyla School of Journalism

Senior Lecturer at the Mohyla School of Journalism (National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy). She received her PhD in Mass Communication in 2013 from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy with a thesis on “Representation of ‘Europe’ in the Mediatized Discourse of Ukrainian Political Elites.” In 2016, Dariya was a Visiting Professor at the Stanford University’s Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies teaching the course “Media, Democratization and Political Transformations in Post-Soviet Societies.” Her research interests include political communication, media transformations in post-Soviet countries, journalism culture, media and national identity.

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How to Cite

Budivska, H., & Orlova, D. (2017). Between Professionalism and Activism: Ukrainian Journalism after the Euromaidan. Kyiv-Mohyla Law and Politics Journal, (3), 137–156. https://doi.org/10.18523/kmlpj120120.2017-3.137-156

Issue

No. 3 (2017): Special Issue: Civil Society in Post-Euromaidan Ukraine

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2017 Halyna Budivska

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