Occasion to celebrate: Access to information marks major civil society and media achievement
On a cold winter evening, Babuin café, an iconic, avant-garde Kyiv hangout, turned from a library-like coffee house into an art gallery. Creative and inspirational artists, journalists and civil society activists gathered to celebrate joint efforts in promoting the access to information campaign at the opening of the photo art exhibition “PidPRESSom.” Pictures of famous journalists decorated the walls, but what is more, all of the journalists could be found right next to their portraits, debating with civil society activists, sharing concerns with media colleagues, and discussing future plans with representatives from the international community. Suddenly, the concept of the installation became vivid and definitive – there would be no clichés of pictures with a covered mouth or other negative qualities. Each photo was a classic portrait of a journalist accompanied by a quote representing his or her thoughts on the threat of censorship and the gains made in achieving free access to information. Many local USAID partners were spotted there, adding to the festive spirit of the gathering.
After months and months of hard work, it is now safe to talk about Ukrainian civil society’s recent victory and its improved ability to serve its primary customers – the people of Ukraine. Two bills on access to public information, notable for their liberal tone, were adopted by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s Parliament) on January 13, 2011, and signed by the President of Ukraine in early February 2011. The new legislation allows citizens, media and NGOs to effectively participate in decision-making processes and hold their government accountable in more dynamic ways. USAID-funded media and civil society projects were instrumental in providing necessary resources, consultations and motivation to the activists of the access to information movement when they needed it the most. The photo art exhibit was a visual representation of all the efforts, time and expertise invested to create that victorious moment of joy.
The happy faces of the people socializing at the crowded event meant many things. Gathered around some of the exhibited pictures, public opinion-makers and NGOs, the driving forces behind the access to information campaign, were gladly enjoying discussions on the increased transparency of their future interactions with the government and developing plans for future joint actions. Journalists and other members of the media gathered just across the room, engaging in debates over new opportunities to fight censorship and ways to take advantage of improved freedom of speech. Vakhtang Kipiani, one of the masterminds behind the exhibition idea and also the editor-in-chief of Internet portals Historical Truth and Vladometr, shared that “Freedom of speech is oxygen for a journalist. I don’t need anything else to breath, work and live.”
Casual visitors stopping by the Babuin café were captured by the ideas and general enchantment of the event. It was now clear how the new access to information regulations can influence their lives. The quote accompanying the portrait of Yulia Bankova, a journalist from the TVI channel, captured this idea perfectly: “Access to information could have saved thousands lives when the Chernobyl nuclear disaster happened. Censorship is not only journalists’ problem. Free access to information makes us people and not a controlled flock.”
