Fast Facts The quality and independence of Ukraine's media as a whole is still limited, and RFE/RL's Radio Svoboda is the country's most popular and trusted international broadcaster. Radio Svoboda celebrated its 55th anniversary in 2009. Language: Ukrainian Coverage: 2.5 hours a day, one hour weekend talk show on national Radio Melodiya, one hour weekly roundup on various affiliates Established: 1954 Distribution: Radio (FM, UKW, CBL, Satellite), Internet (www.radiosvoboda.org) Locations: Prague headquarters, Kyiv Staff: 11 in Prague, 22 in Kyiv, 44 stringers

Media Environment

• Freedom House Freedom of the Press Index, 2010: Partly Free (108th/196)
• Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, 2009: 90th/175
• The primary obstacle to media freedom in Ukraine is not government interference per se, but the oligarchical nature of the media market; media coverage frequently follows the will of a wealthy owner who might at the same time be an influential political figure.
• Freedom House reports that local governments often control the local media, and journalists who investigate wrongdoing at the local level still face physical intimidation.
• Despite private ownership and the relative freedom that exists in the Ukrainian media environment, the quality and independence of the country’s media as a whole is still limited.

Highlights

• Radio Svoboda celebrated its 55th anniversary on August 16, 2009. The work of the service was commended by members of the U.S. Congress and the State Department as well as by the President and Prime Minister of Ukraine.
• In 2002 and again in 2007, the Ukrainian service received the Golden Pen award, an award for journalistic excellence presented annually by Ukraine’s National Journalists Union.
• In March 2009 the director of the Ukrainian service was awarded the presidential order of St. Olha for fostering democracy, human rights and civic values through RFE/RL’s programming.
• Svoboda aired exhaustive coverage, including many exclusive interviews, during the 2004 Orange Revolution that swept Viktor Yushchenko’s pro-Western coalition into power.

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Population
46.3 million (2008 World Bank estimate)

Most Common Languages:
Ukrainian, Russian, Crimean Tartar, Yiddish

Press Freedom Index (Freedom House):
Partly Free, ranked 108 out of 196 (2010)

Press Freedom Index (RSF):
90 out of 175 (2010)

Corruption Index (Transparency Int.):
134 out of 178 (2010)

Global Peace Index (IES):
97 out of 149 (2010)

Human Rights Watch:
Report on Ukraine (2010)

Amnesty International:
Ukraine Report (2009)