Social media ‘essential’ – Regina Leader
Independent media has been at the heart of “popular revolts” like the recent political upheaval in Ukraine, says a former Regina resident now working in the Eastern European country.
Evan Ostryzniuk is the business reporter for Kyiv Post, an independent media outlet stationed mere blocks from the Maidan – the protest site where violence erupted last week.
Ostryzniuk said his discussions with protesters and review of media reports has opened his eyes to the level of corruption within the Ukrainian government.
“You feel like you’re swimming in a very big pool of dirty water and sometimes you need to come up for air,” he said.
He praises independent media with being “absolutely essential” in educating the public and holding the government to account. Based largely online and on social media, reports coming out of the country transformed citizens’ opinions of its now-ousted leader, Ostryzniuk said.
“Nowadays you just can’t hide anything.”
He contrasted reporting on the current conflict to that of the 2004-05 Orange Revolution, when Twitter and Facebook were nonexistent in Ukraine, and dial-up Internet was only the best case scenario for some.
“It’s been very exciting for one thing,” he said of the protests, “and it’s also been a bit frightening as well because for the first time in the history of (contemporary) Ukraine, we’ve actually had people killed for political convictions.”
Ostryzniuk, who was born in Manitoba and spent most of his life in Saskatchewan, has lived in Ukraine for the last 15 years, working at times in the financial sector, in academia and as a journalist.
During the protests, Kyiv Post had reporters on the front lines, sporting bulletproof vests and helmets.
Ostryzniuk visited the Maidan in calmer times and describes a labyrinthine military encampment made of walls eight to 10 feet high, reinforced by sand bags, tires, snow and ice. Large military tents in the centre of the square sprouted flags of many nationalities, Canada included. Young girls and women served hot meals while medical aid stations tended to the wounded.
“It’s every journalist’s dream that something dramatic is happening just down the street and that’s exactly what’s happening,” he said.
He later added: “Last week was rather nerve-racking because of the escalation of violence, because of the killing, because of the burning and the attacks.”
Kyiv subways closed for security reasons, meaning Ostryzniuk had to make a three-mile walk to work. With shops and restaurants closed, too, he recalled the trek as “very, very eerie. There was actually no activity other than the Maidan and the police in the centre.”
Friends and family repeatedly contacted Ostryzniuk for updates. He said he never feared for his life.
With president Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster, Ostryzniuk is optimistic Ukraine is on its way to reform.
“How well they do it is another story.”
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