Journalists allowed to show military sites struck by enemy with 12-hour delay
The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense, and the Mediarukh community have issued a joint statement on the journalists’ work in a warzone.
According to Ukrinform, the parties agreed that in order to comply with security regulations, journalists shall be allowed to gather information on the ground immediately after the strike, but publish photos and videos of damaged military facilities in 12 hours and civilian targets – in three hours, says a statement published by Media Detector.
"The authorities and the Mediarukh journalistic community have agreed that in order to comply with all necessary security conditions, journalists can gather information on the ground in the immediate aftermath of the strikes. At the same time, it is allowed to publish photos and videos taken by the media and journalists about the events at the scene of hostilities with a 12-hour delay as regards military facilities and a 3-hour delay – for civilian targets," the statement said.
It is also noted that the Ukrainian government highly appreciates the dedicated work of journalists, their professionalism and fearlessness in covering Russian aggression against Ukraine. Currently, 6,000 journalists have been accredited since the full-scale invasion of the Russian occupiers begun. They are not just authors of unique news, important investigations and reports, but people who are well versed in the field and work in extreme, high-risk conditions.
The parties also stressed in the statement that the safety and protection of journalists is the basis of freedom of speech, so the government is taking all necessary measures toward ensuring the safety of journalists. Media hubs operate in Kyiv and Lviv to create comfortable working conditions for journalists. Ukrinform hosts regular briefings, held by representatives of the Ministry of Defense, Armed Forces, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the SES. Official information is provided primarily by the General Staff of the Armed Forces, as well as through press officers of the Armed Forces and mobile press teams working in combat zones.
In the statement, media representatives called for strict compliance with the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, of March 3, 2022, No.73, which established the procedure for granting access of media representatives to military facilities in the zones of hostilities amid martial law.
In particular, the document defines the algorithm of actions to be applied by commanders when working with civilian media.
The accreditation procedure for journalists of national and foreign media, the rules for mass media in the hostility areas are also determined. Only accredited media representatives may be admitted to military facilities in the area of hostilities with the permission of unit commanders.
This order also approved the Rules of Procedure of a journalist in the area of hostilities, which they shall personally review when a press card is issued.
In case of violation of these Rules, the accreditation will be revoked. The authors of the statement urge journalists to avoid disclosing information that could lead to the enemy becoming aware of the actions of the Defense Forces and affect the progress of the tasks assigned.
Military administrations are advised to provide more information to the media about the destruction caused by enemy no later than 24 hours after the event.
Mediarukh is a community that brings together journalists from leading Ukrainian media, investigative reporters, and experts with media NGOs.