The resolution on the admission of journalists to the walls of the Verkhovna Rada was signed by the Speaker of the Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk, and from now on representatives of various Ukrainian media, regardless of the political direction, cover the work of legislators directly from the walls of the Parliament.
At the time of martial law, there will be certain restrictions: up to 30 accredited journalists will be able to stay in the parliament; broadcasts and photos are prohibited outside the prescript; information about the meeting can be disseminated within an hour after its completion. On the eve of the media, they were instructed how to work in the press center, in particular during the air alarm.
The USAID "RADA: Next Generation" Program was one of the most active initiators of providing journalists with access to parliament. The program helped to develop mechanisms for the admission and work of journalists in the Verkhovna Rada under martial law.
As the program advisor Andriy Shevchenko noted, during the closed meetings, the issues of thorough accreditation of media workers, their safety, access to equipment and “embargo” on news coverage were discussed. Among the current ideas is to create a self-governing organization of parliamentary journalists who, together with the Verkhovna Rada, would solve the issue of accreditation.
The Program also supported the Committee on Freedom of speech and its Chairman Yaroslav Yurchyshyn in conducting round tables on journalistic ethics standards and work during the war. The program experts provided an analytical report on the international experience of accreditation of parliamentary journalists, which was taken into account during the development of the re-accreditation system of Ukrainian media and the security protocol.
Promoting openness and transparency of the work of the Ukrainian parliament is one of the important areas of the program "RADA: Next Generation". These characteristics are indispensable features of a democratic institution capable of gaining high public trust.