Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine's largest commercial broadcasters, the Parliamentary TV Channel "Rada" and Public Broadcasting, have joined forces to create a round-the-clock news marathon "United News" to best inform Ukrainian society about the most important events in accordance with the highest standards of journalism, as a response to the unprecedented military and information challenges facing Ukrainian society.

The "United News" telethon is broadcast by Public Broadcasting, State Enterprise "Rada Parliamentary TV Channel", LLC "SLM NEWS", LLC "Studio 1+1 TV and Radio Company", PJSC "INTER TV Channel" and LLC "We Are Ukraine". The TV channels decoded their signals on the satellite and made them available in free OTT packages, on YouTube and in Diia. This initiative has become one of the world's best and unique examples of self-regulation in the media sector, as well as an effective practice of public-private partnership.

The United News telethon is a living self-regulatory structure that meets the challenges of the times. The marathon schedule has been changed several times to improve it. However, both on the first day of the war and now, the marathon has always had a mission to provide the public with verified information 24/7.

Currently, the telethon continues to work according to the schedule and with the information products that were approved and agreed upon by all marathon participants earlier.

At the same time, the marathon is constantly evolving to meet the needs and preferences of the viewer and the challenges posed by the war. The telethon team continues to develop wartime broadcasting, expand the product and regional content of the marathon, work on the formation of additional broadcasting networks and other changes.

Therefore, the telethon considers the possibility of expanding content production by the Public Broadcasting team in the context of the marathon for the First Channel of Public Broadcasting as an integral part of the socially important, main wartime information association of the United News telethon, subject to the approval of such a possibility by the relevant state authorities, taking into account all the standards of the Public Broadcasting's editorial policy and the capabilities of the country's largest network of correspondents across the country.

Accordingly, after receiving the results of the requests, the telethon hopes to improve interaction with the audience and find new ways of effective cooperation.

According to the USAID-Internews Media Consumption Survey "Ukrainian Media, Attitudes and Trust in 2023", 80% of respondents are aware of the United News telethon, 45% of those who are aware are its weekly viewers, and another 10% watch it several times a month. At the same time, the telethon's viewers say they have a high level of trust in the news it provides, and also give positive feedback on the timeliness and reliability of information and the level of analysis of events. 65% of the telethon's viewers consider it necessary to continue its broadcast. This study was conducted by InMind at the request of Internews, an international organisation that implements the Media Program in Ukraine project with financial support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The study can be found here: https://internews.in.ua/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Ukrainski-media-stavlennia-ta-dovira-2023r.pdf

Free master class by Victoria Shulzhenko

Read also