The Agency of Journalists in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Ukraine During Yanukovich’s Presidency

Media and Communication

article

Esther Somfalvy¹  Heiko Pleines¹ 

[1] Department of Politics and Economics, Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen

关键词: authoritarian regime;    censorship;    competitive authoritarianism;    journalism;    Ukraine;    Yanukovich;   

DOI  :  10.17645/mac.v9i4.4227

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Cogitatio Press

【 摘 要 】

On the example of Ukraine during the Yanukovich presidency (2010–2014) this article explores which factors support jour‐nalists’ agency in relation to censorship pressure in a competitive authoritarian regime. It shows that a critical mass ofjournalists existed who reacted to censorship pressure with rejection. Based, first of all, on 31 semi‐structured interviews,we examine the working conditions of prominent national journalists and analyse how they describe their role and motiva‐tions. We argue that the nature of competitive authoritarianism offers journalists opportunities for critical reporting, butthat it is individual characteristics of journalists—including professional ethics, networks, and job mobility—which definewhether and how the respective opportunities are used.

【 授权许可】

CC BY