Open AccessThe Agency of Journalists in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Ukraine During Yanukovich’s Presidency
Author(s) -
Esther Somfalvy,
Heiko Pleines
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
media and communication
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.804
H-Index - 19
ISSN - 2183-2439
DOI - 10.17645/mac.v9i4.4227
Subject(s) - authoritarianism , presidency , agency (philosophy) , censorship , political science , relation (database) , political economy , public relations , sociology , politics , law , social science , democracy , database , computer science
On the example of Ukraine during the Yanukovich presidency (2010–2014) this article explores which factors support journalists’ agency in relation to censorship pressure in a competitive authoritarian regime. It shows that a critical mass of journalists 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 motivations. We argue that the nature of competitive authoritarianism offers journalists opportunities for critical reporting, but that it is individual characteristics of journalists—including professional ethics, networks, and job mobility—which define whether and how the respective opportunities are used.