Breaking Through the Information Blockade: Election and Revolution in Ukraine 2004

Authors

Marta Dyczok, The University of Western Ontario

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2005

Volume

47

Issue

3-4

Journal

Canadian Slavonic Papers/Revue canadienne des slavistes

First Page

241

Last Page

266

Abstract

The mass media are an important part of modern elections and revolutions. This was certainly the case in Ukraine in 2004 when a key Presidential election erupted into the Orange Revolution and resulted in a change in the country’s ruling political elite. This paper looks at the impact of the mass media on political events in Ukraine during the 2004 presidential election campaign, and suggests that television in particular played a central role in the events which led to the Orange Revolution and its aftermath. It looks at how both the establishment and the opposition used the media to try and achieve their political goals, whether they were successful, and what the implications are.