OSCE Project Co-ordinator trains monitoring officers on legal aspects of broadcast monitoring in Ukraine

KYIV, 18 November 2008 - Improving the level of regional broadcast monitoring is the aim of a four-day OSCE training course that started in Kyiv today.

Monitoring officers from the regional branches of the National Council of Ukraine on TV and Radio Broadcasting (NCTRB) are taking part in the course, which focuses on the legal and technical aspects of broadcast media monitoring. The training course, organized by the office of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, aims to help improve monitoring of regional television and radio companies in compliance with Ukrainian broadcasting legislation.

"Improved broadcast monitoring can support the right to access to information and help protect minority and children's rights in Ukraine. In the long term, viewers and listeners will also benefit from better quality regional television and radio," said Todd Becker, OSCE Senior Project Manager, at the start of the course.

The monitoring of regional broadcast media in Ukraine has been conducted without sufficient training and with outdated means, but the NCTRB has recently acquired modern equipment that will enable more objective evaluation, said Vitaliy Shevchenko, the head of the NCTRB.

"This training course is organized by the OSCE in a very timely manner, and it will help us to perform more systematic monitoring of regional broadcast media, in compliance with Ukrainian broadcast legislation," he said.