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UKRAINE STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS REPORT Deliverables Report and Strategy for the Foreign Minister
–
March 27
th
Executive Summary
We started working for Ukraine in the summer of 2011 and have since generated dozens of positive op-eds/interviews/articles for print and TV, and disseminated positive news stories delivering nearly 2,000 publications on credible editorial online news and influential foreign policy sites in the United States, Germany, France, and Britain. Despite a challenging news environment, we successfully leveraged journalists and advocates within our network to show a more balanced picture of Ukraine, effectively countering the impact of the Tymoshenko propaganda machine through numerous articles, rebuttal letters, editorial disseminati
ons, YouTube videos and even an “independent” online foundation portal,
specifically set up to provide balanced praise for Ukraine within the Center for the Study of Former Soviet Socialist Republics. (www.cxssr.org) Our work includes daily media monitoring of developments about Ukraine and close liaising with Paul Manafort and Konstantyn Kilimnik as well as Oleg Voloshyn in the Foreign Ministry on strategy and messaging. We have also drafted strategy papers that Paul has passed on to SL. Going forward, our top priority will be to use print, TV and online, plus a think-tank European conference to promote the reforms and modernisation being achieved by the President. That means a focus on free and fair elections, on Ukraine's Euroepan identity and cultural and trade ties to the EU, on the unfir nature of the 2009 gas deal, on the prospects for energy cooperation with Europe and on closer ties to NATO and EU institutions. We will of course also continue to
counter Tymoshenko’s martyr propaganda and to highlight the country’s openness, investment
attractiveness and genuine transformation in the lead up to Euro 2012 and, later, the parliamentary elections. We will also develop a strategic social media campaign, which will be integrated with more traditional methods of content dissemination. This will include Facebook (both fan pages and groups) as well as Twitter and other selected social media tools deemed appropriate for the content and messaging. Below is a condensed summary of some of our work since last year.
June 20 PACE Meeting
We produced a 5-minute
Editorial
Feature TV Report
from the PACE meeting in Strasbourg, which incorporated a sit-down interview with President Yanukovych,
discussing Ukraine’s commitment to Europe. The report was broadcast o
n TV stations including
CNBC Europe, CNBC Asia, PBS in the U.S., Al Arabiya in the Middle East, NDTV in India as well as dozen other channels, reaching more than 300 million households.
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Separately, the report aired on more than
20 airlines as in-flight programming during the months of October and November 2011, reaching over 5 million passengers.
Ukraine Independence Day (24 August 2011)
A
Broadcast News Feed
was produced in Kyiv and distributed globally. The 6.5-minute coverage was distributed via satellite through APTN and was also made available for online download on our extranet. The APTN feed was distributed to hundreds of broadcasters worldwide and our extranet had many unique hits from broadcasters.
We placed a separate
Editorial Feature Report
of the Independence Day celebrations on
China’s Phoenix Television
in Mandarin
to promote FDI
.
A press release entitled “
Ukraine Looks to a European Future as it Marks 20 Years of Independence
” was sent out on August 23 and resulted in more than 500 hits
throughout the Web (
msn money
;
Yahoo
among others).
The coverage, which had an economic angle, featured quotes from President Yanukovych and highlighted the bright economic future of Ukraine.
Separately, an
Op-Ed signed by VY
and entitled
was authored and placed by our editorial team in the
Wall Street Journal.
Approaching the completion of the Association Agreement
We arranged a friendly press visit and
interview with Prime Minister Mykola Azarov
with U.S. freelance reporter Eric Lyman in Kyiv, which resulted in seven stories on three different papers:
Washington Times
on Nov 7,
Global Post
on Dec 20, and five stories on
Bloomberg’s
BNA
on Nov 10 (
Prime Minister Azarov Touts Improvements to Unified Tax Code
(AVAILABLE IN PRINT).
An
Op-Ed
by Kost Bondarenko, political expert and Chairman of the Institute of Ukrainian Policy, was published on
EurActiv
An article
about the importance of Ukraine and its "European Identity" was posted on influential
Washington foreign policy site “RedState”
by
Matthew Lina on Dec. 23 (
Countering Negative Perceptions and Yulia Tymoshenko Propaganda
As a result of our work with
“
Wall Street Journal
’
s
”
Matthew Kaminski
, on October 14
th
the paper carried an article, The Rise and Fall of Yulia Tymoshenko that highlighted
Yulia
Tymoshenko’s
chequered past. Here is how Kaminski describes Ms.
Tymoshenko’s many
transformations:
“Hers is an improbable life. She makes billions
overnight in a rough industry. She loses most of it and goes into politics. She falls from
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grace again, but then leads a democratic revolution. She becomes a powerful prime minister and dreams of the top job. She loses the election for president and begins to fade from the scene.
Now she’s a martyr”.
Another important article
critical of Tymo and beginning to show her past association with Lazarenko and her corruption, as well as her ties to Putin, was posted on
influential Washington foreign policy site RedState
by
Matthew Lina on Nov 29 (
We further placed an article by historian and political scientist Kost Bondarenko called
“Ukraine, not Iceland” (
Euractiv, the independent media portal dedicated to EU affairs, which on average receives over 600,000 unique viewers every month.
We have also drawn attention to the powerful speech given by President Yanukovych at
the Ukrainian Parliament, in which he explicitly tied Ukraine’s future to the European Union. We wrote an article entitled “When is the Last Time You Heard a Ukraine President Condemn “Obsolete Soviet
-Era Repressive R
ules of Law”?”
(http://www.redstate.com/mattlina/2012/02/18/when-is-the-last-time-you-heard-a-ukraine-president-condemn-
which we placed on
Washington’s prestigious foreign policy site RedState on February 18
th
. Ukraine Press Freedom Report
Our editorial
coverage around “
Ukraine Seen as Improving in Press Freedom Rankings
” was disseminated on Friday
, 27 January, and resulted in more than 250 online publications in English, French and German language throughout the Web including
A news story on “
Ukraine’s Important Contribution to the Moldova
-Transnistria
Peace Process”
was disseminated to the media on Tuesday, 31 January, and resulted in 338 online publication by editorial brands in English, French and German language throughout the Web such as
We further publicised the stor
y of “
Ukraine Calls for Cooperation as Russian Gas Supply Cuts Hurt EU Again
” on Monday
, 6 February, which resulted in 268 online publications in English, French and German language throughout the Web, including
President Yanukovych’
s Speech for the Opening Session of the Rada
Our news
story entitled “
Ukraine's Path to EU Has No Alternatives"
” was
disseminated on Thursday, 9 February, resulting in 205 publications in English, French and German language throughout the Web: