Regaining Public Trust In Times Of Populism : Lessons from Ukraine

It’s 5 years since Ukrainian popular uprising called “Euromaidan' had started. Later it was followed by Russian aggression in Crimea and the East of the country. Ukraine had become a playground for disinformation, hybrid warfare while ‘fake news’ is something society had to live with since 2014. Despite the conflict and from the first sight different context the acute issues society is facing are very similar to those in Europe and the USA: growth of populism when anti-corruption fight is causing further disappointments, distrust to the institutions, polarisation and fragmentation of the audience, and urban-rural divide. What are the lessons from Ukraine, and what is done to regain trust and preserve civilized debated?

Nataliya Gumenyuk is a Ukrainian journalist specializing in conflict reporting and foreign affairs. She is head of independent TV-channels Hromadske, a Ukrainian public broadcasting platform, and Hromadske International, which reaches both an English and Russian-speaking audience. Gumenyuk has reported from the field during the Euromaidan Revolution of 2013-14, the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine (Donbas).