The Journalists’ Uprising: EuroMaidan in Ukraine
10 Dec 2013
Our partners at EJO write: On November 21, Mustafa Nayyem, one of Ukraine's top journalists, called on his Facebook friends and followers to gather at the Monument of Independence at 10.30 p.m. to protest against the government's decision to back away from European Union integration talks. "Put warm clothes on, take umbrellas, tea, coffee, positive mood and friends," his message read. Nearly 1500 people gathered on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in the capital Kyiv that night. The gathering has now grown into a massive, well co-ordinated, socially networked protest movement in which the Ukrainian media has come of age. Three days after Nayyem's initial call to action around 100,000 people joined a formal rally in support of European integration. Similar rallies, named 'EuroMaidan', took place across the country and beyond its borders: there have been demonstrations in more than ten European cities, Canada, USA and Israel. Photos of thousands of people crowding the streets of Ukrainian cities evoked memories of the Orange Revolution in 2004, but this current wave of protests is different.
Read the full article visit the European Journalism Observatory website.
