On May 17, the International Scientific and Practical Conference "Ukrainian Political Journalism and Elections" began its work at the Lutsk Humanitarian University, – reported the own correspondent of the Western Information Corporation.
The topical theme gathered in Volyn over 30 scholars, journalists and editors from Kyiv, Lviv and the USA.
At the first plenary session, in his speech, Lutsk Mayor Anton Kryvytskyi noted that relations between the authorities and society are a topical theme, that in the Lutsk City Council, for the first time in Ukraine, a webcam was installed for broader and more transparent coverage of its activities.
Professor of the Department of International Journalism of the Kyiv Institute of Journalism Volodymyr Shkliar rejected the necessity of Ukraine's accession to the EU "as a Euroland country": "We need to form a European mindset within ourselves. The EU motto reads: 'We are not passengers, we are locomotives!' Ukraine must likewise become a locomotive of European integration, not a carriage." Regarding the description of journalists as the 4th estate, the professor remarked that "we are not the fourth, but the first public authority. We had Kuchmo-land, and now it has become Kumo-land. According to the Razumkov Centre, out of 18 thousand replaced officials, 4 thousand were hired on the basis of family relations!" at the end of his speech Volodymyr Shkliar wished that all journalists remain ironists, show ambition in the profession, and that the word pluralism in the Ukrainian version never come from the word to spit.