The Center for International Media Assistance published the report "Media Reform in the Conditions of Political Upheaval: Lessons from Myanmar, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tunisia, and Ukraine." The report was compiled by researchers Tarik Jusych and Heather Gilberts, and the Ukrainian part was prepared by specialists in media law Antonina Cherevko and Maksym Dvorovy.

"Ukrainian civil society organizations played an important role in promoting reforms even when democratic transformations in the country were slowing down. Their efforts highlight the importance of supporting the creation of a strong civil society sector capable of coordinating, mobilizing and sustaining momentum for a vision of media reform," the authors of the Ukrainian part of the report emphasize.

The report provides an overview of media reforms from the time of independence to today, as well as recommendations for their further implementation, taking into account the specifics of the country and its changing political landscape.

"The legislation adopted and implemented after the 2014 revolution profoundly changed the media environment in Ukraine. Direct state influence on television and local print media has almost disappeared; the audience found that the public broadcaster can be a reliable source of information; and the public learned the names of the owners of the country's largest private outlets," the document noted.

The leading foreign donors who financed support for the development of the media sector of Ukraine are the Swedish Agency for International Development, the United States Agency for International Development, the Council of Europe, and the Danish Agency for International Development. From 2010 to 2019, they and a number of others provided almost 150 million US dollars to support the development of Ukraine's media sector.

In particular, it is noted that between 1991 and 2014, progress in mass media reform was limited, but after 2014, thanks to carefully planned reforms by, among others, local public media organizations, it was possible to achieve more significant changes.

"The Ukrainian media sector faces incredible uncertainty after the Russian invasion in 2022. At the same time, the prospect of obtaining candidate status in the EU, which, in particular, depends on the implementation in Ukraine of the EU Directive on audiovisual media services, created another opportunity for the adoption of the long overdue draft Law on mass media," the authors write in the report on the prospects of the media sphere.

The authors emphasize that it is long-term financial projects and institutional support of non-governmental organizations that will be able to bring results in the future.

"For international donors and media aid subjects, the main lesson of Ukraine is that financing civil society is a long-term investment that requires years of patience and persistent participation to receive stable dividends ," the authors of the Ukrainian part of the report summarize.