Vitali Schevchenko

Date of Birth: 23.06.1954

Place of Birth. Education. Born in Ichnya, Chernihiv region. In 1975, he graduated from the philological faculty of Kyiv State Pedagogical University (specialization - teacher of Ukrainian language and literature). In 1983 - he graduated from the journalism faculty of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. In 2000-2001, he completed a course at the European Institute of Administration in the Netherlands (specialization - 'Human Rights and Information').

Career. V. Schevchenko began his professional career in 1975 as a freelancer for the newspaper 'Friend of the Reader'. He later worked as a senior editor and deputy chief editor at the 'Art' publishing house, as a reporter and responsible secretary of the 'Young Guard' newspaper, as head of the department, responsible secretary, deputy chief editor and chief editor of the magazine 'Rural Areas'.

Additionally, he was deputy editor of the newspaper 'Time in Kyiv', head of the Kyiv correspondent office of the Canadian newspaper 'Ukrainian News', a journalist for the newspaper 'Our Time' on economic and political issues, and chairman of the editorial board - chief editor of the newspaper 'Time'.

He served as a deputy of the II, III, and IV Parliaments. In the fourth parliamentary term - from March to September 2005 (on the list of Viktor Yushchenko's bloc 'Our Ukraine'). As a parliamentarian, he was involved in the committee on freedom of speech and information of the parliament, and from 1998 to 2002, he was the secretary of the committee. He was previously a member of the Ukrainian National Movement and the Central Committee of the Ukrainian People's Party. Currently, he is not affiliated with any party.

In July 2002, he was appointed a member of the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting by a parliamentary resolution. This body supervises the implementation of laws in the field of broadcasting, as well as a number of oversight functions provided for by those laws. In March 2003, V. Schevchenko was elected deputy chairman of the National Council. In April 2005, he became its chairman. In April 2009, he resigned. According to one version, this was triggered by the conflict over the re-issuance of the license 'Radio One' for 'Radio Alla', which is associated with the Russian singer Alla Pugacheva. Nevertheless, V. Schevchenko remained a member of the National Council. He left the position in 2010.

A member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (since 1982), a member of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine (since 2012), and a member of the National Union of Historians of Ukraine (since 2013).

Opinions and Assessments. According to V. Schevchenko, expressed in a chat on the news portal Telekritika, there are still a number of factors in Ukraine that prevent the country from freeing itself from the information overload that stems from past years and creating a normal information market. These include the lack of regulation of the identification of actual media owners, the absence of coordinated actions by the authorities in the field of broadcasting (in particular, this has significantly delayed the introduction of digital television), delays in creating a public broadcasting service and the denationalization of the media.

Social and Creative Work. Chairman of the 'Center for Social Initiatives Information Community', a member of the board of the 'Center for Information Law', a member of the board of the 'Committee to Defend Freedom of Speech and the Right to Information'.

Author and co-editor of several books: 'From the Dovzhenko Sources' (1988), 'Chernihiv' (1988), 'Secret Chernobyl' (1997), 'The Ship of Forgiveness' (1997), 'My Street, My Ichnya...' (1999), 'Reform of Electoral Law: From Word to Deed' (2003) and others.

Awards and Honors. Honored Journalist of Ukraine.

Family. The politician is married. He has three children (two sons and one daughter). The eldest son, Andriy Shevchenko, is a former correspondent for '5 Kanal' and a deputy of the Ukrainian Parliament V, VI, and VII assemblies of Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc, ambassador of Ukraine to Canada.

Hobbies. Photography, collecting materials on the history of the Ukrainian civil rights movement, ecotourism.

Death. On September 19, 2018, Vitali Schevchenko died in Kyiv of cardiac arrest.

20.09.2018