NUJU looking for new ways to support publications in front-line and de-occupied territories (decision of the Secretariat)

The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) will assist local newspapers, primarily in the front-line and de-occupied territories, in preparing important information about all-Ukrainian content.

The NUJU Secretariat took this decision at its meeting on March 2.

• The NUJU is looking for new ways to support publications in the front-line and de-occupied territories (decision of the Secretariat)

President of NUJU Sergiy Tomilenko emphasized that, in particular, it touches on the preparation of interviews with speakers from among notable and essential players in the information field of the state and the world. Also, the Union will attract donor funds for technical and financial support of participants. This will contribute to the financial support of local media and the delivery of important and valuable national and international information to the domestic audience.

“Such activity will be a continuation of the Union’s work on the reviving local press in the de-occupied and front-line territories,” Sergiy Tomilenko said. “So far, thanks to the NUJU, it was possible to print over 20 issues of local newspapers. As a rule, those were the first issues after a long break. Our help encouraged newsrooms and local communities to continue publishing newspapers. Moreover, many of these publications subsequently received stable support for many months from foreign benefactors.

According to First Secretary of the NUJU Lina Kushch, in the front-line and de-occupied areas of Ukraine, where there is often no Internet connection and electricity supply, the printed press often has no alternatives. In addition to information, it also performs an important social function. Thus, in Bakhmut, which has now become the most dangerous place in Ukraine, the authorities, through the Vpered newspaper, restored with the help of the Union, call on the citizens to evacuate immediately.

“When peace comes to these regions, online media and social networks will undoubtedly develop there. But now, the printed press is the main source from which people can find out what is happening around them within a radius of 50 kilometers. No single marathon, no all-Ukrainian publication can replace such a source,” said Lina Kush.

NUJU Secretary/editor-in-chief of the Obrii Iziumshchyny newspaper, Kostiantyn Hryhorenko, noted an extremely high demand for newspapers registered in the front-line territories. He spoke about the experience of the Kharkiv Region, where the first combined issue of the newspapers Slobidskyi Krai, Obrii Iziumshchyny, Visnyk Kupiyanshchyny, and the Blyzniuky newspaper Nove Zhyttia was published (once, the NUJU supported the resumption of publishing of most of these newspapers). This unique digest is distributed free of charge to residents of front-line communities and military personnel. Kostiantyn Hryhorenko called for creating a cluster of all front-line newspapers that have resumed printing. They could organize the release of a joint tab in their publications, telling about the events in all the de-occupied communities and communities close to the front line.

“This is not an additional burden for newsrooms because such a tab is formed at the expense of previously prepared materials. But it greatly expands the geography of the publication’s influence,” Kostiantyn Hryhorenko said. “In addition, it should be considered that international financial donors encourage coalitions. And their support is essential when the prices of paper and printing have skyrocketed. In contrast, the advertising market has fallen sharply, and the budgets of local communities do not allow them to allocate funds for covering their activities in the media.

As earlier reported, at the same meeting, the NUJU Secretariat decided to significantly deepen the cooperation between the NUJU and the Main Department of Morale and Psychological Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, there are measures to encourage the media to publish materials about heroic service members of the Armed Forces and their families. For this purpose, an All-Ukrainian creative competition will be held. Its results are expected to be announced on the Day of Defenders of Ukraine on October 14, 2023.

Also, at the meeting of the NUJU Secretariat, a decision was made regarding the current activities of the Union; in particular, an advisory committee for the distribution of technical support was established.

The Secretariat approved the proposal of NUJU President Sergiy Tomilenko to refuse the use of the Russian language on the NUJU press cards and decided to replace the Russian-language inscriptions with French-language ones.

NUJU Information Service