THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
…In July 2022, when one of the Journalists’ Solidarity Centers (JSC), which were then opening in Ukraine, was created under the Zaporizhzhia regional organization of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), it so happened that editors and leading journalists-migrants of district and city print media, which had stopped publishing at that time, gathered here. After professional training sessions on the topic “What do you see as the first issue of a restored newspaper?” some editors suddenly thought about relocating their publications. The NUJU, and personally the President of the NUJU, Sergiy Tomilenko, came to their aid. Three years have passed, and today four relocated publications are published in Zaporizhzhia – Trudova Slava (Orikhiv), Holos Huliaipillia, Nashe Zhyttia (Novomykolayivka), and Chervonyi Promin (Zaporizhzhia District).
A warm and, at the same time, extremely important meeting of the creative teams of the frontline newspapers, Trudova Slava and Holos Huliaipillia, took place at the JSC. Colleagues learned about their work in conditions of war, blackouts, and constant force majeure, about the mission and prospects of local printed publications.
It was a frank conversation about the challenges that have become part of their professional reality: they talked about how materials are prepared for publication without stable light and communication, how topics that really concern readers today are found, how communication is built with the heroes of publications – people whose stories are born to the sounds of shelling, in frontline communities, on the verge of danger and hope.
“Every time we bring our newspaper to frontline territories or relocated communities, we hear from people that the local newspaper has become a kind of symbol of faith and indomitability for them. These words inspire us to work, despite all the difficulties and hardships,” noted Svitlana Karpenko, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Trudova Slava from the frontline town of Orikhiv.
Journalists shared their experiences, supported each other, and talked about the responsibility of a journalist to society and the power of the printed word, which remains important and necessary even in the most difficult times.
“Holos Huliaipillia is a small regional media outlet with great responsibility. We work where news is not an abstraction, but a part of the daily survival of communities. We are read by residents, displaced persons, military personnel, volunteers, people who care about knowing the truth firsthand in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kyiv, throughout Ukraine, and abroad – in Poland, Germany, the United States, wherever the war scattered Ukrainians. We are the voice of frontline communities, recording the reality of war, life, and recovery. Frontline media are not “small media.” They are the backbone of the community, an information shield, and a document of the times,” emphasized the editor of the publication, Tetiana Velyka.
The participants of the gathering sincerely thanked the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and its head, Sergiy Tomilenko, international partners, and the Zaporizhzhia JSC for their constant support, assistance, training, and belief in regional journalism. And above all, to the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is thanks to you that we have the opportunity to live, work, create, and continue to tell the truth.
The network of Journalists’ Solidarity Centers is an initiative of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, implemented in collaboration with the International and European Federations of Journalists and UNESCO, and with the support of the People of Japan. Our primary goal is to assist media professionals working in Ukraine during the war. The Centers are active in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Lviv, and Ivano-Frankivsk. The project is part of UNESCO’s broader efforts to support the Safety of Journalists and Freedom of Expression in Ukraine.
Contact the Zaporizhzhia JSC at 096 277 5352 (Nataliya Kuzmenko and Valentyna Manzhura, coordinators of the Zaporizhzhia JSC). The Center’s address is 15 Sobornyi Avenue.
Tamara Bort
Photos by Iryna Yehorova and Svitlana Kostiuk
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