THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
On Journalist’s Day, June 6, the Zaporizhzhia and Odesa regional organizations of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) held an online meeting, during which they talked about current topics about how regional media workers live and work in wartime conditions. Journalists from Berdiansk, Huliaipole, Orikhiv, Lysychansk, Yakymivka, Enerhodar, Kherson, Mykolayiv, Bakhmut, and Mariupol, who were in the studios, took part in the discussion.
The President of the NUJU, Sergiy Tomilenko, addressed the participants of the meeting. He noted that, despite the war, we cannot hold a large-scale celebration. But we can note the role of journalists in the fight against the enemy. It is big, and he was convinced of this once again during his visit to Zaporizhzhia.
“I was pleased to meet your friendly team in person. Thanks to the leadership of the Zaporizhzhia regional organization of the NUJU, among other regional organizations, our international partners agreed to expand the network of Journalist Solidarity Centers (JSC). I want to personally thank Svitlana Karpenko for reviving the Orikhiv-based newspaper, Trudova Slava,” Sergiy Tomilenko noted.
The board chairperson of the Zaporizhzhia regional organization of the NUJU, the honored journalist of Ukraine, Nataliya Kuzmenko, called on the participants of the meeting to discuss the successes of the employees of the regional publications, which they managed to achieve despite the challenges of wartime.
“Journalists are such a powerful force because we are united by one goal, one idea: to bring people the truth about the events happening today in Ukraine and the world. We are all fighting together on the information front, bringing Victory closer,” said Nataliya Kuzmenko.
Svitlana Karpenko, the editor of the Trudova Slava newspaper, told her colleagues about the work on the newspaper issues and the reaction of people to the press during the occupation.
“When my compatriots saw me in Orikhiv, where we brought the first issue together with the rescuers, we hugged and cried – that’s how happy people were for the newspaper. Today’s newspaper for people living on the conflict line is a true information connection with the whole world,” Svitlana Karpenko shared.
“We have created a powerful network of correspondents, thanks to which colleagues from different regions join live broadcasts and share the situation in their communities,” said Liudmyla Dolzhenko, the NUJU Secretary, sharing her experience of working on the television radio station Na Dotyk.
A journalist from Berdiansk, who today is an active member of the Zaporizhzhia JSC, Viktoriya Horbatko, noted:
“Today, our Center unites media workers from the occupied territories, and we all actively work for Victory because we understand that journalists are important. We have multifaceted work aimed at acquiring new professional skills and skill development, and we also enjoy art therapy classes, which help us gain psychological persistence.”
Dmytro Sukhinin, the head of the Ukrainian Cossack Information Resistance Movement, spoke about the importance of journalistic work in wartime and invited journalists to cooperate in creating Cossack almanacs.
A lot of exciting and useful things were told about their activities by the journalists who were in the Odesa studio, where the moderator was the head of the Odesa union Yurii Rabotin. They shared their experience working in relocated mass media, currently published in this region. They also mentioned the Ukrainian Language – The Language Of Unity festival, which annually takes place in Odesa. And this year, Zaporizhzhia residents submitted their journalistic and writing works to the festival competition.
Nataliya Vadymova, Kristina Kulahina
Photo: Kristina Kulahina
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