How to work at the scene of emergencies and disasters: training for journalists at Ivano-Frankivsk JSC

On the initiative of the Ivano-Frankivsk Journalists’ Solidarity Center of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), a series of training sessions for media workers and future journalists called Useful Tips: from Professionalism to Personal Safety is taking place for the second year in a row. This training touched the coverage of emergency situations and disasters. The assistant of the JSC, Bohdana Zasidko, who has many years of experience in this field as part of the press service of the State Emergency Situations Service (SESS) regional administration, acted as a coach.

During the training, the coach drew the attention of the participants to the main aspects, approaches and methods, logistics, and rules that must be followed. Bohdana Zasidko also made a detailed analysis of the preparation of materials from the emergency site using specific examples and provided specific advice.

Basic recommendations from Bohdana Zasidko:

• there must be professional and psychological preparation for work at the site of various emergencies or disasters, including those with tragic consequences;
• make sure to follow the safety rules at the scene;
• proper communicative component of the work is mandatory;
• when presenting the material, adhere to the principle of information reliability with reference to sources, including emergency participants, eyewitnesses, and experts;
• adhere to professional ethics.

Bohdana Zasidko also emphasized the importance of first aid skills. After all, journalists are exposed to great danger while working at the site of various emergencies, especially now, in the conditions of martial law in the country. During the training, she demonstrated a first-aid kit to those present and showed how to use its contents.

The coach also noted that media workers who are going on an editorial mission to a combat or front-line zone can receive such first-aid kits and protective equipment (body armor, helmet) for temporary use at the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC of the NUJU or similar centers in Ukraine that operate in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia.

During the final part of the training, future journalists noted the importance of holding the event; in particular, they noted that they received a lot of useful and necessary information precisely during the discussion of specific extraordinary events and the analysis of the work of the media regarding their coverage.

Call the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC at 066 677 0726 (Viktoriya Plakhta, the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC coordinator). The Center’s address is 25 Sichovykh Striltsiv Street.

ABOUT JSC

The Journalists’ Solidarity Centers is an initiative of the NUJU implemented with the support of the International and European Federations of Journalists and UNESCO. The initiative is designated to help media representatives working in Ukraine during the war. The Centers operate in Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro and provide journalists with organizational, technical, legal, psychological, and other types of assistance.

ABOUT UNESCO

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. It contributes to peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, sciences, culture, communication, and information. UNESCO promotes knowledge sharing and the free flow of ideas to accelerate mutual understanding. It is the coordinator of the UN Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which aims to create a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers, thus strengthening peace, democracy, and sustainable development worldwide. UNESCO is working closely with its partner organizations in Ukraine to provide support to journalists on the ground.

The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this digest do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area or its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this digest and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit to the organization.

Ivano-Frankivsk JSC