Hirondelle Foundation, which helps revive front-line press, awarded with White Cross

Today in Kyiv, representatives of the Swiss Hirondelle Foundation were awarded the public award – the White Cross Honor et Gloria – from Ukrainian journalists.

The White Cross of the Kraina state organization is awarded to foreign charitable and public organizations that actively help Ukraine during the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The President of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), Sergiy Tomilenko, emphasized that thanks to the project titled Increasing Ukrainian Mass Media’s Sustainability (an initiative of the Hirondelle Foundation and the International Institute for Regional Media and Information (IRMI, Ukraine), dozens of front-line newspapers and local media of the East and South of the country have been revived.

“The press, which represents local communities, is the closest to the social life of these communities,” stressed the Director of Operations of Hirondelle, Nicolas Boissez. “It has the most trusting relations with society. Therefore, the local press is vital. One of the goals of the Hirondelle Foundation is to support and develop, especially in difficult times. These local media provide access to quality information to the citizens of the country. We are happy to cooperate in these matters with IRMI and with NUJU.”

On September 11, Kyiv started a four-day content training for journalists and editors of local media conducted by the IRMI and Hirondelle Foundation.

David Nyheim from Norway, together with his colleague from International Conflict and Security (INCAS, Great Britain) Vefa Veisalova, will discuss with Ukrainian media leaders the issues of social cohesion, the role of journalism in the context of war, factors of tension, and the promotion of community resilience, journalism without causing harm, interviews treatment of the injured, detection and fight against disinformation. Yevheniya Lytvynenko will delve into the topic of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) – obtaining and using information from open sources without breaking the law, in particular for investigations. It will be dedicated to using social networks and advanced image/video search. Sebra Ayres will moderate a roundtable on Ukrainian news for a global audience and a panel on planning editorial publications and storytelling techniques, and together with Anhelina Soldatenko, we will conduct practice on improving leads and headlines, master classes on presentation and planning for the near future. Anton Skyba will reveal the topics of risk assessment and safety protocols for newsrooms, travel planning, and communication “in the fields.” Besides, Reporters Without Borders will present its psychological support platform.

NUJU Information Service