New challenges, staff shortages and increased risk: how local front-line media newsrooms work (NUJU’s survey)

Front-line media journalists are working with new challenges and new topics, so they are looking to improve their skills in terms of content quality and digital tools for their work. These are the results of a survey conducted by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) among participants of the training course called Strengthening the Resilience of Front-Line Media as a Tool to Combat Disinformation.

Active hostilities nearby and regular shelling and attacks from russia – this is the security situation in which the survey participants work. Therefore, among the topics for which they need to improve their skills, the majority named covering the lives of people in front-line communities (55%). In second place is countering disinformation and manipulation (45%) and creating materials that interest the European audience (45%).

Among the digital skills most in demand are the use of artificial intelligence in work (70%), SMM and content promotion (60%), and adaptation of content for different platforms (40%).

Among other proposals from the project participants is receiving recommendations on the possibilities of media work in temporarily occupied territories. This was particularly noted by the director general of the Silski Novyny newspaper newsroom from the Kherson Region, Liubov Rudia. She said that it is important for the publication to maintain informational communication with residents who are under occupation, interested in the forms and methods of recording crimes in temporarily occupied territories.

Media workers also note the impact of their work on mental health.

Editor-in-chief of the Nashe Slovo media center from Mena, Chernihiv Region, Vitalii Serhiiko:

“I would like to receive information regarding the psychological resilience of journalists. In particular, methods of combating information overload and fatigue, psycho-emotional support for media workers in conditions of high stress and traumatic events, recognizing manipulation techniques and protecting against the influence of disinformation on one’s own thinking,” said Vitalii Serhiiko, the editor-in-chief of the Nashe Slovo media center.

According to the survey, the TOP-3 most relevant topics for the audience are social assistance, housing restoration, and compensation for destroyed housing. The audience also shows a high interest in materials on security and evacuation, the activities of local authorities, and news from the front.

“Media journalists – project participants – work with a high workload, in small teams, where there is a noticeable shortage of personnel, in conditions of a high level of danger due to hostilities and constant stress,” comments on the survey results, First Secretary of the NUJU, Lina Kushch. “Most of the project participants have basic knowledge of covering war-related topics, are guided by the editorial policy or the Code of Ethics of a Ukrainian Journalist, and practice these principles. But they need to strengthen their skills in properly covering sensitive topics, such as the protection of victims’ private data, prisoners of war and missing persons, gender equality, interviews with children, and the lives of children with disabilities.”

Important factors for journalists are also mentoring support, the opportunity to exchange experience with participants from other regions, and the introduction of new formats in the newsroom, as part of the training course.

We remind you that the participants of the project are 20 local media from front-line regions.

The project is funded by the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Ukraine within the framework of the Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Programme.