Not interested in numbers, but in real stories: Canadian journalist Scott Douglas Jacobsen visits Lviv JSC

For the third time, Canadian independent journalist and publisher Scott Douglas Jacobsen has come to Ukraine. The media professional works with Canadian and American media. This time, he is looking for human stories, as he wants to show how Ukrainians live every day in conditions of war. During his first visits, Jacobsen worked on general topics of politics and war. However, the purpose of this trip arose during the previous visit. In the conversation, he heard that numbers turn war into statistics, and reality can only be understood through the stories of specific people. That is why this time he came to talk to journalists, students, cultural figures, and youth – those who create modern Ukraine.

“We must not lose the human stories of war, because then everything turns into statistics. Numbers are important, but they do not explain what is really happening. That is why, during this trip, I want to talk to people and show the reality of Ukraine through their stories,” noted Scott Douglas Jacobsen.

During a conversation with the coordinator of the Lviv office of the Unified Western Ukrainian Journalists’ Solidarity Center (JSC) of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), Nataliya Voitovych, the journalist asked about the evolution of russian propaganda from 2014 to the full-scale invasion and after the start of the great war. He also shared his own observations and reflections on how these messages transformed for different audiences, including Western countries.

At JSC, Nataliya Voitovych told the story of the creation of a network of centers in Ukraine during the war and how it helps media workers. The coordinator shared the peculiarities of the work of media workers in conditions of war and long power outages. She also talked about bulletproof vests, which journalists can receive for free if necessary.

“In the centers, journalists work during blackouts, use the Internet and electricity, undergo training in information security, fact-checking, countering russian disinformation, and the ethics of covering war. This is a space of professional solidarity and information resistance,” noted Nataliya Voitovych.

After Lviv, Scott Douglas Jacobsen plans a trip to Kyiv, and then will go closer to the front line. Future publications about Ukraine will be published in Canadian media.

A separate part of the conversation was devoted to the current situation with freedom of speech. Jacobsen cited data from Reporters Without Borders, according to which Ukraine has significantly improved its position in the Press Freedom Index in recent years. Despite a full-scale war, security restrictions, and problems with corruption, it managed to rise higher. russia, on the contrary, fell almost to the bottom of the rating, because journalism has turned into a tool of propaganda.

Finally, they mentioned the crimes of the russian federation against journalists. The PRESS label often becomes a target for russians despite international conventions, and the story of Victoria Roshchina, who died in captivity, is a reminder of the cruelty of the enemy.

A Canadian journalist emphasized that the greatest danger of war is its transformation into dry statistics. Instead, personal stories return a human face to war.

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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 Unified Western Ukrainian JSC Lviv-Chernivtsi at 097 907 9702 (Nataliya Voitovych, the coordinator of the Lviv JSC, Volodymyr Bober – assistant). The Center’s address is 5 Solomiyi Krushelnytskoyi Street.

Alina Markova