Novi Rubezhi newspaper team came to their newsroom even at 4 a.m. in order to timely print an issue

After the start of a full-scale war, the staff of the Krynychany newspaper, Novi Rubezhi, was reduced by half. Currently, the three of them publish an eight-column weekly newspaper, fill the publication’s website with materials, and manage pages on social networks. Recently, the economic challenges of the newsroom, constant problems with subscriptions, and postal delivery of the newspaper have been added with long power outages. How does the Novi Rubezhi team cope with difficulties?

“Challenges, of course, have been added,” says the editor-in-chief of Novi Rubezhi, Halyna Lytovchenko. “We adapt to the outage schedules. Once we came to the newsroom at four in the morning in order to finish the newspaper in two hours “with light” and deliver it to the printer….”

It helps a lot, says Halyna, that there are laptops. The first was received from the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU). It was possible to partially update the editorial equipment thanks to grants and international donors.

“A laptop charge is enough for 5-6 hours of work. This is very important in conditions of long-term stabilization shutdowns. In addition, it is an opportunity to work remotely from where there is access to the Internet. With this, we are lucky, so to speak: we have a bank in the neighborhood with a connection. However, sometimes the few hours when there is light are not always enough to charge the equipment. So, we are still looking for an opportunity to purchase a charging station,” adds Nataliya Dolhikh. The journalist edits a newspaper, administers a website, and runs a Facebook page and a Telegram channel.

Postal delivery of the press remains a painful issue for the editorial team. Readers complain that the branch has been closed, and mobile branch workers simply do not want to accept subscriptions. According to the editor-in-chief, during the reform of Ukrposhta – since the summer of 2022 – Novi Rubezhi has lost a thousand subscribers.

“Back in February, we wrote about how the community defended the post office in Adamivka. But a month ago, Ukrposhta liquidated it without any explanation. People came to Krynychky, came to our newsroom to issue a subscription,” says Halyna Lytovchenko. “And what? A month has already passed – they have not received a single number!

But no matter how difficult it is, the employees of the Novi Rubezhi newspaper do not give up. They firmly hold the information front and support Ukrainian defenders. Besides, they continue to learn in order to develop, improve, and become better.

Call the Dnipro JSC at 050 919 8479 (Nataliya Nazarova, the Dnipro JSC coordinator). The Center’s address is 8 Starokozatska 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.

Dnipro JSC information service