Security and Resilience: JSCs Adapt to New Challenges

The Journalists’ Solidarity Centers (JSC) of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), which have been operating since April 2022, have gone through a difficult path of transformation, adapting to the new challenges of the war and the changing needs of the media community. If initially, the main mission was emergency assistance to journalists who were evacuated from occupied territories, now the focus has shifted to creating conditions for professional survival and development of media professionals.

“The most relevant direction is real support for local print media. They are the ones closest to people in front-line territories. Each issue of these publications works for victory,” Valentyna Manzhura, the coordinator of the Zaporizhzhia JSC, is convinced. “Do we need JSCs? But there are no options here… Otherwise, it is unclear how journalists from occupied and front-line territories can stay in the profession; how to generally preserve the media community in the regions,” confirms Zaporizhzhia journalist Olha Bohlevska.

As earlier reported, the network includes six JSCs in different regions of Ukraine, both in relatively safe regions and near front-line areas. However, each of them covers the needs of a respective region and provides media workers from all regions of Ukraine with relevant assistance.

Initially, there was a request for safety and shelter

“The network of JSCs of the NUJU act as a single team, and media workers in need of support can contact any of the JSCs – they will be directed to where there is an opportunity to provide assistance. The priority is to support journalists who remain in the profession, who are actively transforming their activities, covering current events related to the war, etc. Therefore, among the key tasks of the JSC is to help journalists be safe and motivate them to remain in the profession. We pay particular attention to journalists who have fled from the occupied territories or regions where hostilities are taking place so that they can find shelter in safe places and continue their media activities. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, to support journalists, we also provided them with laptops, power banks, etc., at the request of each region. We are currently receiving new requests and are working to continue helping media workers,” notes the President of the NUJU, Sergiy Tomilenko.

The First Secretary of the NUJU/head of the JSC network, Lina Kushch, draws attention to the great importance of the communication component of the JSCs for media workers. Not only does successful communication make it possible to determine what exactly Ukrainian media workers urgently need during the war in order to continue to be in journalism, but it also gives a clear signal to journalists that they are not left alone in difficult situations.

From shelter to further development: JSCs’ first steps

“Mattresses, bed linen, finding a roof over your head, new equipment to replace the one left under occupation… I remember how it all began,” according to Nataliya Voitovych, the coordinator of the Unified Western Ukrainian JSC; the first days of work resembled a real anti-crisis headquarters.

Volodymyr Bober, who coordinated the Chernivtsi JSC in 2022, recalls those days with particular vividness: “Chernivtsi became a shelter for many – a relatively safe city. Through cooperation with the Synergy non-governmental organization, we obtained the most necessary things for displaced journalists – from bed linen to mattresses. University dormitories became a temporary home for those fleeing the war.”

And further on there was emergency financial assistance of UAH 3,000-4,000. Although those funds were insignificant, their value could not be overestimated by the people who lost everything at a time.

“Over time, requests evolved,” says Volodymyr. “Some asked to help arrange a child for a camp, others needed medical support. Svitlana Isachenko, an assistant at our JSC, took on this direction.”

Gradually, crisis support was replaced by systematic work. Stories of successful adaptation of journalists such as Svitlana Kuzminska and Oksana Kovaliova became examples of how, even in the most difficult conditions, it is possible to continue professional development.

Now, all JSCs create not just a safe space for media workers but an environment for sharing experience and professional communication – key elements that help journalists stay in the profession even during the war.

From humanitarian to professional development: how support for media workers has changed

After two years of war, the media landscape of Ukraine has significantly transformed, and the needs of journalists have evolved along with it. The JSCs’ coordinators are unanimous: since 2023, the nature of requests has changed dramatically – from basic survival needs to professional development and institutional support.

Coworking spaces, originally created as workplaces for those who lost their newsrooms, have undergone several transformations. During blackouts, they saved media workers with energy independence, and now they have become real hubs of the professional community – places where journalists not only work but also recover after exhausting trips to the front lines.

The main requests of journalists at present are:

• the opportunity to use coworking spaces both for work and for recreation, communication;
• receiving free rental of protective equipment, especially for foreign freelancers who come to document events at the front;
• assistance in finding a job (especially difficult for operators and other technical specialists);
• legal assistance;
• assistance with professional training, with writing grant programs;
• training sessions on psychological support, which is associated with professional burnout during a long war;
• safety training sessions (cybersecurity, home medical care, mine safety).

Geography matters – journalists’ requests vary depending on the region. “In Chernivtsi, they are looking for work due to the closure of local media, and in Dnipro, the situation is diametrically opposite – there is a constant personnel shortage,” notes the coordinator of Dnipro JSC, Nataliya Nazarova.

“Media executives often ask if we know anyone looking for a job or ready to cooperate,” she adds, emphasizing the new function of the JSCs as a link connecting employers with potential employees.

Nataliya Nazarova especially emphasizes the importance of personal contacts: “For small, hyperlocal media, it is extremely valuable when someone comes directly to them, takes an interest in their work and problems.”

Nataliya Voitovych notes the evolution of requests in the Lviv Region: “Since 2023, the need for professional development has been growing – training sessions with military press attachés, meetings with specialists on accreditation to front-line zones. Now, the central issue is the survival of the media, especially regional publications. We help them find grants and financial support.”

Each JSC also documents the experience of working in the media during the war – unique cases that become not only part of history but also practical lessons for the future of Ukrainian journalism.

Behind the scenes of assistance: invisible challenges faced by JSC coordinators

The external coherence of the JSCs’ work is only the tip of the iceberg. Every day, coordinators overcome dozens of obstacles, working in conditions where the only constant is constant change.

“Adapting work to blackouts was a real challenge,” recalls Nataliya Nazarova from the Dnipro JSC. She constantly has to solve a difficult question: “Will the topic be interesting to media people? Will they perceive what we think is important?” However, her doubts are dispelled every time when events gather full halls of interested journalists.

Coordinators find unconventional ways to solve problems. “If we can’t do something alone, we join forces with partners – volunteers, activists, journalists-communists,” shares the experience of Bohdana Zasidko, an assistant at the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC.

For Hanna Chernenko from the Kharkiv JSC, the biggest difficulty is psychological: “Media workers are willing to tell other people’s stories, but not their own.” She also faces the realities of a front-line city every day: constant shelling, lack of security, colossal emotional burnout.

The situation in Zaporizhzhia is no better. “The word “Alert” for us is not just about sirens. It is our constant state,” Valentyna Manzhura, the co-coordinator of the Zaporizhzhia JSC, frankly admits. “Unexpected problems arise every day, and it doesn’t matter whether they are small or global – they need to be solved instantly without having ready-made recipes. Because we work in conditions of war, with colleagues whose destinies have been scorched by the war.”

The most painful thing for all coordinators is the inability to satisfy all requests due to limited resources.

“A powerful team of support for Ukrainian journalists works in Kyiv, but the hardest thing is when a colleague turns to us whose need we cannot satisfy,” shares Illia Suzdaliev, the coordinator of the Kyiv JSC. “Usually, these are people who have lost either the tools for work or the job itself.”

Even in relatively calm regions, the issue of resources is acute. “To conduct psychological training sessions, we need a simple flipchart, and for a psychologist – at least a small fee,” notes Viktoriya Plakhta, the coordinator of the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC. “The previous specialist, who has worked for free since 2022, can no longer afford it.”

Behind each story of successful assistance are dozens of invisible obstacles that teams of JSC across Ukraine overcome every day.

Horizons of development: how will JSC change

“Are JSCs needed? But there are no options here… Otherwise, it is unclear how journalists from occupied and front-line territories can stay in the profession; how to preserve the media community in the regions in general,” these words of Olha Bohlevska, a Zaporizhzhia journalist and participant in the NUJU project Executed Free Speech, aptly convey the importance of the JSCs for Ukrainian media professionals.

The JSC network is constantly evolving, responding to new challenges of the war. Valentyna Manzhura summarizes the team’s common position: “All areas of our work are critically important. They help keep journalists in the profession, allow us to work effectively on the information front, and convey the truth about the war and the crimes of the occupiers.”

Strategic directions for the development of the JSCs:

• Professional direction:

Priority support for local print media, especially in front-line areas

Assistance in finding personnel and authors to maintain a professional environment

Strengthening communication and exchange of experience between journalists from different regions

• Educational and consulting direction:

Legal consulting

Safety training (handling explosives, first aid, safety in everyday life)

Focus on offline training events

Increased psychological support through anonymous appeals, individual and group meetings

• Communication direction:

Expanding the partner network for more systematic assistance

Activating international relations to maintain the world’s attention to Ukraine

Each region has its own priorities in accordance with local specifics. Illia Suzdaliev (Kyiv) emphasizes: “The work can be significantly strengthened only if there are financial and technical resources to administer additional assistance to colleagues.”

Valentyna Manzhura is convinced that the most critical thing remains support for local print media: “They are the ones closest to people in the front-line territories, which in Ukraine make up 70%. In the absence of the Internet, television, radio, and often light and communication, the “small press” has become the Big Press. Each issue is passed from hand to hand and read as the only source of information. “Our newspaper is like bread and air for us,” say residents of front-line communities.”

Nataliya Voitovych emphasizes the international component: “If the world stops talking about us, everyone will forget us. The most frightening thing is that European countries may think that everything is fine with us. And this is not so – the war continues, people are dying, children and the elderly are suffering, millions are forced to leave their homes.”

Volodymyr Bober adds: “It is important that journalists who come to Chernivtsi stay in Ukraine and not go abroad. It is also necessary to continue security measures in cybersecurity, home medical care, and mine safety. Even in relatively safe areas, this knowledge is vital.”

Bohdana Zasidko notes the successful projects of the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC: “Training sessions on life safety, the project Local Media in Wartime with materials on the work of local media, as well as Partnership for Victory have proven themselves well.”

For Viktoriya Plakhta, psychological support is a priority: “Retreats for journalists with hikes in the mountains have proven to be particularly effective. This has an extremely positive effect on the mental health of media workers.”

Hanna Chernenko develops this idea: “Emotional support should include a series of different activities – anonymous appeals, individual and group offline meetings. We also plan to implement a project with stories of colleagues to show that media work is important and worthy of respect.

Recently, during a two-day seminar at the NUJU office in the capital, representatives of six regional JSCs not only analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the network and identified development prospects but also underwent psychological training with Tetiana Kucher, a specialist in empathetic support and cognitive-behavioral therapy.

A special discovery for everyone was the “top-spinning” dolls from the Zaporizhzhia JSC – a unique art therapy tool. Lina Kushch, the First Secretary of the NUJU, has already presented them at a workshop of the European Federation of Journalists on Mental Health. “Colleagues from 12-13 countries tried to spin these dolls and were delighted. They even offered to sell them to collect donations in support of Ukrainian journalists,” she said.

Thus, Zaporizhzhia craftsmen not only created an effective means of combating stress for Ukrainian media workers but also opened a new tool of psychological support for the journalistic community around the world.

The network of Journalists’ Solidarity JSCs 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 JSCs 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.

NUJU Information Service