“The hard and sometimes dangerous work of journalists is devalued,” NUJU First Secretary Lina Kushch on prices for newspaper delivery

Currently, it is not easy for local media to work in Ukraine. There are too many challenges and complexities to which regional nuances are added.

How do you manage to survive, stay afloat, and be popular and in demand among your readers? This was discussed at the All-Ukrainian conference for regional media titled Ukrainian Local Media During The War: What Gives Strength? which was held today, September 13, organized by the Institute of Democracy named after Pylyp Orlyk.

Almost 40 media outlets volunteered to participate in the event. Media colleagues shared their experience, drawing attention to the fact that grant programs are now one of the main sources of funding, and one of the components of success is to be needed by the community to provide people with the information they need first of all.

Lina Kushch, the First Secretary of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), took part in the conference. She told stories of media that managed to effectively occupy their niche in the media space and drew attention to problems that still need to be solved, in particular, print media. One of the most pressing ones is that Ukrposhta has set delivery rates that even exceed the cost of producing the newspaper.

“This is abnormal because the hard and sometimes dangerous work of journalists, including those in the front-line regions, is being devalued. That is why we call for joint efforts to oppose such a dictate because it is impossible to raise the price of a newspaper in the current conditions,” Lina Kushch emphasized.

The NUJU has been insisting for several years in a row that a media support fund should be established, specifically aimed at supporting local media. These can be state funds that are distributed to the benefit of local media as well, not just the telethon, as well as funds from the Ukraine Recovery Fund. The NUJU believes that regional recovery programs should include the recovery of local media, but so far, this is not happening,” Lina Kushch emphasized.

NUJU Information Service