“To truly understand events, local journalists are needed” – EUJ Head Helle Tiikmaa

In Ukraine, the work of local journalists is no less important than the work of nationwide journalists. Helle Tiikmaa, the head of the Estonian Union of Journalists (EUJ), voiced this belief in a conversation with the First Secretary of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), Lina Kushch.

Helle Tiikmaa noted that Estonia has little information about the work of Ukrainian journalists but mostly learns about it from Estonian colleagues who work directly here.

However, Helle Tiikmaa emphasized that the work of media workers in Ukraine has changed. This is not only due to wartime restrictions. According to the EUJ head, the weight of local news has also changed.

“I guess you could get information at the national level everywhere. But when it comes to actually understanding how smaller events work, how the backgrounds of people and backgrounds of events develop, you need local journalists; you just definitely need the knowledge of being on the spot day in and day out. Now, in the Ukrainian case, local journalists’ work is as important as the work of the nationwide ones.”

As earlier reported, NUJU First Secretary Lina Kushch is participating in the DW Global Media Forum 2023 in Germany.

NUJU Information Service