Journalists from Ukrainian regions participated in the Media Camp

In April 2024, n-ost held a Media Camp for Ukrainian journalists from regional media outlets. The week-long camp was dedicated to covering conflicts in a war-torn society, and took place in the Ukrainian Carpathians.

It brought together journalists from 8 regional media: Gre4ka (Kropyvnytskyi), Sloviansk City Website 6262 (Sloviansk), Poltava Wave (Poltava), Varosh (Uzhhorod), CHEline (Chernihiv), Gluzd (Kolomyia), Eastern Variant (Donetsk and Lugansk regions) and Trybuna.Sumy (Sumy).

For a week, journalists have been working with experienced mentors who helped them develop story ideas from their home regions. Marichka Paplauskaite (chief editor of Reporters), Mykhailo Krygel (editor of Ukrainska Pravda), and Alona Savchuk (freelance reporter and editor) shared their insights about reporting on controversial topics in times of war.

Together with trainers, participants discussed the questions of self-censorship, ethical dilemmas, and sensitivity in their work. “I found out the answers to questions I had no one to ask. Our mentors were always there and I could ask them any question I wanted, even if it seemed stupid.” – Olha Panfilova, a participant from Sumy, shared her experience.

A big part of the camp was dedicated to practice. Each participant had a chance to work on a story of their choice and publish it in national media. For six weeks after the camp, journalists stayed in close touch with mentors who supported them all the way through research, writing, and editing their stories. 

“This was one of the most efficient formats of work for me: when I could see on my own text how to work with the story”, – said Tetiana Klym-Kashuba, a participant from Uzhhorod.

This camp was a part of the Fight for Facts project: a joint project of n-ost, Lviv Media Forum (Lviv) and Institute of Mass Information (Kyiv), that aims at supporting regional media in Ukraine in their fight against fake news and disinformation, and strengthening their professional capacity.