Freelance journalist Sabra Ayres has covered Ukraine and Russia for twenty years. She is now editorial mentor in the Fondation Hirondelle program to strengthen local media in Eastern Ukraine and their role in social cohesion.
As a journalist, you have been covering Ukraine and Russia since the Orange Revolution in 2004. What has changed in Ukrainians' relationship with the media since the full-scale invasion of their country in February 2022?
Sabra Ayres: Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the Maidan Revolution in 2014 was somewhat of a turning point for Ukrainian media. The revolution forced the ouster of former president Viktor Yanukovych, who was looking at cementing closer ties with Moscow, and ushered in a new wave of investigative journalism in Ukraine. Since then, journalists from media such as Ukrainska Pravda and Slidstvo have exposed some of the biggest corruption scandals in the country. But the fight against corruption continues and is often referred to as the second frontline of the war. When the war started in 2022, Ukrainian media faced a new challenge: self-censorship. The whole country united in the common goal of victory over Russia, although we still saw several major corruption scandals exposed in the Ukrainian press, leading to a handful of resignations in the government, including in the ministry of defense. Now that the war is approaching its third anniversary, self-censorship has faded. People want the media to denounce again corruption and to examine the choices of the government. For example, the subject of mobilization is frequently covered and remains a very controversial issue because Ukraine needs more soldiers to fight, but not everyone agrees how the process has been rolled out.
As a Fondation Hirondelle editorial mentor for various media in Ukraine, what information needs did you identify?
First, let’s clarify what editorial mentor means. It’s part of a project called “Strengthening Media Resilience in Ukraine”, co-headed by Fondation Hirondelle and Ukrainian NGO International Institute for Regional Media and Information (IRMI). The project started in April 2022, as an emergency response to Russia’s full-scale invasion. Then we helped local media close to the frontline to meet the basic information needs of people undergoing a conflict: knowing where to get humanitarian aid, what do to if your family has been displaced, where to plug your mobile phone since there is no more electricity… The project started a second phase in March 2023, in which we support 23 local independent media. Most of them are hyperlocal print and online media from Eastern Ukraine. We also work with some media from the centre and West of the country, where millions of people have relocated after being displaced by the war, and with at least two TV channels. We work with local media because local Ukrainian communities often feel ignored by national media, above all in conflict areas: they come, they report and they leave, while local media remain. That is why they are more trusted. What we do with them is capacity building and financial support, to help journalists produce better stories that will benefit their readers and meet their new information needs.
As a journalist, you have been covering Ukraine and Russia since the Orange Revolution in 2004. What has changed in Ukrainians' relationship with the media since the full-scale invasion of their country in February 2022?
Sabra Ayres: Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the Maidan Revolution in 2014 was somewhat of a turning point for Ukrainian media. The revolution forced the ouster of former president Viktor Yanukovych, who was looking at cementing closer ties with Moscow, and ushered in a new wave of investigative journalism in Ukraine. Since then, journalists from media such as Ukrainska Pravda and Slidstvo have exposed some of the biggest corruption scandals in the country. But the fight against corruption continues and is often referred to as the second frontline of the war. When the war started in 2022, Ukrainian media faced a new challenge: self-censorship. The whole country united in the common goal of victory over Russia, although we still saw several major corruption scandals exposed in the Ukrainian press, leading to a handful of resignations in the government, including in the ministry of defense. Now that the war is approaching its third anniversary, self-censorship has faded. People want the media to denounce again corruption and to examine the choices of the government. For example, the subject of mobilization is frequently covered and remains a very controversial issue because Ukraine needs more soldiers to fight, but not everyone agrees how the process has been rolled out.
As a Fondation Hirondelle editorial mentor for various media in Ukraine, what information needs did you identify?
First, let’s clarify what editorial mentor means. It’s part of a project called “Strengthening Media Resilience in Ukraine”, co-headed by Fondation Hirondelle and Ukrainian NGO International Institute for Regional Media and Information (IRMI). The project started in April 2022, as an emergency response to Russia’s full-scale invasion. Then we helped local media close to the frontline to meet the basic information needs of people undergoing a conflict: knowing where to get humanitarian aid, what do to if your family has been displaced, where to plug your mobile phone since there is no more electricity… The project started a second phase in March 2023, in which we support 23 local independent media. Most of them are hyperlocal print and online media from Eastern Ukraine. We also work with some media from the centre and West of the country, where millions of people have relocated after being displaced by the war, and with at least two TV channels. We work with local media because local Ukrainian communities often feel ignored by national media, above all in conflict areas: they come, they report and they leave, while local media remain. That is why they are more trusted. What we do with them is capacity building and financial support, to help journalists produce better stories that will benefit their readers and meet their new information needs.
How do you identify these new needs?
Early 2024, we commissioned four Ukrainian sociologists to understand the role of local media in promoting social cohesion. They worked during six months with 23 communities with a sample of nearly 2400 respondents. The outcome is a survey that was published in October. Among the results, two elements are striking. First, people want to read positive stories, and not only stories of war. Second, they are more and more concerned with the reconstruction of areas devastated by the Russian invasion, and they want to know where the money goes, how local governments spend their budgets. It seems that the worry for national corruption that followed Maidan Revolution has gone local. For us, these are new guidelines.
This extract is taken from the 14th issue of Mediation, entitled "Adapting to changing information need", which you can find attached up to this article.