How Ukrainian Regional Media is Surviving in the Coronacrisis I N T R O D U C T I O N
The COVID-19 pandemic has delivered a serious blow to the world economy. Various countries forecast a GDP contraction of between 5% and 10%. Fields of activities that directly depend on interpersonal contact are the most vulnerable.
Ukraine introduced a strict quarantine after conrming its rst cases. It has maintained it for several months, although has been softening the lockdown gradually. Transport communications between cities and regions have been limited or suspended; public transportation has often been suspended, public events have been cancelled, education institutions have closed, along with most retail shops, cafés, and restaurants. This has helped to limit expansion of the disease, but struck a huge blow to the economy.
The drastic decrease in business revenues and person-to- person contacts has also affected media outlets, which depend on advertising budgets, investments, and distribution infrastructure. Ukrainian regional news services, often facing nancial difculties, have been especially vulnerable in the face of the pandemics and lockdown.
Internews Ukraine has tried to understand how the corona crisis has inuenced the Ukrainian regional media - both the challenges it has brought and how regional media have responded.
1 We recently published a big overview of the Ukrainian regional media landscape, our Ukrainian Regional Media Guide. In this vast publication, we analyzed key trends and described the most popular regional media outlets in each Ukrainian region, as well as key players behind them. The study covers the whole territory of Ukraine, including the temporarily occupied territories.
However, changes in the regional media are constantly taking place. In order to reect them, we are publishing regular thematic overviews.
In the rst of these overviews, we are analyzing how regional media are managing during the quarantine, and how the corona crisis has affected them. We asked 39 journalists, editors, and media managers from various Ukrainian regions to share their experiences and reections with us. You can read the results of this overview „below. The pandemic has dealt a huge blow to the regional media
Respondent from Odesa oblast
2 1. KEY PROBLEMS: suspension of work, dismissal of workers
Every 4th respondent whom we asked said that he/she The newspaper Zamkova Hora from Kyiv Oblast also knows facts of closure or suspension of work of a reduced its circulation. media in their region. Supermarkets and distribution through Ukrposhta The Redaktsia media project was shut down in Odesa (Ukrainian national post ofce) have been the key Oblast; the online Hromadske TV: Cherkasy put its distribution channels of the regional print media. Press website “on pause.” stands have been practically shut down during the quarantine. Regional newspapers had to postpone publishing in print. For example, so did the newspaper Vremia in Luhansk Oblast, Nova kopijka and Tyzhden’ in Kyiv „ Up to 70% of local Oblast, Fermer Prydniprovia in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The same applies to the newspapers Nasha Druzhkivka media’s circulation from Donetsk Oblast, Halytskyi Korespondent and is through subscription Halychyna from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.
Some newspapers that have continued publishing in Respondent from print have tried to adapt to the new realities: they cut the Luhansk oblast circulation, narrowed down the volume of the newspaper or published it less often. For example, Due to quarantine, many regional editorial ofces Persha Miska Hazeta from Kropyvnytskyi is being have shifted temporarily to remote work. This was printed less regularly; the circulation for the latter “was done, for example, at the TV channels UA: Rivne and cut back by a third” after it went back to print. UA: Bukovyna, whose employees tested positive for COVID-19. UA: Bukovyna has since returned to work.
3 Dnipropetrovsk Oblast TV channel Pershyy Miskyy: Kryvyi Rih also began working remotely “due to the epidemiological situation.“ By mid-May, the channel had to suspend all live broadcasts. At the same time, during the quarantine, the TV channel changed ownership several times – from the former member of parliament Konstiantyn Usov to AGROSVIT-KR LLC, „ Since the topic is which is engaged in grain cultivation. extremely painful, More than 30% of our respondents said that they were our colleagues aware of cases of staff reductions in newsrooms. In learn about it only particular, the staff of the Chernivetskyy Promin TV channel in Bukovyna, the city website Mariupol from rumors and 0629.com.ua in Donetsk Oblast, media platform from posts on social “Informatsiina Vinnychchyna”, Lviv newsroom for Lux media like FM radio station were cut. Staff reductions also took place in Volyn, Odesa, Poltava, Kherson, Khmelnytsky, “Goodbye, editorial Ternopil and Chernihiv Oblasts. team, I was cut!“
Respondents noted that sometimes people have been laid off only on paper, but in fact, they continue to work Respondent from and receive informal wages. On the other hand, Poltava oblast journalists from Ivano-Frankivsk and Odesa Oblasts noticed isolated cases of unofcial furlough and salary reductions (up to 50–70%). Employees of some newsrooms were also forced to look for side work for the period of quarantine.
4 2. FINANCING: drastic decreases in advertising; searching for new nancial resources
30 out of 39 respondents say that the media in their regions has suffered serious nancial losses during the „ My advertising pandemic. A majority of them have seen a radical decrease in advertising, as well as the annulment or manager complains delay of partner contracts as key reasons for these that the current losses. It is also related to contracts with authorities: situation is worse public funds initially aimed to support media production were often re-directed to the ght against the than the 2008 crisis: coronavirus. Media owners also cut their investments, I regularly call our according to testimonies from our respondents from partners, but nobody Volynska, Luhanska, Poltavska and Chernivetska Oblasts. wants to place ads
Respondent from „ Poltava oblast Advertising revenues have fallen by 70% on our Our respondents also say that regional media in their TV channel. But now the majority do not have signicant experience in nding advertising is gradually new nancial resources. Despite this, some outlets have coming back started optimizing work processes and budgets. Examples of this include Google advertising, fundraising and grants for content creation, institutional Respondent from development, and monetization. Ivano-Frankivsk oblast 5 There have also been changes in the state funding of media. For example, the Ukrainian government unblocked funding of ATR TV channel, the key Crimean Tatar channel in Ukraine, on May 6th. This has solved the channel’s nancial difculties which arose in early 2020, when the channel almost had to stop broadcasting because of a lack of nancial support from Ukraine’s state budget.
In addition to nancial difculties, the channel has faced security problems in Crimea. On March 11th, Russian “security forces” in occupied Crimea made house-checks of the channel’s anchorman Seytumer Seytumerov and of a number of citizen journalists of the Crimean Solidarity initiative. On May 6th the pressure continued: the prosecutor’s ofce of the Russian occupation authorities indicted ATR owner Lenur Islamov on several charges, including „“public calls to violate Russia’s territorial integrity.” It turns out that media outlets’ budgets can be easily cut by 20%
Respondent from Poltava oblast
6 3. CONTENT: human stories and education
During the quarantine, important changes have taken At the same time, respondents also noted that the rapid place in content production the thematic focus of local growth of audience interest in coronavirus-related topics media. 46% of interviewed journalists and media was short-lived. In order to diversify content, some managers said there was a lack of information to editorial teams focused on stories about people and report. However, almost every respondent reported that storytelling. For instance, a series of documentaries since the beginning of quarantine, coverage of topics called Za Okruzhnoyu (Outside the Ring Road) appeared related to COVID-19 has completely or partially on UA: Kharkiv talking about the lives of people in compensated for the lack of traditional newsworthy different districts of Kharkiv Oblast during quarantine. events. During the quarantine, audiences have been Dom aired a video blog from journalist Oleksiy Matsuka most interested in morbidity rates, the situation in about life in the occupied territories of Donbas. hospitals, volunteer help, and national high school exams. „ Since distance learning was introduced, many regional There was so much TV channels have begun broadcasting video lessons. information about This has not been limited to the local branches of Suspilne, Ukraine’s public broadcaster. The TV channel coronavirus that Tsentralnyi (Central) in Poltava and the TV channel Kyiv people got tired of also lmed video lessons in cooperation with their local it faster than they education departments and teachers. Schoolchildren in the temporarily occupied territories of Donbass and did from the war Crimea were also able to watch these educational programs on the Dom TV channel. Respondent from Chernihiv oblast
7 During the quarantine, dozens of regional TV channels acted in solidarity with each other by sharing their content on Media Change Ukraine. This platform was especially helpful for media outlets which had stopped producing their own content during the quarantine. In May, for instance, the UA: Ternopil suspended its Fainyi Ranok (Superb Morning) show. The show was revived in the format of edited videos later, but the editorial ofce stopped „operations again in June. From the second half of March to the end of May, our TV channel stopped producing all shows except informational ones. However, we still broadcast news and do evening broadcasts live every day
Respondent from Ivano-Frankivsk oblast
8 4. INTEREST: demand for local information
Most respondents (66%) say that audience interest in Media experts told us that the uneasy situation in the regional media has grown during the quarantine. regions has motivated local journalists to more During the stricter lockdown phase, people mostly thoroughly check the information they share. For stayed at home and therefore had more time to instance, in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast several media consume media. Regional outlets have been the main jointly launched the Inform-Shcheplennya (Inform- source of local information about the epidemic. Hence, Vaccine) project aimed at delivering reliable information „regional media audiences grew. about the„ COVID-19 pandemic. People have become People have started interested in very trusting us more, as we practical things: when will have been providing hair salons open, when them with local will commuter trains run information. People are again, which documents also able to call us or need to be prepared write to us easily. We for a child to go to have received positive kindergarten etc feedback
Respondent from Respondent from Poltava oblast Ivano-Frankivsk oblast 9 5. ADAPTATION: searching for opportunities in crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic and the quarantine have also These months have shown that in most cases, editorial proven to be an opportunity for journalists to improve staff can work remotely. Working from home has shown their work. Our respondents told us about newly- to be a “very successful” and “effective” way through the acquired experience and resilience. situation. It has helped the staff of some outlets to save money and time, particularly when it comes to commuting. The use of digital platforms for work and „ communication contributed to this, as well. The pandemic has provided a boost for creativity and „ We have optimized „ innovation for our own our content, cut our survival protocols in a expenditures, as well crisis as changed KPIs for our editorial team Respondent from Zakarpattya oblast Respondent from Donetsk oblast
10 Working from home has helped journalists to start sharing their work with colleagues more actively, as well as contributed to greater media transparency, primarily internal (corporate) transparency. Editors started to share newspaper layouts, outreach indexes and nancial issues with their entire staff. As a result, editorial teams are actively involved in the analysis of their own content.
Issues related to employees’ safety and health have seen some adaptation, too. Some respondents report that editorial ofces are constantly being disinfected and ventilated, and that hygiene products and special equipment pads are being purchased. Outlets with big editorial teams have divided their staff into two groups, which then take turns working from the ofce and from home.
A large share of interviewed journalists attended professional online training and conferences. However, some of them felt that online communication could not fully replace the in-person form.
„ We started using Trello and Google Docs, as well as organizing weekly online meetings on Zoom. After these and other online tools were introduced, our team started working more effectively
Respondent from Kherson oblast 11 6. SOCIAL MEDIA: the alternative to traditional media
For the rst time last year, social media became the “Coronavirus-related fakes” were identied by, among “main” source for information for Ukrainians. others, journalists of Volyn, Kherson, Lviv, Poltava, Chernivtsi, Donetsk, Rivne and Kyiv Oblasts. The The pandemic has heightened this trend, according to furious reaction of the residents of Novi Sanzhary to the respondents of our survey. During the quarantine the arrival of Ukrainians evacuated from China was population has become more active on social media, triggered by a local blogger’s post, experts from Poltava while media outlets have opted to create their own Oblast say. In Vinnytsia, some websites disseminated an social media accounts. Groups on Facebook and Viber Instagram video which showed people in protective suits have developed, as well. Telegram-channels – some allegedly disinfecting the apartment of a woman who specically media-focused or anonymous, but mainly had been hospitalized because of COVID-19. political ones – have been gaining popularity in some oblasts, in particular in Kharkiv, Volyn and Chernivtsi Oblasts. „ Some media outlets and regional press clubs, in Many groups focused particular those in Lviv and Kharkiv, are actively on positive news, streaming on different online platforms. In some oblasts, local bloggers have become very active in order to boost which was much their subscriber counts. missed during strict quarantine restrictions However, the respondents also report the spread of false and controversial information in regional online communities and among bloggers. Respondent from Kherson oblast
12 7. POLITICS: awaiting local elections
According to some respondents, the COVID-19 Respondents from other regions, including Chernihiv, pandemic has also become a cause for “information Ternopil, and Poltava Oblasts, noted that local conicts“ in the regions. Local politicians and public politicians used the topic of the pandemic for self- ofcials are among the most important participants in promotion. They, rather than relevant ofcials or such processes. At the end of May, there was a scandal doctors, often acted as “major“ newsmakers and in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast concerning a regional publicly provided material support to hospitals. On the laboratory which processes tests for COVID-19. The other hand, a respondent from Kherson Oblast assures regional council red its director allegedly for distorting that during the “strict“ quarantine there were almost no test results. Instead, the red man himself argued that information “intrusions“ due to the ban on mayors to the real reason for his dismissal was the desire of the comment on COVID-19 in the media. Only the head of regional authorities to hide some information about the Kherson Regional State Administration, his deputies, and COVID-19 pandemics. the chief doctor were permitted to do this.
Respondents also point out the problems with the In general, during the quarantine, Ukraine’s regional communication of coronavirus information among media have been one of the main intermediaries in regional authorities. A media manager from Ivano- communication between local authorities and the public. Frankivsk Oblast noted “uncoordinated actions between After a partial “summer lull“, respondents predict, this the city and regional authorities: the gures they practice will intensify during this year's local elections. announced at daily briengs sometimes differed.“ A They note that for many regional media, their main survey respondent from Lviv Oblast drew attention to source of funding will shift towards paid cooperation the incomplete information about the pandemic with individual local politicians and authorities. This provided by Lviv authorities, and a respondent from involves formal contracts between campaigns and Volyn Oblast pointed at lack of efciency in providing newsrooms dictating their coverage of politicians’ data on the epidemiological situation in the region by activity, as well covert political agitation. ofcial institutions.
13 Both the popular media (which have suffered from nancial losses due to the quarantine) and little-known outlets (which are active only during the election process) will be partly engaged in this process.
Media resources with the potential to serve as electoral agitprop are already being founded. For example, the newspaper Vilna Dumka, funded by the Fakel political party, has appeared in Kyiv Oblast, according to our respondent. In Chernihiv Oblast, a press center was created on the basis of the newspaper Desnyanskaya Pravda. To “congratulate [their] long-term partners with a new stage of creative activity,“ the opening ceremony was attended by the mayor of Chernihiv, as well as the chairman of the Chernihiv Regional Council and a member of this council. All together, they became members of the Ridnyy Dim political party, the creation of which was covered at great length in the newspaper that founded the press center. Respondents from Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad and Luhansk „Oblasts also reported similar occurrences in their regions. Several new junk media outlets and Facebook groups that are already preparing for the local election have appeared in our region
Respondent from Vinnytsia oblast 14 C O N C L U S I O N
REGIONAL OUTLETS NEED SUPPORT
We hope our analysis makes it clear that regional media in Ukraine needs support. They were going through rough times before the coronavirus outbreak, but now their condition has become especially dire.
Nevertheless, many media outlets have shown an ability to adapt to the challenging times and have demonstrated their commitment to journalistic standards. They have proved their importance during turbulent, trying times, as when the situation changes rapidly, the people more often pay attention to the regional media.
Hence, our conclusion is quite simple – despite the hard times, there are a lot of positive and encouraging trends. Regional media are not just in need of support, but deserving of it, as well.
15 You can order our big report Ukrainian Regional Media Guide 2020
The document provides an overview of more than 400 regional media outlets in all 24 oblasts of Ukraine, as well as temporarily occupied territories
FOR FURTHER DETAILS Nadiia Ushchapivska media coordinator [email protected]