National Union of Journalists of Ukraine launches Ukrainian Media Support Fund

The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine launches the Ukrainian Media Support Fund. It is designed to promote the economic development of media of various scales and directions.

"The economic crisis caused by the war is a significant threat to all media in Ukraine. The union pays a lot of attention to humanitarian issues —helping journalists who, during the war, found themselves in trouble, hardship, were left without a permanent job, and lost their means of livelihood," says Serhiy Tomilenko, head of the NUJU.

To prevent the descent of the Ukrainian media, including those that were economically independent and effective before the war, in April, NUJU proposed to the state to create a media support fund modeled on European countries' analogs, as well as the Ukrainian cultural fund. The state financing of the needs of the media cannot be relied on yet, but the Union expects that the state could contribute to the filling of such a fund from various sources, including through international grants.

At the same time, the Union of Journalists already has a positive experience of attracting funds from foreign donors to support some Ukrainian mass media that have suffered due to the war. Therefore, by launching the Support of Ukrainian Media Fund, the NUJU will spread its own influence on the economic sustainability of Ukrainian media.

"Ukrainian independent mass media developed largely due to advertising revenues before the war. At the same time, the advertising market has now shrunk several times and depends on the course of hostilities. We cannot predict how long and how intensively they will last," media expert Serhii Okhrimenko notes. "At the same time, NUJU cannot limit itself only to resolutions and appeals to the state. It must continue to make efforts to find funds to preserve the industry. Especially since there are many of them on the European and world "donor market."

The participants of the Secretariat of the NUJU meeting supported the idea of ​​creating a fund. They suggested that the fund work not only with foreign but also with Ukrainian donors. The fund will regularly publish information on raising and disbursing funds. It will also have its own grant programs aimed primarily at supporting those media businesses having a stable business model and will become financially independent in the future.

Based on the discussion results, the Secretariat supported the idea of ​​creating a fund, which will be called the Ukrainian Media Support Fund.

"It can become a prototype of what we want to receive from the state," comments Serhii Tomilenko. "Such a fund could start work with small amounts, and as it gains experience, increase its capacity."

Ukrainian media expert Serhii Okhrimenko has been appointed as the head of the new activity direction of the NUJU — the Fund for the Support of Ukrainian Media. The fund works with the consulting support of the Truman company.