Media revival is integral to Ukraine’s rebuilding: Berlin hosts Ukraine Recovery Talks ahead of URC2024

The Recovery Window Network held the event to discuss the revival of Ukrainian media before the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2024) in Berlin.

On June 10, on the eve of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024, the German capital hosted an event dedicated to restoring Ukrainian media and highlighting Ukraine's recovery. The Recovery Window Network team held the meeting at the Serpen Gallery, where participants discussed the media revival as an indispensable part of Ukraine's rebuilding and expressed regret that this topic was not included in the URC program.

Rebecca Garms, Vice President of the European Center for Press and Media Freedom, founded nearly ten years ago in Leipzig, said that since the start of Russia's full-scale war, she initiated a program to support Ukrainian journalists. The center supports independent reporters and sometimes small newsrooms, especially in the Ukrainian territories liberated from Russian occupation.

"So, since 2022, we have been enabling journalists in Ukraine to continue their work because they serve as the eyes and ears for both their country and Europe," Ms. Garms said in her speech.

The vice president expressed hope that, together with other organizations, particularly with independent media associations in Ukraine, the center will be able to understand how to develop existing media support programs to sustain economic development for Ukrainian editorial offices and journalists.

According to Ms. Garms, the challenge remains to ensure that the West takes the voices of Ukrainian journalists seriously and that they are genuinely heard.

"This will matter for Ukraine's recovery, as well as for our participation in the recovery," said Rebecca Garms.

Tanel Tang, Head of the Ukraine Support Group at the European Commission, spoke about the assistance that the EU already provides to Ukrainian media and civil society organizations and the financial support of Ukraine within the Ukraine Facility Program.

He stressed that Ukraine's European integration is only possible with media freedom.

"It's obvious that media freedom is something we will pay special attention to," said Mr. Tang.

Joanna Krawczyk, Deputy Director of the German Marshall Fund, said the Ukraine Recovery Talks event was a special occasion for her. On the eve of the URC, she even skipped another event to visit the meeting about Ukrainian media.

"Unfortunately, media is not included in the URC program, and this event fills that gap," said Ms. Krawczyk.

One of the German Marshall Fund's goals is to advocate for the needs of independent media. Joanna Krawczyk said that the task is to rebuild the Ukrainian media ecosystem. According to her, the donor community also needs to form a shared position in supporting such recovery.

Natalia Pryhornytska, a representative of the Alliance of Ukrainian Organizations, noted in her welcoming speech that the Ukrainian diaspora is ready to build ties with Ukrainian media and advocate for their restoration.

Anastasia Rudenko, coordinator of the Recovery Window Network, presented an initiative involving more than 80 independent media, civil society organizations, and analytical centers.

Thanks to the support of the UK government, the Recovery Window provided support for the creation of content for about 50 media outlets and launched a website aggregator, recovery.win, to showcase recovery stories.

According to Anastasia Rudenko, Ukraine needs a new Marshall Plan to prevent irreversible losses, especially for the humanitarian and journalistic sectors. During the full-scale war in Ukraine, more than 230 media outlets are known to have ceased operation.

Participants in the Recovery Window Network and representatives of its operations team shared their experiences working on recovery stories.

Maryna Smahina, the copy editor of Rubryka Solutions Media, discussed solutions that eased the problematic circumstances of citizens and communities even during the war, such as mobile furniture for bomb shelters or ways of communication with international donors. The publication's journalists tell stories of hope and change; other Ukrainians can replicate these changes in their lives and communities.

Olena Kravchenko, the Anti-Corruption Dimension online media editor-in-chief, explained how their stories help save community budget funding: publicity about unjustified tenders encourages authorities to cancel them. The articles of the media outlet, which works in Ukraine's southern and central regions, encourage local authorities to improve their communication with the communities affected by Russian aggression. They also explain to locals that corruption is something that they can genuinely fight against.

Kateryna Bohynska, a communications officer at the NGO Action Algorithm, talked about numerous organization initiatives from Ukraine's western city of Lutsk that have expanded far beyond its region. These projects often help entrepreneurs and the cultural sector, like a new social café that will soon start operating in the city. The project "Module of Temporariness," a new mobile cultural space and moving exhibition of contemporary art, was already executed in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and is ready to tour other cities and countries.

Pavlo Burdiak, an analyst in Independent Media at the Center for Democracy and Rule of Law (CEDEM), discussed how civil society organizations like his could help media recover.

According to him, NGOs can track the media's current needs, provide them with institutional and other support within their focus areas, and advocate for media interests among international donors and specialized organizations that support the recovery.

Iryna Klachek, the editor-in-chief of 360war, discussed the use of VR technology in combating Russian disinformation. The company's more than 3,000 panoramas vividly show how the Russian forces destroyed Ukraine's civilian infrastructure.

Kateryna Burovova, a machine learning specialist at LetsData, focused on how artificial intelligence can help combat harmful Russian narratives by timely identifying and conveying this information to responsible media. LetsData has developed its algorithm for interacting with the media and other companies, where they receive alerts about the appearance and spread of specific propaganda messages.

Roman Danilenkov, the head of non-media partnerships at Recovery Window, emphasized the combined power of civil society organizations. According to him, the 2013-2014 Ukrainian civil protests, known as Maidan or the Revolution of Dignity, was the first such vivid example of how activists can change the country and put it on the right path to change. He also talked about the experience of the Nakipelo online media, of which he was a co-founder in 2014.

Maryna Klimchuk, Recovery Window's head of media partnerships, cited examples from the network's media partners' experience. Local media have people's trust and can help and promptly provide reliable information. They monitor the authorities' activities and convey the residents' voices to them. They are also the ones who preserve the memory of local soldiers who died in combat.

According to Klimchuk, the future of communities lies precisely with regional media.

Anhelina Tiokhta, a communications manager at Recovery Window, talked about how social media content raises users' awareness about recovery programs and how this process is happening right now in different regions. Ms. Tiokhta also drew attention to how social media content can influence the emotional perception of recovery processes.

Finally, Roman Kifliuk, a representative of International Media Support (IMS) in Ukraine, emphasized the importance of the institution of media for society as a whole and the significant role of journalism in advocating for recovery and accompanying these processes in Ukraine.

The Ukraine Recovery Talks event also had a charity component. All participants and guests could donate to the fundraiser, which collects money for the fast recovery of towns. The contributions will be spent on replacing broken windows in buildings in the front-line city of Kharkiv affected by shelling.

This initiative is handled by the public organization Food for Kharkivans, a Recovery Window partner. The event raised €102 and ₴170 in cash and ₴5,440 and $10.37 through bank transfers. The fundraising is ongoing, and contributions can be made through the link.

The symbol of the Ukraine Recovery Talks event became OSB sheets, the most common material for the initial restoration of windows in Ukrainian homes damaged by explosions.

Recovery Window invites all interested parties to contribute to the restoration of local media by contacting the network team at network@recovery.win 

The Recovery Window Network media event was made possible with the support of the UK government (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office). The team also expresses gratitude to the Serpen'gallery in Berlin, the public organizations of Germany, and the Ukrainian diaspora in Germany for their assistance in holding the Ukraine Recovery Talks event.