Support to Safety of Journalists, Media, and of Access to Information, including communication strategy for Prosecutor General’s Office in Ukraine

Back With the support of the Council of Europe. How the "Information Press Center" covers the situation in the temporarily occupied territories of southern Ukraine

Journalists from the Kherson region while working in the liberated villages, October 12, 2022. The village of Osokorivka, Berislav district, Kherson region. Ivan Antipenko ("Grunt"), Oleg Baturin (CJR), Petro Kobernyk (CJR / IPC-Kherson), Serhiy Nikitenko ("MOST").

The Council of Europe provided the grant to the non-governmental organization "Information Press Center" (IPC), the co-founder of the online information agency "Center for Journalistic Investigations".

The grant was provided within the Council of Europe Immediate Actions Package/ Project “Support to Safety of Journalists, Media, and of Access to Information”. The funds are aimed at the implementation of the Action “Covering situation on the newly occupied territories of southern regions of Ukraine” that was launched due the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine in February 2022. The activities envisaged by the Action will include:

production of high-quality multimedia content about events on the temporary occupied territories of southern regions of Ukraine and the course of the armed conflict (news, interviews, reports, videos, daily reviews of events, journalistic investigations, analytical articles etc);
interaction with the Ukrainian authorities: organization and holding of online conferences with the heads of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regional administrations, law enforcement agencies to inform the population about topics of public interests; transfer of investigative materials to law enforcement and government agencies for appropriate response;
translation and distribution of materials into English;
distribution of the produced content on the media resources of the CSO “Information Press Center”, including social media.

The Action has the following objectives:

to ensure the comprehensive coverage of events and the course of the armed conflict on the temporary occupied territories of Kherson, Mykolayiv, Zaporizhzhia regions through production of qualitative multimedia and investigative content, including dissemination of information in English;
to raise awareness of the local and general audience about the events on the temporary occupied territories of southern regions of Ukraine and the consequences of the armed conflict;
to support professional activities of displaced journalists from the temporary occupied territories of Ukraine;
to expose war crimes, collaboration crimes and gross human rights violations through production of journalistic investigations;
to provide investigation materials to the Ukrainian authorities;
to improve the communication between the representatives of the Ukrainian authorities and the audience from the temporarily occupied territories to overcome the consequences of the conflict.

"Thanks to the implementation of the Action “Covering situation on the newly occupied territories of southern regions of Ukraine” with the support of the Council of Europe, the NGO "Information Press Center" strengthened its ability to cover events related to the armed conflict, in particular, in the new temporarily occupied territories of the south of Ukraine. IPC preserved the informal network of freelance journalists formed at the beginning of May 2022, who previously worked in various mass media in the temporarily occupied territories of southern Ukraine (6 persons), and thanks to the project, remained in the profession and continue to create unique materials.

The materials created thanks to the support of the Council of Europe are in demand by the readership and improve their awareness of events in the new temporarily occupied territories," Oksana Vynnychuk, projects’ manager of the "Information Press" center" comments.

As she said, in September the team of the "Information Press Center" actively identified collaborators in the new temporarily occupied territories of the south and published 14 materials, which reached an audience of 96,300 readers, informing readers about the identified persons suspected of collaborationism in the new temporarily occupied territories of the south - 14 materials, the audience reached was 96,300 readers; about problems with start of the new academic year in the new temporarily occupied territories (4 materials, reached audience – 13,600 readers). According to the results of a business trip to the liberated territories of Kherson Oblast, journalist Oleg Baturyn, who was evacuated from Kakhovka, prepared an article about the residents of Visokopillia (reach – 4,300 readers). The material about the Russian commandant of two communities of Beryslav Region – Suren Mkrtchyan reached an audience of 17,400 readers, about collaborators from among Kherson cultural workers – 16,800 readers, about problems with the payment of teachers from Mylove – 11,700 readers.

All materials created as part of the grant are available for viewing on the website www.investigator.org.ua. You can find it by searching for the phrase "with the support of the Council of Europe".

Additional information: "Information Press Center" is a member of the Global Investigative Journalists Network (GIJN). The organization is non-profit and non-party and is financed by donations and grants from international donors.

"Information Press Center'' is a co-founder (with the NGO "Crimean Center of Investigative Journalism") of the information agency "Center for Journalistic Investigations", which consists of the portal "Center for Journalistic Investigations", the TV program "National Security Issues" (broadcast by “Chornomorska”), web-site "Bureau of Court Information " and media centers in Kherson and Genichesk. The editorial office of the IA “Center for Journalistic Investigations” is temporarily located in Kyiv until the de-occupation of Crimea.

The Project “Support to Safety of Journalists, Media, and of Access to Information”, including communication strategy for the Prosecutor General’s Office in Ukraine is being implemented under Adjusted Priority Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2022. It aims to support the Ukrainian media community in addressing current needs and consequences of the Russian aggression and war in Ukraine.

Follow the news of the Project on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoEUPSIS/.

Read more about the grantees of the Project:

KYIV, UKRAINE 4 NOVEMBER 2022

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WHAT IS THE PROJECT ABOUT?

The Project “Support to Safety of Journalists, Media, and of Access to Information, including communication strategy for Prosecutor General’s Office in Ukraine” aims to support the Ukrainian media community in addressing current needs and consequences of the Russian aggression and war in Ukraine. It is implemented in the framework of Priority adjustment to the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2022.

The Project is built around four main measures:

Measure 1. Support the Ukrainian Audiovisual Regulator and National Public Broadcasting Company in enabling their capacities to function under the new circumstances;

Measure 2. Providing a HQ Hub for Media Support, Safety and Prevention of Information Disorder through information sharing/connecting to Council of Europe Platform for Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists alerts;

Measure 3. Support to the Ukrainian media and journalists’ organisations in informing public on war reporting while internally displaced or refugeed; and

Measure 4. Support the Prosecutor General’s Office on strategic communication (internal/external communications) to address newly emerging needs.

BUDGET AND TIMEFRAME OF THE PROJECT

The total budget of the Project amounts to EUR 390 000.

The Project is implemented by 31 December 2022.

PROJECT’S EXPECTED RESULTS

Enabled grants aimed at improving working conditions and governing systems during the times of war;
Provided standard advising on audiovisual regulating and broadcasting during times of war;
Reenforced capacity of media professionals during times of war;
Provided standard based advising and policy information on freedom of expression and Safety of Journalists in times of armed conflicts;
Enabled grants aimed at strengthening capacities to report and visibility;
Provided training and capacity building on war reporting and its consequences;
Provided information and tools on legal, social, and medical protection of Journalists;
Provided policy and technical advice on Strategic Communication to the Prosecutor General’s Office (OPG) of Ukraine;
Built capacity and made available tools on custom made communication for OPG and media actors/journalists.

PROJECT’S PARTNERS

The key partners of the Project are JSC “Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine” (UA:PBC), National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine, Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Parliamentary Committees on Humanitarian and Information Policy and on the Freedom of Speech, Prosecutor General’s Office in Ukraine, civil society organisations working in the sphere of media, relevant professional associations etc.