Currently, every third news item in the regional media is about the war – IMI survey

Every third news item in the news feeds of online media throughout Ukraine is related to the full-scale russian invasion of our country. News of crimes or extraordinary events rak second in terms of popularity and make up approximately 20% of news content.

These are the results of the survey conducted by NGO Institute of Mass Information this August in Ukraine's 23 oblasts.*

According to the monitoring data, 30% of the content in the regional online media's news feeds are about the hostilities on the territory of Ukraine. The online media of Donetsk and Chernihiv oblasts posted the most of such news (52% and 50% of the total news amount respectively). In Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Volyn and Luhansk media, such news made up 45, 44, 44 and 43%, respectively. The fewest news about the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine were recorded in Kropyvnytsky, Cherkasy (13% of the total news amount each) and Khmelnytsky (9% of news).

At the same time, a fairly high percentage of police news was recorded in the regional online media's news feeds. They amounted to 20% of the total number of all analyzed publications. The biggest number of news about crime and emergencies was recorded in Uzhhorod and Khmelnytsky media – 39% and 37% of the total amount of news, respectively. The online media of Kherson, Luhansk (6% of news each) and Donetsk (4% of the total news amount) posted the least amount of news about crime and emergencies.

According to the results of the survey, 11% of the content was related to social topics. Another 7% are the war's effect on the society: the water supply, the electricity, the gas, the infrastructure destruction, the evacuation of locals, etc. It is worth noting that all other topics in the news feeds of regional media had a rather small percentage. Only 5% of the surveyed content were about volunteering and activism. The same amount, 5%, were related to economics and business. Covid-19 occupied no more than 4% of the content. The regional online media published almost no political news: only 3% of those were recorded during the survey. Usually, most of them were news about the Ukrainian government's decisions which have to do with the war in one way or another, or the international community's support for Ukraine. Part of such news was covering local/regional politics. The percentage of culture related topics was traditionally small: such news amounted to no more than 3% of the total number of publications. Sports news accounted for 2% of the total amount of news. 1% were related to environmental issues: usually these were news about the water quality or information about the radiation levels. Only 1% of news were about human rights. Most of such news were recorded in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk: most of them were covering the illegal pseudo-referendums, abduction/torture of people, and other human rights violations. Another 5% of the news fell into the "other" category: these were mainly entertainment content, tips / recipes, weather, etc. In general, according to monitoring data, the topics of war, crime, social affairs and the war's effects on daily life amounted to 69% of the total number of publications in the regional online media's news feeds. All other topics, added together, only accounted for 31% of the news.

*The study took place from August 8 to 12, 2022; during this period, 13,985 news items in 115 regional online media of Ukraine's 23 oblasts (Volyn, Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Donetsk (unoccupied part), Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Luhansk (unoccupied part), Kropyvnytsky, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Uzhhorod, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, Chernihiv, Kyiv) were analyzed. The monitoring included the content from the news feeds of the online media outlets.

The monitoring methodology included analyzing the thematic composition of the media, in particular the following areas of topics: war (hostilities, victims, occupation / liberation, POWs, etc.), social consequences of the war (water supply, electricity, infrastructure, evacuation, etc.), volunteering / activism, politics, economy / business, crime / emergencies, ecology, social issues, culture, sports, human rights, health / Covid-19, other.

The monitoring sample included the following mass media:

Vinnytsia (20 Khvylyn.Vinnytsia, Vinnytsia.Info, Vezha, Channel 33, SCE VITA); Volyn (NA Volynski Novyny, VolynPost, Volyn24, Rayon.in.ua, NA Konkurent); Dnipro (Dnepr Operativny (dnepr.express), Dneprovskaya Panorama (dnpr.com.ua), Informator (dp.informator.ua), gorod.dp.ua, 056.ua); Donetsk (0629, Karachun, Mariupol City, Novyny Donbasu, Vostochny Variant); Zhytomyr (Zhytomyr.info, Times.zt, 20 Khvylyn.Zhytomyr, Pershy Zhytomyrsky, 0412); Zaporizhzhia (061.ua – Zaporizhzhia's city website, Pershy Zaporizky, Akcent, iz.com.ua, ZaBor); Ivano-Frankivsk (Halka, Kurs, Firtka, Vikna, Halytsky Korrespondent); Kropyvnytsky (Hrechka, Bez Kupyur, Tochka Dostupu, CBN, Dozor); Luhansk (Realna Hazeta, Trybun, Zmist, Svatove.city and informator.media); Lviv (Zakhid.net, Vholos, Tvoye Misto, Dyvys.Info, Gal-info); Mykolaiv (Prestupnosti.NET, Novosti-N, Suspilne Mykolaiv, 0512, Svidok.info); Odesa (Dumska, Odesa.Online, 048, Odeske Zhyttia, USI); Poltava (IP Poltavshchyna, Kolo, Zmist, Poltavska Khvylia, PTV UA); Rivne (Rivne Vechirne, Radio Trek, Rivne media, Rivne 1, OHO), Sumy (0542.ua, Vsi Sumy, The Sumy Post, Sumsky Debaty, Dankor online); Ternopil (0352, RIA/20 Khvylyn, Halas, Nomer 1, Terminovo); Uzhgorod (Zakarpattia Online, Mukachevo.net, Zaholovok, pmg.ua, Holos Karpat); Kharkiv (SQ, 057.ua, KharkivToday, newsroom.kh.ua, Media Group Objektyv); Kherson (Kherson online, Tipichny Kherson, Vhoru, Suspilne Kherson, Kavun.city); Khmelnytsky (Nezalezhny Hromadsky Portal, Ye website, vsim.ua, Podillia News, KhM-INSIDE); Cherkasy (18000, Procherk, Provse, Zmi.ck.ua, Vycherpno); Chernivtsi (BookInifo, Molody Bukovynets, ACC, Pohlyad, Chernivetsky Promin); Chernihiv (Horod.CN, Chas Chernihivsky, Vysoky Val, Svoboda.fm, CheLine).