Viktoria Marchenko and Anna Ovcharenko, two reporters covering IDP issues and occupied communities, were unable to join an online press conference by Oleksiy Kharchenko, chair of Luhansk Oblast Military Administration (OMA). They encountered technical issues connecting to the Zoom call and were unable to reach the organisers using the listed phone numbers. The organisers said the problems were caused by bad internet connection, the media professionals reported to Valentyna Troyan, the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) representative in Luhansk oblast.
Viktoria Marchenko, desk head for de-occupied and temporarily occupied territories at Ukrainske Radio, registered for the press conference and sent her question about housing loans for IDPs from Luhansk oblast in advance. However, she was unable to log into the platform.
“I registered for the press conference to get material for a piece on housing loans for IDPs from Luhansk oblast. I submitted my question during registration, but was unable to join because there were too many people in Zoom. Despite that, I was later told a recording of the press conference would be released afterwards. But I still think there should be a direct dialogue between the oblast administration chair and journalists,” Viktoria Marchenko said.
Tochka Skhodu chief editor Anna Ovcharenko also registered for the event. She wanted to learn about the terms of the housing loan programme for her news story, and tried to reach the organisers by phone.
“I filled out the form late, but I did fill it out. I called the numbers listed on Facebook and on the website. One didn’t work, and on the other they told me, ‘You’ve got the wrong number,'” Anna Ovcharenko said.
READ MORE:
What organisers say
Oleksiy Kharchenko’s press conference on resuming applications for the preferential housing loan programme for IDPs from Luhansk oblast was scheduled for 24 September at 3pm. Links to the Zoom livestream were sent to pre-registered users via email for safety reasons.
In comments to IMI, Anna Nikolaienko, a co-organiser of the event and representative of the NGO Siverskyi Donets Crisis Media Centre, explained that access problems had been due to Zoom’s technical limitations and delays in sending out the links amid Russian strikes.
“More than 150 people registered for the event, and all of them received a link to the press conference at the email address listed in the form. It’s true that, because of today’s internet outages caused by Russian attacks, some of those who wanted to join received the message with a certain delay. Zoom, for its part, has a 100-participant limit, so even some of the event’s organisers had to leave the press conference to make room for people wanting to join,” Anna Nikolaienko said.
According to her, both media professionals from Luhansk oblast and citizens living in the region took part in the press conference. The organisers plan to release a recording of the event in the near future.