IMI director outlines two ways for donors to support the regional media
Survival and development of the regional media are two areas where donors should allocate resources to support these media in Ukraine, said Oksana Romaniuk, the director of the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), at the conference "DisOut: Pushing manipulation out of the information space" on October 25 in Kyiv, reports the IMI correspondent who attended the conference.
"Two areas: survival and development. I see that donors often focus on just one area. Last week, I heard several times that 'the media need institutional funding and nothing else,' but no, we need to fight Russian disinformation, to develop and adapting the law, self-regulation, etc. That's why we also need development," said Oksana Romaniuk.
Where donors should donate when it comes to the regional media's survival
Donors should allocate resources to mini-grants for high-quality media outlets, providing media offices with energy equipment to work during blackouts caused by Russian strikes on energy infrastructure, said the IMI director. For instance, 39% of regional newsrooms surveyed by the IMI reported a need for technical equipment to ensure continuted operation.
"Maybe 60% of our newsrooms have the necessary energy equipment. We conducted a survey on this issue recently and were, unfortunately, quite unpleasantly surprised," noted Oksana Romaniuk.
Where donors should donate when it comes to development
Promoting the development of the media means funding programs for the regional media which include training, strategy planning, partnerships with state bodies for various pro-European work, etc., explained the IMI director.
Oksana Romaniuk also said that he most urgent threats to the Ukrainian media field include the decline of trust in traditional media, the use of AI to produce and distribute (deep)fakes, the authorities' doubts when it comes to regulating social media platforms most often used to spread Russian disinformation, and the polarization of society and distrust of institutions, fueled by the discrepancy between the news picture on the United Telethon and other resources.
For reference: the conference "DisOut: Pushing manipulation out of the information space" was organized by the NGO Internews Ukraine with the support of the Government of Canada.
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