362 newsrooms based throughout Ukraine have applied to take part in the sixth screening for the nationwide Map of Recommended Media, run by the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) and Detector Media (DM).
Applications were open from 27 August through to 11 September 2026.
News outlets already featured on the Map automatically make it to the monitoring assessment stage. The largest number of monitoring applications (17) came from Kyiv and Kyiv oblast.
Media outlets will be assessed using the Map of Recommended Media’s updated methodology. The updated version refines the assessment criteria and expands the list of indicators within the “Harmful Content” section.
Once the screening is complete, IMI and DM will post the results of the sixth round and update the Map of Recommended Media on the website.
The Map of Recommended Media project launched in September 2023. 142 Ukrainian media outlets based across Ukraine were added to the Map in the first round; 176 in the second round; 205 in the third round; 253 in the fourth round; and 305 in the fifth round.
Media outlets featured on the Map of Recommended Media may gain extra opportunities within grant programmes, since donors take this status into account during selection.
The Map of Recommended Media is produced with financial support by the European Union.
The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) is a civil society organization specializing in the media, operating since 1996. IMI defends the rights of journalists, studies the media landscape and reports on media-related events, fights propaganda and disinformation, and provides media workers with safety equipment for trips to combat areas (since the start of the Russo–Ukrainian war in 2014).
IMI carries out the only monitoring study of freedom of speech in Ukraine, keeps a list of transparent and responsible online media outlets, and tracks Russia’s media crimes in the war on Ukraine. IMI has representatives in 20 oblasts of Ukraine and runs a network of Media Hubs that provide journalists with unfailing support. IMI’s partners include Reporters Without Borders (RSF); the organization is also a member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX).
