IMI’s regional journalist hub Mediabaza Zaporizhzhia has become a temporary headquarters for the Suspilne Zaporizhzhia editing team. Due to constant shelling near their office, the broadcaster’s staff asked to temporarily relocate some of their resources to the Mediabaza. Part of the team has been working from the hub for nearly a month now, they told Natalia Vyhovska, the Institute of Mass Information’s regional representative.
Suspilne Zaporizhzhia’s chief editor Alyona Natalukha said that intensified shelling has prompted the team to switch to a hybrid work format: some journalists work remotely, and the staff uses the Mediabaza Zaporizhzhia for tasks requiring teamwork.
“Due to the intensified shelling near Suspilne’s office, we have switched to a hybrid working mode. A lot of people work remotely, but it’s important for us to get together every now and then: to discuss plans, work out story ideas, film show episodes and stand-ups, or just to talk things over. We reached out to the Institute of Mass Information’s journalist hub with this request and were given a safe space to work in,” Alyona Natalukha said.
Suspilne’s journalists have been working at Mediabaza Zaporizhzhia every day since early July. Camerawoman Anna Lohvinenko says that the hub has provided the team not just with a workspace but also with an opportunity to work close to a bomb shelter.
“Mediabaza Zaporizhzhia has given us not just a room, but some of its warmth, care, and sense of safety too. And most importantly, there’s a bomb shelter nearby, which is especially important these days,” Lohvinenko said.
Correspondent Anastasiya Potapenko thanked IMI for the opportunity to work in a safer location.
“Thank you to IMI for sheltering us. And for creating such an atmosphere here, one that really puts you in the right frame of mind for work,” she shared, describing her impressions from working at the Mediabaza.
Special correspondent Karyna Halunova said that working at the Mediabaza allowed her to perform editorial tasks and stay in touch with her colleagues with much greater peace of mind.
Russian troops attacked central Zaporizhzhia with missiles and drones on 26 June. One of the drones hit the courtyard of the Suspilne Zaporizhzhia branch. The staff who were in the building were in a bomb shelter at the moment of the strike, so no one was injured. The Suspilne Zaporizhzhia office was also damaged in a Russian shelling strike late on 13 May. There were no casualties and no one was injured: all staff had left the premises and took cover by the time of the strike. The attack damaged the windows in the buildings and television broadcasting was temporarily off due to damage to the television tower.
