The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine is launching the Ukrainian Media Support Fund. It is intended to promote the economic development of media of various scales and orientations. The decision was adopted by the Secretariat of the NUJU at its meeting on July 8.
“The economic crisis caused by the war poses a significant threat to all media in Ukraine. The Union pays considerable attention to humanitarian issues: helping journalists who got in dire situations in the time of war, lost their permanent job, or have no means of existence,” says President of the NUJU Sergiy Tomilenko.
In order to prevent the collapse of Ukrainian media, including those that were economically independent and effective before the war, in April, the NUJU proposed that the government creates a Media Support Fund on the model of similar institutions in European countries, as well as the Ukrainian Cultural Fund. It’s obvious that we cannot rely on public funding for the needs of the media, but the Union expects that the government could facilitate contributions to this Fund from different sources, including international grants.
At the same time, the Union of Journalists already has a positive experience of attracting funds from foreign donors to support certain Ukrainian mass media affected by the war. Therefore, by launching the Ukrainian Media Support Fund, the NUJU will scale up its impact on the economic sustainability of Ukrainian media.
“Ukrainian independent media largely relied on advertising revenues before the war. However, the advertising market has shrunk by several-folds and is dependent on the ongoing combat, which we cannot predict as to its duration and intensity,” the media expert Serhii Okhrimenko notes. “Meanwhile, the NUJU cannot limit itself to resolutions and appeals to the government but should make further efforts to find money and save the industry. Especially that the European and global “donor markets” have the money.”
The attendants of the Secretariat of the NUJU meeting supported the idea of creating the Fund. They proposed that the Fund would work with not only foreign but also Ukrainian donors. The Fund will routinely publish information about the money it attracted and spent. It will also have its own grant programs primarily aimed at supporting media businesses that have a sustainable business model and are expected to become financially independent.
Following the discussion, the Secretariat supported the idea of creating the Fund, which will be named the Ukrainian Media Support Fund.
“It can become a prototype of what we want to obtain from the government,” Sergiy Tomilenko commented. “Such fund can start with lesser amounts of money and gradually increase its capacities, as experience is gained.”
The media expert Serhii Okhrimenko was appointed as the head of the new line of activity of the NUJU, the Ukrainian Media Support Fund.
Contacts of the Fund: fund@nsju.org
The Fund works with the advisory support of the Truman company.
Please be reminded that the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine holds a survey among heads of national media. Its purpose is to show the extent of the economic crisis in mass media caused by the war. The newly established Ukrainian Media Support Fund will work with the survey respondents on a priority basis.
