The hostilities are becoming commonplace for journalists in eastern Ukraine. Work is going in the liberated cities, as it was a year ago. Some media people claim it is even easier to work now, for there is no pressure from the Party of Regions. Of course, themes are different now – six months ago journalists did not even think that they would be writing every day about battles, shelling, ruined buildings, and the dead. The regional media’s audience has expanded: the Donbas is riveting the attention of foreigners, and the materials of local websites are read all over Ukraine, in Russia and Europe. Besides, as some territories are controlled by “DNR” mercenaries, the regional media’s work pattern is changing: editorial office move, use other print shops, etc. The information vacuum in the occupied cities is on the increase, with rebels trying to control not only television and the print media, but also the Internet.
Some Donbas journalists have told Den about the way they work during a military conflict.
“PEOPLE IN THE EAST MORE AND MORE OFTEN RECEIVE INFORMATION FROM THE INTERNET”
Serhii HARMASH, editor-in-chief, Internet publication OstroV:
“It is difficult to work. Due to the loss of the Donetsk-based sources of funding, we had to resort to staff cuts, but, in spite of the hryvnia’s fall and higher prices, expenditures on salaries have still risen. The last four months have been particularly hard. The situation is improving now thanks to grants from our partners.
“Yet we are not short of the materials published. On the contrary, their number has gone up at the expense of Donbas activists and journalists, who give us information free of charge or write materials on a royalty basis.
“In general, the Donbas war has radically increased the role of nonprofit journalism. Moreover, the latter is rendering serious help to the professional media. For example, the joint efforts of Donbas journalists and active patriotically-minded citizens enabled OstroV to monitor the situation practically in all the electoral districts of Donetsk oblast.
“Another difficulty is guaranteeing security to people on the occupied territories, where they cannot practice journalism legally. There are also reports from Makiivka and Donetsk that some providers are blocking OstroV. ‘The DNR ministry of truth’ demands that a number of websites, including ours, be disconnected.
“However, statistics show that the Donetsk website’s traffic has not gone down. In other words, given a shortage of Ukrainian sources of information, people in the east receive more and more information from the Internet. This pleases us because, by contrast with the ‘zombie box,’ the Internet can create more conditions for one to think over, not just stupidly consume, the information. Our audience also comprises the Donbas residents who left the region but continue to be concerned about its problems, hope to come back, and, hence, show interest in the eastern Ukraine situation.
“A negative tendency is the website’s reduced traffic in the past two months. This applies to all the eastern Internet resources. I put this down to the central government’s baneful policy aimed at demobilizing society. People are tired of the war and gave in to the ‘peaceful’ rhetoric of politicians before the elections. I think it is an extremely dangerous and unfounded trend. Russia still poses a threat, terrorists hold sway in our cities and, as before, are killing our patriots, but society has gone flaccid.
“There are Ukrainian TV channels and the Internet on the Donbas’ free territories now. Judging by the election results, television is the main source of information there. Only Russian channels and rebels’ stations broadcast on the seized territories. Accordingly, they shape the public opinion of the bulk of the population. I think the TV tower and the regional TV and radio company should be the main objects of destruction in Donetsk. They are the sources of the poison being fed to our compatriots, but we are doing nothing to stop this carnage.
“Online publications and social networking sites are the main sources of news for residents of the occupied territories, who seek information from Ukraine. But it is dangerous now because terrorists have set up website monitoring units to search for patriots. They also use networking sites as a disinformation mechanism. As the Ukrainian sites are not to the liking of the ‘DNR,’ the latter will be gradually disconnecting them. When this happens, the seized territories will end up in a full informational vacuum.”
“WE ARE TRYING TO STAY IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH EVERYBODY”
Anna ROMANENKO, editor-in-chief, City Sites network, Mariupol:
“The war has affected the content of our resource in Mariupol. We are shunning the themes which we used to consider interesting. It is irrelevant to write about a road accident, when Talakivka is being shelled and buildings are being ruined.
“Our journalists keep visiting checkpoints and come into contact with the servicemen who are stationed there. Whenever we see an official report from the ATO headquarters, we try to check this information with the guys on the spot, for the information is often wrong. The ATO headquarters makes a lot of geographical mistakes, and very strange things occur sometimes. For example, the National Security and Defense Council Spokesman Andrii Lysenko says that that ‘DNR’ representatives have detained the Pavlopol village head, but we have just spoken to this person on the phone, and he is OK.
“We are trying to stay in direct contact with everybody. The local authorities’ phone number base has been complemented now with contact numbers of the military. We have information sources in Mariupol, the nearby villages, and on the occupied territories – we maintain communication with Novoazovsk, Telmanove, Bezimenne, Shyrokyne, etc.
“In general, we keep working as before. There are only some problems in contacting the city council’s spokespeople. I represent one of the few city media which can be considered independent – no party or enterprise funds us, and we are an exclusively commercial project. It is perhaps for this reason that we have long been in conflict with the City Hall. The latest wave of discontent rose about three months ago after the city had been liberated from the ‘DNR.’ The City Council’s press service is hindering our work: it does not inform us of events, gives no commentaries, etc.
“Our website’s daily reach in Mariupol has dramatically risen this year. While the traffic was about 40 to 50 thousand daily visitors before the beginning of hostilities, now it is a stable 100,000. As Mariupol is now in the highlight, the visitors include residents of the various regions of Ukraine, Russia, and Europe, particularly Sweden. Our resource was accessible until recently to the occupied territories in the east. Our network includes the websites of Donetsk and Luhansk, but the ‘DNR’ decided to block them and the Donetsk editorial office has left the city. Yet I believe people are free to use the Internet on the territories now under the rebels’ control.”
“IT IS OK IN THE LIBERATED CITIES, AND WE HAVE RESUMED THE USUAL WORKSTYLE”
Andrii ROMANENKO, editor, newspaper Novosti Kramatorska:
“We work now the way journalists do throughout Ukraine. It is OK in the liberated cities, and we have resumed the usual style of working with the local authorities, businesses, and NGOs. The only thing is that the subjects in which readers show interest have changed – it is now the plight of the military, the war itself, and reconstruction of the territories after the end of hostilities. Even the eternal question of public utilities has receded to the background.
“It is easier to work now in comparison with 2012, for Kramatorsk was then in the iron grip of the Party of Regions with its puppet courts, police, and prosecution service. Today, everybody is afraid to break the law, and there are no more brazen denials of information. Our editorial board had no problems as far as coverage of the snap parliamentary elections is concerned. We obeyed the law. This is the first time the elections in Kramatorsk were boring because there were no complaints. But they were also very interesting – earlier, a Party of Regions person was just ‘legalized,’ but now several candidates competed, and voters had an opportunity to choose.
“There are no problems with the publication of our newspaper, but there are some changes. All the major Kramatorsk newspapers used to be printed in Donetsk, for its print shops had high-quality equipment. When Donetsk was in fact occupied, we began to use the local print shop. It is a private enterprise run by a good owner, so everything is OK except for a perhaps deteriorated design. All the newspapers in our locality are in this condition. We are searching for a large print shop in Kharkiv and trying to encourage local entrepreneurs to improve the quality of print. We also run a website which has seen a dramatic jump of the traffic. Projects are also being carried out in other fields, with local residents making up the core of the audience.
“On the occupied territories, all the information is being taken from Russian television. There are no Ukrainian newspapers or channels there, and any websites with an overtly pro-Ukrainian attitude are being blocked immediately. In my opinion, nothing will change in that informational field and in the attitudes of the local populace until the Ukrainian government regains authority over the territories now under the ‘DNR’ control. Russian television somehow manages to produce programs that fully zombiefy people.”
