Printed or online? The Ukrainian local media’s experience during the first year of the war

The war has changed the information needs (both in terms of content and technology of access to content) of almost half the population of Ukraine. The authors wanted to find out how local media are surviving during the war: are they continuing to work, what media (print or digital) are they producing, and what support do they need?

From 14 September to 16 October 2022, editors were surveyed using an email database of local media editors and journalists collected by the Ukrainian Media Business Association. All responses to the questions are analysed, summarised and systematised using general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, generalisation, comparison and descriptive and statistical analysis. The correlation analysis method is used to process the data and search for patterns.

Most local media editors surveyed (68, or 94.4%) continued working during the war. 72.2% of respondents said they continue to publish printed newspapers, while 27.8% said they were forced to stop publishing print media after the outbreak of full-scale war and switched exclusively to digital channels — websites and/or social media groups. Most editors (39, or 54.2%) are mono-platform publishers — print only; 33 (45.8%) are multi-platform publishers. Interestingly, ther was no correlation found between the distance of the newsroom’ location from the war line or the border with russia/belarus, and the number of platforms on which the newsroom operates, as well as the preference for electronic over printed ones.

Despite radical changes in the local media audience, most newsrooms have been relocated and are still operating. Editors are making efforts to provide their audiences with information and are looking for financial support to produce print media, especially in areas where there are interruptions in electricity and internet access due to the war. Mostly local media outlets from the occupied territories have switched to the online format.

Keywords: digital transformation, editor, local media, multiplatform media, online media, print media, the impact of war.

doi: 10.32403/0554-4866-2023-2-86-227-239