Editor’s note: The “Rescuing Freedom: The Campaign to Save Ukrainian Regional Journalism” initiative won INMA’s top award, “Best of Show,” at the Global Media Awards on May 21. Read more about the win here.

When the full-scale war in Ukraine began, I knew our independent regional media were in danger. But I didn’t fully grasp how quickly everything would collapse.

Newsrooms were bombed, journalists fled under fire, entire cities were occupied. The war wasn’t just fought on battlefields — it was a war against truth, against information, against the ability of communities to know what was happening around them.

As CEO of the Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine, I had spent years helping regional and local independent newsrooms thrive. But suddenly, our conversations shifted from sustainability and growth to survival. From “how to launch a paywall” to “how to hide personal information of the journalists in occupied Kherson.”

Editors called in the middle of the night, saying, “We can’t print the newspaper. The press is destroyed.” Or, “We are occupied, please help to evacuate!”

One message still haunts me: At 4 a.m., an editor texted, “Sorry, I can’t manage the AI workshop today — a missile just hit the gas station near my house. My kids, my dog, and I are in the car, evacuating to a friend’s house.”

That’s the brutal reality of this war. We had two choices: accept defeat or fight for the survival of regional journalism. And we chose the fight.

A campaign born in crisis

The Rescuing Freedom campaign started as an emergency response but grew into something much bigger.

At first, we were just trying to keep journalists alive — literally.

We organised emergency funding for evacuation, safety gear, technical equipment like cameras, and laptops, as most of them were disrupted or left in occupation. We taught journalists to use a tourniquet, stop bleeding, and save lives. We trained them how to recognise hidden mines, resist psychological pressure, and behave during interrogations.

We focused on helping newsrooms operate under war conditions: remote work support, training on crisis reporting, and financial assistance to keep publications running.

Paper for newsprint was one of the biggest challenges for us. With the full-scale invasion, a big paper crisis started. And we found the paper and delivered that for the newspapers to produce the print media, which were sometimes the sole way to receive the truth.

But soon, we realised survival wasn’t enough. If Ukrainian journalism was going to withstand this war, it needed more than just emergency aid. It needed global recognition, international partnerships, and long-term sustainability.

That’s why Rescuing Freedom turned into a global advocacy campaign.

We started telling the world about what was happening — at international conferences, through media collaborations, and in meetings with policymakers. We also launched training programmes for war reporting, digital security, and audience engagement. Because journalism in war isn’t just about reporting facts; it’s about keeping communities connected, informed, and resilient.

The power of resilience

Despite everything, Ukrainian regional journalists refuse to be silenced. A team in a frontline city kept publishing its newspaper by printing it in another region and delivering copies back home, continued reporting from a refugee shelters, working from laptops in a basement, relying on power generators.

And then, there’s Svitlana.

Some time ago, I unexpectedly received a message from Svitlana, the chief editor of a small print newspaper from the partly occupied Zaporizhzhia region. Her newsroom had been forced to relocate from the frontline. Yet, it still found a way to keep publishing and distributing its newspaper, even under bombardment, with support from the military.

She wrote, “Hi, Oksana! Right now, we do not have electricity. But I am working, because of you.

Thank you! We are stronger together … and being together is not so scary…”

She attached photos of her laptop plugged into a charging station, the only source of power keeping her newsroom running. That charging station was one of many we had secured from the Ukrainian Media Fund in March 2023 and delivered to local media like hers.

This is why we fight. This is why Rescuing Freedom matters.

A global fight

The Rescuing Freedom campaign has shown me that journalism is more than a profession — it’s a lifeline. And saving independent media in Ukraine isn’t just our fight; it’s a fight for press freedom everywhere.

Today, thanks to international support, many regional media outlets are still operating. They’ve adapted, they’ve innovated, and they’ve become stronger. But the war isn’t over. The battle for truth continues.

When people ask me why I keep fighting for regional journalism in Ukraine, my answer is simple: If we lose our journalism, we lose our freedom. That’s not a loss we can afford. 

And being together is not so scary.

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