



The MOJO Lab in Lviv gathered the journalists of ten media outlets – the participants of the “Covering Social Cohesion – Strengthening the Capacity of the Media in Ukraine” project IRMI has been implementing together with Fondation Hirondelle and under financial support of Swiss Solidarity. They have realised the value and used the opportunities the mobile journalism has to offer, and are willing to level up their skills.
This is the first time the training format is being offered: initially, journalists gathered information as part of their training. This involved traveling across Ukraine, meeting with subjects, and mastering topics they chose themselves. Now, they are working on their stories, preparing them for publication/broadcast in their media outlets. The focus is on issues addressed by humanitarian missions in Ukraine. The effective post-production phase will last three days, during which four trainers – Ukrainian (Angelina Soldatenko and Yuriy Vasilyev) and international (Sabra Ayres, the USA,and Luke Chalenko, the UK) – will support the journalists during practical training. We start with discussing the stories and the footage already shot, talking about additional shooting techniques, editing, and the rules for writing voice-over text. We assess the material we have, how to use it most effectively, and what shots are missing and need to be filmed.
Additional city shoots, editing, and voice-over preparation – the last two days have been super-intensive. According to the trainers, the stories produced demonstrate a high professional level, based on the journalists’ interest in MOJO and their willingness to improve their skills.
Yuriy Vasyliev, IRMI trainer:
-MOJO has become a lifesaving mechanism for many editorial offices. Transitioning to a multimedia format and using mobile journalism helps retain audiences and editorial teams. Even newspaper journalists, who previously didn’t have websites, let alone YouTube channels, are now creating great video stories. These techniques are not very complicated and are accessible. They allow for flexibility and mobility. I remember at the beginning of the training, some media professionals said they didn’t see prospects for MOJO in their editorial offices. Now, they are developing mobile journalism – adding videos to newspapers via QR codes, offering links to YouTube channels. They are preparing full-fledged stories that can even be broadcast on television. This latest training format is unusual for both participants and trainers. But we have the opportunity to see the problems journalists face during filming, story structure, and script development, and we can achieve a quality result together. I think this is very useful.
Angelina Soldatenko, IRMI director, trainer:
-New formats and techniques help preserve editorial offices and build new relationships with audiences. Visualization increases trust in content and media, giving print (multimedia) a new chance for development. Trust is becoming a key concept these days: when people live in conditions of danger, it is very important to have those they trust nearby. We have been working with this group of journalists for two years, and some of them did not believe in the possibilities of MOJO at the beginning of the training. And now they are participating in a production training for advanced users! The progress is obvious, and the stories are very worthy.
Luke Chalenko, trainer (UK):
-This is my second time participating in the project. Over the past six months, the technical skills of the journalists and the quality of the videos have changed significantly. Now they can be placed on media platforms and the Internet with confidence – as they are really great. I noticed the confidence level of the participants has increased too: they are ready to interview and film people, think about stories, and choose shooting locations. I think it is very important to have a meaningful story and research it well. However, solid journalistic skills are the foundation of what we do.
Sabra Ayres (USA), project mentor, trainer:
-This is the second MOJO intensive training after two basic ones. Now the difference in video quality is really noticeable. The participants’ technical level has increased significantly, the videos have become more professional, structured, the storylines have got stronger. I think the participants are on the right track.
The training was part of the project “Coverage of Social Cohesion – Strengthening the Capacities of Ukrainian Media”, IRMI has been implementing together with Fondation Hirondelle and financial support of Swiss Solidarity.