What are the ways to cover conflicts and sensitive topics? Do journalists influence these processes? In Lviv, at a training session for media professionals, mostly from regional publications, we discussed the relationship between hromadas and the media, and the coverage of sensitive topics from the perspective of professional and ethical standards.
Discussions focused on what social cohesion is, the factors that bring about social discord, and how to work with sensitive topics and identify the causes of conflicts. What are our tasks – humanitarian, informational – and how can we avoid hate speech? Should we, for example, give a voice to terrorists or criminals? During brainstorming sessions, journalists identified conflicts, sensitive topics, and their true causes, comparing these findings with those of sociologists. The focus was on conflict-sensitive journalism and its approaches.
Aliona Horova, Director of the NGO “Institute of Peace and Understanding,” trainer:
- Journalists have immense power to shape public discourse. It is undoubtedly easier to unite people against someone. However, this approach works against us because when you create an external enemy, it quickly turns into an internal enemy—those who have left Ukraine, relocated to safer areas, or do not want to return. From conflict resolution practices standpoint, I can say that the focus should be on creating unifying narratives. We should not unite against someone but do something together to win. We are Ukrainians. Journalists are creative and can come up with many practical tools to achieve this, making such unifying narratives more accessible and practical.
Journalists must operate within the legal framework and consider ethical standards when covering social conflicts that arise in hromadas, leading to heated discussions and causing social discord. Therefore, the legal foundations of journalistic work in conditions of social conflict, covering sensitive topics during the war, and recognizing disinformation were the main topics of the last two days of the training. We interviewed a colleague, Oleksandr Hunko, editor of Nova Kakhovka.City, who shared his experience as an internally displaced person. We then discussed whether our questions were professional and justified from legal, professional, and ethical perspectives and how we use the information obtained after watching the interview recording.
During brainstorming sessions, we worked on the concept and approaches to dealing with conflicts and sensitive topics in the context of social cohesion. Equally important was the topic of emotional burnout. We practiced stabilization and self-regulation techniques to help those whose daily routine is built around emotionally challenging topics.
Ivanna Danyuk, Media Center “Pereiaslavshchyna” (Pereiaslav):
- I heard a lot of interesting things, for example, about emotions. I often empathize with my interlocutor and transform this empathy into trust. But we must always remember the facts, the balance of opinion and voices in a story, and the impact the situation may have on other people. This is something I had not thought about. And one more thing: it is very important not to forget about ourselves, which we, journalists, do not do.
Oleksandr Hunko, Nova Kakhovka.City (Nova Kakhovka):
- I really liked the large amount of practical work. We worked with colleagues in groups or pairs, so we had the opportunity to exchange ideas, experiences, and find solutions together.
Marianna Shkavron, Horodok District Television and Radio Press Center (Horodok):
- These three days were very intense and diverse. It’s great that we get out of our “bubbles” and see something new. Journalists are people who should doubt and check facts. So thank you for reminding us. We know this, but sometimes we chase news so much, wanting to make it as quickly as possible, that we forget about such important matters. It was very interesting to talk to a lawyer and a psychologist, learn about conflicts and ways to resolve them, and about social cohesion. Journalists are actually people who can change something, have influence, and to some extent shape public opinion in their community, so a lot depends on us. We should not forget about this.
The training was held as part of the project “Covering Social Cohesion – Improving the Resilience of Media in Ukraine,” developed and implemented by the NGO “Institute of Regional Media and Information” in partnership with UNESCO and supported by the state of Japan. The program is part of UNESCO’s broader efforts to support the safety of journalists and freedom of expression in Ukraine. Our partners in the project are the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NSJU) and the NGO “Promotion of Intercultural Cooperation.”
