IRMI News

Regional Voices to Welcome Journalists to be Part of Inter-Regional Workshop

Thomson Foundation and The Institute for Regional Media and Information (ІRМІ) welcome regional journalists to participate in a production workshop within the Regional Voices project, which is being implemented with the support from the European Union. The workshop will take place from January 26 to 28 in Sumy. 

The purpose of the mentoring session is to foster cooperation between the journalists of different regions.  During the three-day course the participants from different regions will work together with their colleagues from Sumy at objective and delicate coverage of conflict-related topics. The trainers: Mark Webster (Thomson Foundation) and Vitalii Kokhan (IRMI) are going to cover:

  • new angles to covering large-scale conflicts that have stayed unresolved for a long time;
  • how to interview those suffering PTSD;
  • importance of wording and definitions.

During the workshop the participants will be enabled to put the acquired knowledge into practice during an interview in Regional State Administration, ATO fighters, IDPs and local residents. The stories will be published as co-authored. The participants are welcome to continue the cooperation for side-by-side stories from different regions by using the Regional Voices Network.   

To apply for the workshop, please, fill in the online-form before Tuesday, January, 17. Applications from Sumy, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions are particularly welcome.

The organizers cover accommodation, tickets reimbursement (bus, 2nd class rail travel) and meals.

For more information turn to Regional Voices team, Oleksii Soldatenko at 050 3231430 or at  сontact@regionalvoices.eu

About Trainers

Mark Webster, UK, is a mediatrainer for Thomson Foundation. Mark has a 30-year career in journalism. He worked for newspapers – the Financial Times and the Evening Standard and on TV – for ITN and Channel Five News. Mark covered conflict in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Iraq, Kosovo, Chechnya and Northern Ireland.

Vitalii Kokhan, Ukraine, is a journalist. Vitalii has extensive experience in journalism and public communications, having handled information activity and access for Sumy Regional State Administration. Vitalii is Chief Editor of The Sumshchyna newspaper that has been giving extensive coverage of IDP-related issues.  For over 20 years Vitalii has been UNIAN’s regional correspondent for Sumy. He has experience in organizing training programmes for journalists.

About the Project

Regional Voices: Strengthening Conflict Sensitive Coverage in Ukraine’s Regional Media is an 18 month initiative directed at the development of regional media and decrease of potential areas of communal tensions through balanced and ethical news stories about internally displaced persons (IDPs). The project is funded by the EU. It is implemented by the Media Consortium of five organizations: Thomson Foundation, Institute of Regional Media and Information (IRMI), MEMO 98, Association Spilnyi Prostir (ASP) and The European Journalism Center.

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