Ukrainian Conference Unites Student Journalists

On April 18-20, students from throughout Ukraine gathered in Zaporizhzhya for a unique opportunity to hone their journalistic skills and network with colleagues. The event, a conference entitled "Student Mass Media in Ukraine: Reality and Perspectives of Development," was organized by Katerina Sirinyok, an alumna of the 2005-06 Eurasian Undergraduate Program (UGRAD). Katerina acquired funding for the project through the ECA Alumni Small Grant program, with additional support from the journalism department of Zaporizhzhya National University, where she is a student.

Attending the conference were 75 young journalists, representing 45 student newspapers from 24 of Ukraine’s 25 oblasts. Sessions addressed such topics as students’ expectations from their own media outlets; professional journalism standards; and the marketing politics of youth mass media. Media experts leading the sessions included Oleg Khomenok, print media advisor for the IREX-administered, USAID-funded U-Media project, Kyryll Zhyvotovskyy, director of the “First Public Studio” in Kyiv; and Mykhaylo Kumok,  general director of the media company “MV – Holding” in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhya oblast (who is also an alumnus of the Ukrainian Media Partnership Program, a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the US Department of State and administered by IREX).

The conference not only provided valuable training sessions on establishing and maintaining content-rich, viable, professional-quality media outlets; it also gave student journalists from around the country their first-ever opportunity to comprehensively connect with their colleagues as a unified network. As conference participant Nataliya Chobanya of Uzhgorod commented, “The main thing I understood here is that we all—Western and Eastern Ukraine—are the solid country. Only together we can overcome all the problems we have. Surely, now student-journalists can work more effectively.”

One of the most talked-about components of the conference was an exhibition of the different newspapers. Victor Kostyuk, vice-dean of the journalism department at the host university stated, “Their [the exhibitors] variety and professionalism persuaded us that Ukrainian student journalism deserves more attention from society—from universities, the state media department, media NGOs, and of course from students themselves.”

While the event was a great success in and of itself, its most valuable impact is probably still to come. Almost all of the participants joined the conference-initiated Ukrainian Association of Student Journalism (UASJ), which aims to further solidify and extend the networking successes of the conference. Before leaving the event, a UASJ working group of 10 students and media professionals was formed and goals were set, including setting up periodic student media competitions, sharing and enhancing experience through conferences and other events; conducting trainings based on the needs of student media; supporting the network of student-journalists with professional-development literature; creating an association website; and publishing an annual student press digest and contest winners’ best articles.