The impact of conflict on media in Ukraine: key advocacy messages
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talking to journalists in Bucha, Kyiv region, April 2022. Credit: President of Ukraine (public domain)
The war in Ukraine is not just fought with tanks and guns – it is also fought with disinformation and propaganda. The spreading of false and misleading narratives online and in the media endangers the lives of the people affected by the conflict, as well as the responses led by humanitarian organisations. It is vital that people affected by the crisis are able to access reliable information that enables them to make life-saving decisions.
CDAC Network stands in solidarity with the Global Forum for Media Development’s Perugia Declaration for Ukraine, a call to increase support for independent media and journalists in Ukraine. As the Perugia Declaration asserts, independent media and journalism are vital as “a powerful antidote to the disinformation and propaganda that characterise hybrid warfare, and as a pillar of democracy upon which other freedoms and rights depend”.
In support of the Perugia Declaration, CDAC Network recommends the following key messages on the impact of the conflict on media in Ukraine.
Free, independent journalism supports and strengthens the resilience of civil society. The ongoing conflict has shown the power of media to help people navigate and validate the ‘information pollution’ that marks this hybrid war; promote factual, quality content; and combat disinformation and propaganda. Local media and quality journalism have been instrumental in letting people know what has really happened during the invasion. The threat of disinformation campaigns is real – particularly where digital and traditional media interact. However, professional media remains the most effective way to debunk false narratives and fight propaganda. Urgent and sustained support for trusted, well-trained channels that offer locally relevant, quality journalism is needed to decrease polarisation.
Financial support is critical to the survival of local media. Conflict destroys the advertising revenue of local media, so support for existing channels is vital to ensure people affected by the conflict have access to the information they need. Funding the protection of journalists is an immediate priority, as is support for specialised training on crisis reporting, including skills for interviewing survivors and coping with psychosocial stress experienced as they report on the war. Local media organisations with experience of reporting on conflict, as well as international media development actors, should be supported to mainstream their guidance and expertise.
Support must be long-term. Media organisations may struggle to maintain funding once the conflict ends and the country rebuilds. It will be more important than ever that they receive reliable support to safely and effectively provide important information and foster dialogue among audiences. This is also important in third countries. Confusion often proliferates as crises become protracted, and local media can help combat compassion fatigue and/or xenophobia among host communities.
Support and establish a role in accountability for media run by affected people. Media channels run by refugees outside Ukraine can, particularly in the social media age, play a key role in accountability. Refugee-led channels present an opportunity for a meaningful collective feedback mechanism, as refugees discuss their experiences with aid and government services and help each other make decisions about whom to trust and how to get the right help. Refugee-led media channels are also most likely to have the linguistic and cultural knowledge and historical context necessary to build trust and engage effectively with their community, so they can be a valuable conduit for sharing important messages, preventing rumours, and getting collective feedback. Additionally, people displaced by conflict are the best equipped to determine their own community’s information needs and priorities, and they will identify challenges and issues that may fly under the radar of host community media and humanitarian actors. If humanitarians listen to them and view them as feedback, the valuable insights provided by refugee media can have a major positive effect on programming.
Media is not humanitarian – but it can enable effective humanitarian responses. Media can rapidly reach millions of people and hard-to-reach areas with life-saving information and two-way communication, in a way that humanitarian responders may struggle to in an emergency context. Media can also expose sensitive issues like sexual abuse and misconduct within a humanitarian response and help boost the sector’s accountability. It is, however, important for humanitarian agencies to understand that media is not humanitarian, nor a communications tool for their agencies. Prioritise meaningful partnerships with the right media agencies and foster a common understanding of the roles of humanitarians and the media.
Understand the full spectrum of channels people trust and use – and who controls them. To engage strategically with media organisations, humanitarians and donors should understand the media and communication landscape – from television broadcasts to social media groups to online personalities with a large following – and understand who uses and trusts which channels. They also must understand who controls those channels and the perspectives that they represent. Donors should ensure support to media consumed by marginalised and minority groups.
