To mark Journalist’s Day, we’re highlighting current projects and support opportunities from AIRPPU.
On June 6, Ukrainian media professionals celebrate their professional holiday — Journalist’s Day. Amid the war, the work of Ukrainian journalists is in the global spotlight.
This year, the independent Ukrainian press was awarded the Golden Pen of Freedom Award 2025 — a recognition for press freedom that has been presented annually since 1961 by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum (WEF).
The award is a powerful symbol of the resilience and perseverance of Ukrainian journalism under full-scale war. In its announcement, WAN-IFRA emphasized that Ukrainian journalists “have shown unwavering commitment to press freedom during exceptionally dramatic times.”
“Our journalists work under direct threats: newsrooms are shelled, reporters are killed or abducted, infrastructure is destroyed,” said Oksana Brovko, Executive Director of AIRPPU, during her speech at the World Expression Forum held this week in Lillehammer.
“And still, the response from Ukrainian media is astonishing. We see hundreds of local newsrooms that continue to operate after evacuation, the loss of offices or revenue. Journalists investigate war crimes, debunk Russian propaganda, and provide critical information to their communities.”
For over 20 years, the Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine (AIRPPU) has made it its mission to support regional and local media. Our projects focus on professional training, financial aid for local outlets, journalist safety, and international partnerships.
One such initiative — the Rescuing Freedom campaign, which earned AIRPPU the Grand Prix at the INMA Global Media Awards 2025 — started as an emergency response but evolved into much more.
“At first, we were literally rescuing journalists,” recalls Oksana Brovko. “We coordinated funding for evacuations, protective gear, equipment — cameras, laptops, everything that had been lost or left behind under occupation. Later, we shifted focus to sustaining newsroom operations under wartime conditions: remote work, crisis journalism training, financial support…
Eventually, we understood: survival is only the first step. For Ukrainian journalism to withstand this war, it needs more than an emergency response — it needs global recognition, international partnerships, and long-term resilience. That’s when Rescuing Freedom became a global advocacy campaign.
We started telling the world what’s happening — at international conferences, through media partnerships, in meetings with policymakers. We launched training programs in war coverage, digital safety, audience engagement — because wartime journalism is not only about facts, it’s about connection, community, and the power of standing together.”
So today, we’ve compiled and systematized all current AIRPPU projects aimed at supporting and developing regional and local media.
Among our active initiatives launched in recent years: the International Journalists’ Insurance Fund and Innovative Media Ukraine. In 2025, we also launched several major new projects:
- Plan B,
- Media Bridges: Finland–Ukraine,
- Bootcamp: AI in Journalism,
- and Stronger Together: Media and Democracy.
Projects Launched in 2025
Let’s start with Plan B — a project we launched in partnership with our Norwegian colleague, the Amedia Foundation. It’s aimed at providing urgent financial support to media outlets affected by the termination of grant programs from U.S. donors. This short-term emergency assistance project runs for up to five months.
You might remember the situation: without warning, the U.S. suspended — and later shut down — a number of grant initiatives that had supported Ukrainian media. Many outlets were affected, searching for ways to survive — and we responded. It was clear that frontline, regional, and local media were most at risk.
The loss of funding placed these outlets in jeopardy. The advertising market had already contracted significantly since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, and in frontline regions it had collapsed altogether: businesses either shut down or struggled to survive. Newsrooms couldn’t build sustainable business models because urgent war-related challenges took priority.
The lack of funding could — and still can — lead to the mass closure of local outlets, which would drastically reduce or entirely cut off citizens’ access to truthful information. As a professional association, we couldn’t allow that to happen, and our long-time Norwegian partners responded to our call for help. That’s how Plan B was born.
In February, we opened a call for applications with these key goals: to provide immediate financial assistance to the most vulnerable newsrooms; to minimize the negative effects of funding cuts; and to help media adapt and explore new models of resilience.
The project is now in full swing, supporting 50 regional and local print and online outlets across Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Chernihiv, Poltava, Donetsk, and other regions.
Alongside this urgent support, we are also focused on long-term initiatives. One such example is our two-year program “Media Bridges: Finland–Ukraine.” We conceived it back in October 2024 and launched the application process in January. On the Finnish side, the partners include leading media organizations Helsingin Sanomat, Lapin Kansa, and JSN, which — together with News Media Finland — are offering their expertise to help strengthen Ukrainian regional media. On the Ukrainian side, ten regional editorial teams are participating.
In addition to monthly online sessions, the project includes study tours to Helsingin Sanomat (Helsinki) and Lapin Kansa (Lapland), as well as grants for a public awareness campaign on media self-regulation.
As part of the project, Finnish colleagues have already shared practical insights on building audience trust and loyalty; how self-regulation helps avoid fines and legal penalties; how they navigate hate speech, conflicts of interest, and privacy rights; and how they promote media literacy.
Ukrainian participants shared their experiences with drafting and implementing editorial policies and upholding journalistic standards. Within the self-regulation campaign, they addressed issues such as objectivity in media, cyberbullying, and the role of regional media in media education.
We are also developing the direction of responsible AI use in newsrooms through our project “Bootcamp: AI in Journalism.” This webinar series aims to help regional outlets strengthen their skills in using AI tools. We’ve discussed key precautions when applying AI in journalism, and hosted workshops on GPT-based chat platforms (with case studies from both European and Ukrainian editors), as well as video-editing AI tools and more.
And finally, the largest initiative launched this year: Stronger Together: Media and Democracy
This three-year media support program was launched in partnership with the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association (MBL) with backing from Norway’s government. The program has a budget of NOK 70 million and will reach up to 75 regional and local media outlets across Ukraine.
The program features three main components:
- Stronger Together: Gender Equality and Inclusion
Focused on leadership development and career coaching through the Women in News program. - Stronger Together: Financial and Organizational Resilience
Focused on strengthening media through sustainable business model training and long-term institutional grants for local and regional outlets. - Stronger Together: Transparency and Anti-Corruption
Aimed at empowering investigative journalism in the regions through long-term grants and newsroom mentorships.
For instance, within this program, a Ukrainian delegation attended the World News Media Congress in Kraków in early May. Participants came away with global insights, new trends in journalism, and practical ideas they plan to implement in their newsrooms.
It was also there that the Ukrainian press received the Golden Pen of Freedom Award 2025.
Projects Initiated in Previous Years
First and foremost, it is worth mentioning the International Journalists’ Insurance Fund. This project was launched back in 2022 by the Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine in partnership with the Suspilnist Foundation, the Institute of Mass Information, Detector Media, the Center for Democracy and Rule of Law, and the Institute for Regional Press Development.
It provides free insurance for media professionals, as well as security and psychological training, which are essential components of protecting Ukrainian media. Ukrainian fixers, journalists, videographers, editors, and photographers from independent Ukrainian media who are sent on official assignments to combat zones, liberated territories, border areas with Russia and Belarus, frontline territories, and Ukrainian-controlled areas of Russia, and who have protective equipment, can receive insurance.
Priority is given to those who have completed security training and first aid courses. We regularly organize such training. For example, at the end of April, the Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine held a two-day security training where participants learned how to provide first aid in cases of respiratory arrest, stop bleeding, and more, and also received first aid kits equipped with all necessary supplies.
We also respond to urgent problems journalists face in their work by publishing practical advice from psychologists on how journalists can support themselves and others in critical situations, how to communicate effectively with people who are grieving or experiencing loss.
In 2024, the Association partnered with the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) to launch the “Innovative Media of Ukraine” project. This initiative is aimed at financial and mentorship support for business projects of regional editorial offices. Within this program, we have already supported five Ukrainian regional media outlets over the past year: Hryvna from Kherson, Kremenchuk Telegraph from Kremenchuk, Kolo.news from Poltava, Odeske Zhittia from Odesa, and Molodiy Bukovynets from Chernivtsi. Participants shared successful strategies for developing video content in regional media, experiences of monetizing YouTube channels, and maintaining financial independence even during wartime.
Another long-running project is “Women in Media,” launched in 2022, focusing on educational and financial support for women in media and the development of female leadership. This project regularly highlights challenges faced by women media professionals in their work.
Besides projects, we have an excellent platform for professional communication and experience exchange — the Media Congress. This annual event, established in 2011, targets the leadership of regional and local media. It is the only platform in Ukraine for exchanging media experience, discussing trends in the media market, and inspiring participants to launch new projects.
