The film was directed, filmed and produced by Jeppe Seiding Olsen and Christopher Gregersen and premiered at the World News Media Congress in Copenhagen on 27th May 2024.
In response to the urgent need facing Ukrainian journalists in the time of Russian full-scale invasion in Ukraine media organizations from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and Sweden launched the Ukrainian Media Fund (UMF), an initiative designed to raise funds, provide development support and know how to help local news media companies in Ukraine.
Since March 2022, Ukrainian Media Fund has been focused on supporting operational budgets of few dozens of local media outlets in Ukraine, especially in war zones, equipping hundreds of journalists with protective and communication gear and designing the scenarios of and securing funding for Ukrainian media rebuilt and reconstruction in the aftermath of war.
Since October 2023 Ukrainian Media Fund is operationally led by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF).
financial support for t local media outlets and journalists in Ukraine, especially in war zones
journalists with protective and communication gear
cooperation between Ukrainian and other European media and public advocacy for the reconstruction of Ukrainian media
Ukrainian local media environment with reconstruction recommendations and long-term financing strategies
The UMF was initiated by the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation and leading media organizations in Nordic countries: Bonnier News, Swedish Media Publishers’ Association (Tidningsutgivarna), Association of Danish Media (Danske Medier), Finnish Media Federation (Medialiitto), News Media Finland, and Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association (Mediebedriftenes Landsforening). The UMF has been financially supported by Nordic Founders ever since. In October 2023 the German Marshall Fund of the United States replaced the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation in the role of the managing partner, becoming responsible for the UMF’s operations, finances and partnerships.
The UMF was launched in solidarity with the journalists and photographers reporting every day from the frontlines in Ukraine. Its main goal is to mobilize and provide international support - both financial and material - for local media outlets in Ukraine.
Ukraine has a very vibrant and diversified media landscape that comprises, besides well-established nation-wide media organizations, hundreds of regional and local media outlets across the country. These have long been the informational backbone of their communities, they shape local and regional identities, and they foster citizen participation and oversight at the grassroots level. Since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, local media have been key to fighting disinformation and to mobilizing societal resistance, resilience and solidarity. Their continued operations as well as further development will be critical for the short-term survival and long-term strengthening of democratic Ukraine.
In acknowledgement of this role, and in response to the urgent needs of local and regional Ukrainian media during war time, the UMF was launched in March 2022. Led by the Poland-based Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation, it was it was underwritten and resourced by six major media associations of four Nordic countries. The immediate purpose of UMF was to provide operational funding as well as protective and communication equipment to local media and journalists in war-torn regions of Ukraine. In the long-term, UMF is committed to providing financing and infrastructure to rebuild and digitally transform independent Ukrainian media. Till May 2023, UMF assistance totaled €877 000, while for 2023-2025 it is projected to reach $3.2 million.
UMF pursues a two-fold objective. First, it provides emergency assistance to local Ukrainian media outlets and journalists that are most heavily affected by the Russian war. Second, it serves as a support mechanism for the long-term recovery and development of the Ukrainian local media landscape. This dual objective translates into two programming phases that are dynamically adjusted to the ongoing war and developments in Ukraine. Emergency aid implemented since the beginning of the full-scale invasion focuses on aid responding to immediate needs assessed in close cooperation with Ukrainian media organizations: Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine (AIRPU), National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), Ukrainian Media Business Association (UMBA) and Lviv Media Forum (LMF). Assistance is provided for remote work equipment, protective and first-aid gear, and salaries of journalists working in the war zone.
Long-term support comprises efforts to rebuild the landscape of local Ukrainian media. During this phase, the UMF plans to research on and design reconstruction and transformation of Ukrainian local media outlets scenario and recommendations, advocate for strategic support the reconstruction of local media outlets in selected regions of Ukraine including operational and development funding, consultancy support and capacity building and business development.
We decided to focus on regional and local outlets to ensure that our help goes where other significant media assistance organizations might not get involved. To achieve this goal, we are working together with a number of Ukrainian associations that bring together local and regional media outlets. We are distributing Funds and equipment directly to:
The funds raised by the UMF allowed for the purchase of equipment necessary for journalists working in war zones, as well as financial support for these journalists and local media organizations. Over 200 newsrooms received equipment that allowed them to work despite power outages, where energy supplies and networks were paralyzed by Russian attacks. More than 500 reporters in medium-sized, small, and very small towns received power banks, allowing them to recharge their phones and laptops.
For the past 17 months, the Ukrainian Media Fund (UMF) has delivered substantial aid to Ukrainian journalists and publishers to help them continue to perform their vital mission under extremely challenging conditions caused by the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Founded by several Nordic media associations, Bonnier News, and the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation in March 2022, the UMF is dedicated to directly supporting journalists and publishers in the war zone.
From the UMF’s founding, the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation has ensured the timely delivery of funds and equipment to our Ukrainian partners. As UMF’s work to foster an independent Ukrainian news media ecosystem continues to evolve, beginning in October 2023, the UMF has shifted partnership from the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation to begin a collaboration with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) as the operational partner.
As a leading transatlantic grant-making institution working with extensive experience in Ukraine and throughout the Black Sea region, GMF provides comprehensive support for civil society, democracy activities, independent media, and Euro-Atlantic integration. At GMF, the Ukrainian Media Fund will be led by Joanna Krawczyk, Deputy Managing Director of GMF East.
“Our work to secure and build a free and independent Ukrainian news media is as important as ever and is possible to continue thanks to the generous contributions from Nordic media companies and governments,” notes Mads Brandstrup, CEO of the Danish Media Association. “Therefore, I am happy, and excited that the German Marshall Fund of the United States has agreed to take over as a new partner. At the same time, I want to extend my warm gratitude to the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation for their indispensable work.”
Jarosław Kurski, President of the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation, and 1st Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Gazeta Wyborcza observes, “After 17 months of hard but very needed work, the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation will be transferring responsibility for direct running of the UMF to a larger international organization which, among other things, specializes in providing versatile aid to Ukraine and creating effective development models for that country.”
“GMF believes in the importance of strong, independent media as a fundamental democratic building block,” remarks Heather A. Conley, President of The German Marshall Fund of the United States. “And we believe that Ukraine represents one of the most important building projects in our lifetime. We thank the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation for their valuable work and look forward to this new partnership with UMF. Together, our organizations can more fully support Ukrainian democracy and civil society at this critical moment in history.”
We invite you to read the 2022-2023 report summarizing an over a year effort of the UMF, and a short video about our last transport of in-kind aid Full report
More infoThe International News Media Association (INMA) will support the Ukrainian Media Fund with extensive training for Ukrainian journalists. During the ”Media Innovation Week” in Copenhagen, INMA announced a new partnership with the Ukrainian Media Fund in order to offer corporate memberships to newspapers in Ukraine.INMA First Vice President Gert Ysebaert, CEO of Belgium-based Mediahuis, told the more than 300 delegates from 36 countries in Copenhagen that INMA supports journalism-based local media companies in Ukraine under unprecedented assault by war:
”Journalism is indispensable in a well-functioning society,” Ysebaert said. “It’s critical now more than ever. How can we contribute with the strength of INMA? The first thing we can do, a modest step, is introducing a scholarship for media companies in Ukraine, offering them a free membership with everything that comes with this membership — support, Webinars, master classes. There are very urgent needs — money, helmets, newsprint — but in the long-term, they will also need to build up a viable business model. And that is where we can help. This is where INMA can step in.”
INMA will support newspapers, selected by the Ukrainian Media Fund, with key trainings related to subscriptions, digital advertising, data, product and newsroom innovation.
“The knowledge and resources of INMA will be offered to newspapers in Ukraine for free, as they enter the next phase in our support to local journalists fighting the information war with independent reporting”, Mads Brandstrup, the CEO of Danske Medier, one of the founding organisations of the Ukrainian Media Fund, said in Copenhagen.
The Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom award of the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), has been awarded to Gazeta Wyborcza and the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation in Poland. The award, made during the 2022 World News Media Congress in Zaragoza, Spain recognises “a news organisation that stands as a beacon of independence and as a bulwark against authoritarianism; a paper of record that demonstrates its values daily, across its pages, through support to young journalists, in the promotion of local news, and through work across borders in solidarity with colleagues in need.” The Award to Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation recognises the work within Ukrainian Media Fund coordinating critical financial and technical support to Ukrainian colleagues from across Europe following the Russian invasion
More infoThe German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), the operational partner of UMF, is incorporated with 501(c)3 charitable status in the United States and all donations to GMF are considered deductible to the fullest extent of the law. GMF’s institutional Employer Identification Number (EIN) is 52-0954751.
GMF is enrolled in the Transnational Giving Europe Program and can accordingly facilitate tax-efficient giving for taxpayers in select European countries.
If you have any questions or issues, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Head of UMF Joanna Krawczyk at jkrawczyk[at]gmfus.org, and we will get back to you as soon as we are able.
jkrawczyk[at]gmfus.org
For donations in USD:
ABA number: 055002707
Account number: 101626597
For donations in EUR:
ABA number: No ABA
Account number: 31356EUR
Account holder: The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Bank name: Truist Bank
Bank address: 214 N Tryon St. Charlotte,
SWIFT code: BRBTUS33XXX
Title: Donation for Ukrainian Media Fund
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