Donate to WAN-IFRA’s ‘We, the Media’ appeal to support a free press in Ukraine and keep local and regional media alive. Click the donation links below to take you to a secure Stripe payment page (select the amount you would like to donate):
Oksana Brovko, CEO at the Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine (AIRPPU)
Thank you for these 660+ days together! We are strong when we feel your friendly support.
I visited the school of my seven-year-old son, Marko, today. Every day, all the children stop studying at 9 in the morning. Whether it’s a lesson or a break, or they are in a bomb shelter during an air raid, children and teachers pause for a minute to remember those who have died in Ukraine. Afterwards, they always sing the anthem of Ukraine. All of them put their right hands on their hearts and sing. They already know the whole text of it: “We will lay our soul and body for the cherished freedom.”
Some of these children no longer have a home, some of them have a father or mother at the frontline, and some have a parent who died in the war, protecting our homeland.
But we are not tired of fighting. We are not tired of supporting the army. It is not difficult for us to run to bomb shelters during missile or drone attacks, even if it is five times a day. We do not forget to charge our power banks or to buy water and food in case of a blackout.
We do not forget what we are fighting for, what values we are dying for.
It is as difficult for us as it was on February 24th. What separates us from that state is humour, readiness to die at any moment, the awareness that if it is not yet victory, then it is not the end.
Think about our editors and journalists who are now at the frontline. Think about our media that never stop publishing their newspapers close to the occupied regions. Think about our war correspondents who are documenting war crimes.
Support us.
Towards the Victory.
Thank you!
How your donations are used
100% of your contribution to WAN-IFRA’s ‘We, the Media’ fund will be transferred to colleagues in need. If you have specific wishes as to how your donation should be used, please let us know. Otherwise, we will pool resources and continue supporting our Ukrainian associations and their members for as long as funds last.
We invite you to consider two initiatives led by AIRPPU that support colleagues in the regional press across Ukraine.
A long-term anti-corruption reporting project shows a strategic approach to media support
- €1000 a month keeps a newsroom fighting corruption
- €12,000 a year keeps a media organisation focused on holding power to account
Your donation will support the media in reporting on and exposing corruption at the regional and local levels. The belief is simple: Local press should be the watchdogs of the actions of local authorities for the benefit of local people.
This is part of a strategic approach to supporting media in their long-term goal of holding power to account. Your donation will contribute to an ambitious project that seeks funds from a variety of sources to guarantee a programme of support to 22 trusted regional newsrooms that have already been selected and identified.
- Funds are required for training newsrooms on anti-corruption and investigative techniques
- Funds are required for reporting grants to ensure the work gets done and the press continues to play its vital role.
Over the next two years, the goal is to build the capacity of these 22 newsrooms through guidance, training, and financial assistance, empowering them to do the essential anti-corruption reporting work that will ensure Ukrainian media come out of the war equipped to hold power to account as the country rebuilds.
Every two months, selected newsrooms receive €2k towards their anti-corruption reporting work. The project has begun in earnest, with a handful of newsrooms already receiving training from partners who have committed to mentor and guide participating media.
Small grants initiative for regional media for socially impactful content production
- €1000 a month keeps a local newsroom producing stories that matter
The business model for local and regional media is strained at the best of times; during war, it is impossible to maintain ‘business as usual’. While war coverage understandably dominates, many issues and thousands of stories fall by the wayside. There isn’t the staff or the resources to provide the kind of coverage that, during peacetime, would be the lifeblood of local and regional media. Finding the psychological headspace within newsrooms to focus on anything other than victory, survival, and making it through to the next day is unimaginably difficult.
Yet, people crave the news. Desperate to connect with the issues that unite them, make sense of what is happening, and inspire hope for life beyond bullets and bombs, seeing stories emerge from local newsrooms can be a beacon in the darkness. A sign that life continues, that it doesn’t have to always be this way.
The media selected by AIRPPU to receive support for their content production commit to producing at least four social interest stories per-month.
€1000 per-month supports content production at the local and regional level. It ensures journalists are paid, media organisations survive, and stories are told.
It keeps people connected with each other at a time when solidarity is needed most.
Fernando de Yarza, WAN-IFRA President
We come to you again, our loyal members, because still the need is strong and the cause as urgent as ever. Your generosity in recent years in support of a free press, wherever it is threatened, is unprecedented; the solidarity this industry shows in times of crisis remains deeply humbling. WAN-IFRA’s support to Ukrainian colleagues via our ‘We, the Media’ appeal has seen €300,000 of direct assistance – money committed by you – reach local and regional media to ensure a free press continues to function. As this war grinds on, we need to maintain support and therefore I am appealing once again to your generosity and sense of solidarity.
We remain deeply inspired by the courage and determination of our colleagues in Ukraine. After nearly two years of war against a foe that has shown itself an enemy to all who believe in freedom and democratic society, we are humbled by the sacrifices being made by Ukrainian brothers and sisters every day. Continuing to inform and serve their audiences, resisting oppression, and dreaming of better days ahead is a catalyst to all of us. I urge you to consider donating to support the press in Ukraine, and I thank you for your continued commitment to this organisation and the values we all share.
Keep journalism alive – support free, independent media worldwide. Help us to do our work by making a one-off contribution. Together, stronger. Together as one.
Click the donation link to take you to a secure Stripe payment page (select the amount you would like to donate)
You can also make a direct bank transfer to WAN-IFRA:
IBAN: FR 76 3000 4008 1900 0102 3826 261
SWIFT: BNPAFRPPPAA
WAN-IFRA FR: 69 Rue du Chevaleret – FR 75013 Paris
Bank details: BNP Paribas, 16, boulevard des Italiens – FR 75009 Paris
If you have any questions, please email us: pressfreedom@wan-ifra.org