When armed conflict broke out in Ukraine’s Donbas in spring 2014, many Donetsk journalists found themselves on the frontline by chance. Some of the city’s editorial offices changed their addresses, while others had to close down their operations entirely. Other editors and journalists have stayed in their profession, but are now bound by the demands made by the new rulers of Donetsk and Luhansk. Since the beginning of the “Russian Spring,” the new authorities’ main rule of thumb has been to suppress independent media. Indeed, there are no local journalists in the Donbas whose fates did not change after April 2014. In order to figure out what’s become of our profession in the region — and to retain our ties — we’ve been holding the Donbas Media Forum for several years now.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Aleksey Matsuka: What is the meaning of journalism in Ukraine today?
Journalists, on top of a building, duck for cover while covering heavy shelling between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian army in the vicinity of Donetsk's International Airport, on Sept. 14, 2014.
