... delivering people essential information on events and processes that may influence their lives

This fundamental idea of modern journalism is still a challenge in Ukraine. To this very day many media in the country stay under pressure of their publishers/owners who make journalists and editors come up with unbalanced/biased/fake stories for the owner’s commercial or political profits. As distinct from totalitarian Soviet Union where the government was the one to dictate the media its policy, it is oligarchy that overrides Ukrainian media now. Journalists and editors are fired by owners for refusing to break journalistic ethics and professional standards. Several cases of suspicious staff changes were reported this year. In early April the editor-in-chief of the newspaper I’ve been working for was discharged. He claims the owners got rid of him because he declined to publish invited articles and censor objective stories.

My only shield against publishers trying to influence journalistic work is my own blog where I post all the stories I’ve just written – in their original, author’s edition. This enables me to record the cases of any factual or notional changes made by editors for a newspaper edition and display it to my readers.

... helping people to guide themselves in information flow, assisting them to distinguish what is significant

Living in a “global village” allows us quickly access any information via Internet and mobile phones. This is an advantage for sophisticated audience who is able to go through the abundance of information and find what satisfies their favors most. For inexperienced Internet users, who make up around 92% of the population of Ukraine, more sources and options means more chaos and confusion. For example, my mother (54, local authority press officer) experiences difficulties in distinguishing search engines from news sources on the Web while my grandmother (82, art school teacher) doesn’t understand what Internet is for. Considering this, I try my best to provide my readers information which is easy to read (distinct structure, clear language), but that is profound and comprehensive at the same time. To make audience grasp a story, I come up with detailed background together with opinions and comments of independent experts. On my blog I post links to some sources of information that might be helpful for those seeking further information on issues I cover.

... proving people that mass media are fair, objective and reliable sources of information, inspiring public opinion - impartial and active one

As a weapon of democracy, strong independent media provoke and support high social awareness and active public opinion. Because media are not able to perform this way in Ukraine, people do not trust them and do not recognize journalists as the ones to assert nation’s interests and rights (even my husband, 22, economist, considers that all journalists take bribes and make up stories to satisfy those who pay them). To demolish such stereotypes I just come up with quality stories day after day. I also try to involve my readers in an overt discussion by means of my blog.

... realizing how new communication media bring more opportunities to our life and promoting this idea to others

I’m a regional correspondent. I live in a middle-size city of Ukraine – Sevastopol, 1000 km from the capital, but I work for the editorial offices located in Kiev, Moscow and even in Europe. This is possible by means of Internet and mobile connection. Viva global village!