+ Fundraising and Crowdfunding for Media and Journalists in Ukraine
This page contains requests for financial and logistical support and donations for the media community in Ukraine. The page is updated regularly.
GFMD has collated these initiatives as part of our information sharing effort to support media and journalists in Ukraine and the region. Please check any site that you choose to donate to for authenticity.
For specific information about fundraising and crowdfunding for media and journalists in Ukraine in Ukrainian see FUNDRAISING AND CROWDFUNDING FOR MEDIA AND JOURNALISTS IN UKRAINE- UKRAINIAN (Збір коштів та краудфандинг для медіа та журналістів в Україні)
David Tvrdon, news product manager and podcast producer at SME.sk, has written an article for European magazine The Fix, offering 5 steps to how "other news outlets can help Ukrainian media to continue bringing independent reporting and news from the first line as Russian media and various alternative “news” sites funded mainly by Russia are spreading propaganda and fake news."
The Keep Ukraine's media going campaign aims to enable independent media to continue to cover the war from neighbouring countries. Funds are being earmarked to help journalists relocate operations from Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in peril to Warsaw, Vilnius and other neighbouring capitals. The GoFundMe campaign is run by a consortium of The Fix, Are We Europe, Jnomics, and Media Development Foundation, as well as multiple media partners from across Europe. The group is working with a growing list of Ukrainian media, including Ukrainska Pravda, Zaborona, Detector Media and others. Support is allocated based on urgency of needs in the first place, then distributed proportionally.
Priority funding:
- Protection and media equipment purchases and delivery to Ukraine (here is a list of supplies – we are delivering via Poland and Romania)
- Direct operational and financial support to media in Ukraine (e.g., covering IT costs, insurance, transport, purchase of supplies)
Long-term needs:
- Support for media staff relocation to EU countries
- Setting up offices and accommodation of media staff in EU countries
If you want to provide funds to individual media directly, contact The Fix at [email protected] and they will provide a list with their details.
The Fix has written more extensively about how they are prioritising donations made through the various funding campaigns that they are a part of.
The same group has also created a separate GoFundMe campaign for the English-language Kyiv Independent.
Creators Media Group, a publisher of 3 tech news websites, has launched a crowdfunding page to raise emergency funds to support staff and keep the media startup operational.
To date, Creators Media Group and its websites have remained operational. Its staff of 40 journalists continues to file stories – all of them now about war – for their specialist audiences.
Read more about their efforts and the new reality they are facing in this article from the Press Gazette.
To address the humanitarian crisis stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Visegrad Insight, a Central European platform of debate and analysis under the Res Publica Foundation, will use all of its proceeds from subscriptions to their website to establish three paid, full-time editorial positions as part of the Future of Ukraine Fellowship for a six-month period. The platform is asking for donations to match it in support of the next generation of Ukrainian thought leaders whose work has been interrupted by the war.
The International Federation of Journalists, and the European Federation of Journalists have created a dedicated Ukraine Safety Fund.
As the conflict continues, journalists reporting on frontlines need first aid kits, flak jackets, helmets and medical supplies. All donations made to the fund will go directly to support in this emergency.
The Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine represents more than 70 regional publishers and about 40 local online projects in Ukraine. Their mission is to protect and promote media and quality journalism. The association has created a patreon page to raise funds for local and independent media.
Three leading Ukrainian media companies, Ukrainska Pravda, Novoye Vremya, and Hromadske are partnering with non-fungible token (NFT) platform Vault in an effort to help fund ongoing efforts to deliver reporting on the Russian invasion to Eastern European and English-language audiences.
Each $99.99 key gives access to curated content across the publications' teams of journalists and photographers as well photos, videos, links to stories, and recommended readings. Proceeds from key sales directly support efforts to deliver reporting and sustain operations.
Ukraine's largest broadcasting group, StarLight Media, composed of six television stations and nine other media and advertising companies is requesting donations in light of the ongoing crisis. Donations will go to "ensuring honest journalism, providing an uninterrupted broadcasting and the safety of journalists themselves."
See the official request for donations in the letter below.
Starlight Media request for donations.pdf
76KB
PDF
"We have a duty to tell the truth. We have millions of readers in Russia who need us. Without independent journalism, it will be impossible to stop this monstrous war."
Meduza, a Russian independent international publication based in Riga, Latvia, has been in operation since 2014. It was declared a 'foreign agent' by the Russian government in April 2021 and has since relied on reader revenue and a successful fundraising drive.
"Since the outbreak of this war, transferring money from Russia to Europe has become impossible" and Meduza has lost 30,000 individual donors. To counter this loss of revenue the media has started a fundraising campaign.
You can read more about Meduza in the second half of this Nieman Labs article; in this article from the Washington Post; and in this blogpost by one the campaign's founders, Sebastian Esser from German online news site Krautreporter (see here for English translation by GIJN).
A lifeline for journalists from Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia
In response to the war in Ukraine a group of over 25 media support organizations and media outlets are launching the Eastern European Independent Journalist Fund to pay for stories produced by Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Russian journalists who are reporting the truth on the war despite the enormous risks. The fund will serve as a lifeline to allow them to stay on the job even as their normal income plummets or vanishes, the direct consequence of living and working in or near a war zone.
The campaign coordinator is Transitions, a Prague-based publishing and journalism training organization that has supported and trained journalists for more than 20 years.
You can find more information about the initiative and on how to donate on their Kickstarter page.
N-ost, a Berlin-based European network of journalists, are asking for financial support to buy vitally needed protective and emergency equipment, provide psychological help and support journalists in the field and in exile with their most difficult work. The organisation is in close contact with colleagues on the ground in Ukraine. This fundraiser is also supported by their partners Croatian Journalists' Association, FragDenStaat, Netzwerk Recherche, Reporters without Borders and taz Panter Stiftung.
"Official protective safety kit is expensive, with a flak jacket and helmet combined costing at least £1000."
The Rory Peck Trust, a foundation dedicated to the support, safety and welfare of freelance newsgatherers around the world, is raising funds for flak jackets and helmets to be procured and delivered by their partners in the Journalists In Distress network, ensuring that journalists in Ukraine can safely cover the war and fight misinformation and propaganda.
Media Development NGO International Media Support (IMS) is raising money to support independent journalists in Ukraine
"Journalists in Ukraine are in the line of fire, putting themselves in danger to ensure people have access to information, and need all the backing they can get!" Donations will go to keeping journalists safe (e.g. through equipment and training) and to ensure that Ukrainian independent media and fact-checkers can continue to operate. IMS is also pushing global players to protect the free word and combat fake news."
"Over the past decade, Ukraine has grown into a regional leader in journalism and press freedom. Now, after Russia's invasion, the future of the country and of the independent media is in grave danger. Reliable information saves lives!"
In the past few weeks Free Press Unlimited has helped local partners in Ukraine with safety training, emergency kits, alternative housing and evacuation. The are raising funds to continue their work protecting local journalists so that they can keep doing their much needed job.
The IREX Rapid Reaction Support Fund will provide support to established civil society organizations that are meeting humanitarian needs on the ground and protecting vulnerable populations such as the families of veterans, internally displaced persons, and women in need of psycho-social support. It will work to counter Kremlin-sponsored disinformation and provide cyber and information security resources to civilians. It will provide support to help keep journalists safe with live-saving equipment and keep independent media outlets operating.
Fondation Hirondelle, a Swiss non-profit organization, is "mobilizing to contribute to the emergency operation of the independent Ukrainian media, as well as to the basic information needs of the displaced populations, and to the coverage of justice issues in the context of this conflict."
With its Ukrainian partners, Fondation Hirondelle is developing projects to:
- give local journalists access to useful, concrete, reliable information in Ukrainian language
- provide useful and reliable information to newly displaced refugees as well as access to adapted psycho-social programs
- help Ukraine to defend itself under international law and to document the human rights violations it suffers. Ukrainian journalists need support to be able to testify, to explain the mechanisms, and to be heard in places of debate on international justice.
International media development organisation Internews has worked for nearly 30 years to bolster independent media in Ukraine including supporting investigative reporting and anti-corruption efforts, the introduction of media literacy in schools, crucial media regulatory reforms, innovations in combatting disinformation, and initiatives to help media outlets become financially sustainable.
- Safety equipment, including flak jacks, helmets, and first aid kits
- Immediate relocation assistance and living stipends
- Emergency digital consulting to secure social media accounts, servers, and databases
- Support for media organizations to set up remote operations
- “News that moves” services that direct refugees to resources
- Film screenings and entertainment for refugee children
The invasion of Ukraine has created shockwaves that threaten journalists throughout Eurasia. As the crisis unfolds, Internews will also direct emergency support to aid reporters and others at risk across the region.
In the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the spread of disinformation by the occupant, the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation and its partners has established a Fund for Ukraine dedicated to direct support of journalists and publishers in the war zone.
Media and journalistic organizations from Nordic countries have joined the Fund: Bonnier News from Sweden, Danish Newspapers Association, Finnish Media Federation, News Media Finland, Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association and Swedish Media Publishers’ Association.
The collected funds will be used to purchase the equipment necessary for journalists working in war zones, financial support for journalists and media organizations in Ukraine, and the relocation of journalists to Poland and other EU countries. To this end, the organisation is cooperating with the media and organizations in Ukraine and other parts of Europe.
The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, has launched a Ukraine Solidarity Fund. All funds raised will go directly to independent media in Ukraine. "IPI is working closely with several trusted partners to distribute funding to a range of journalists in the country, including The Fix and the Media Development Foundation, which has coordinated emergency funding to nearly 60 independent media organizations in Ukraine. Through the IPI Ukraine Solidarity Fund we will be able to provide a united contribution from IPI members to media with urgent needs."
IPI is also mobilizing its network to help provide displaced journalists a place to work and support in finding accommodation so they can continue doing their jobs.
If your newsroom is able to host independent Ukrainian or Russian journalists forced to flee or provide other forms of support (such as news and safety equipment) as the crisis unfolds, please contact the IPI secretariat [email protected] directly.
IPI is making a database of members to match offers of support with Ukraine journalists and media in need. The needs of colleagues in both Russia and Belarus fighting censorship and repression is a part of their solidarity strategy.
"Freelance journalists and video reporters are already being killed and captured. In a world where barefaced lies are being deliberately spread, and have been dangerously gathering public purchase, they are risking their lives in Ukraine’s cities under siege to make the real truth heard. We must do what we can to keep them as safe as possible and ensure that their work gets out and is widely seen."
The Frontline Club Charitable Trust has established a gofundme campaign to expand their capacity to undertake urgent safeguarding activities in Ukraine. The funds will enable the trust to:
- 1.Provide a 24/7 home base for all freelancers in or going to Ukraine, delivering the support functions that a staff journalist would normally get from their employer and more
- 2.Liaise with all other relevant groups to reduce duplicated efforts and build collaboration. This will include media organisations, news safety outfits, logistical specialists and volunteers.
- 3.Use their connections to determine and provide whatever possible to support Ukrainian journalists. These journalists have a particularly important role in ensuring the safety of international and freelance journalists, who they often work alongside, as well as the best access to events on the ground.
The NGO Docudays and Docudays UA festival team has initiated a fund to support Ukrainian filmmakers documenting the events of the war in Ukraine right now: recording war crimes, filming footage for the international media and for their future films which will later give the world a more in-depth perspective on the situation in Ukraine.
The fund helps filmmakers by providing them with the most necessary filming equipment (e.g. batteries, hard drives, memory cards, chargers, adapters, microphones, replacement of damaged lenses, etc.) and covering the expenses for fuel, medicine and first aid kits, as well as basic needs in emergency situations (one-time payments of up to 4,000 UAH).
Ukrainian online media Prestupnosti.NET (Mykolaiv, Ukraine) is asking for the financial aid to effectively continue information war. What will this money be spent on:
- hosting services,
- website technical support services,
- Assistance to individual units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
You can support the media on their Patreon page, via PayPal ([email protected]) or by transferring funds to their bank account. More details here:
Last modified 1yr ago