Olga Rudenko shows on her phone a photo of the editorial meeting of the Kyiv Post on Monday, Nov. “Look, you can see from my attitude how surprised I am. This is just after the editor-in-chief told us what had happened.”
Adnan Kivan, owner of the Kyiv Post, opted for a radical solution to his conflict with the editors on November 8. He fired all fifty employees of the English-language newspaper in Ukraine. Founded in 1995, the newspaper was loved by expats, diplomats and people who follow the country from abroad for its critical coverage of economic and political developments in Ukraine.
Rudenko (32) was deputy editor-in-chief of the Kyiv Post. She is now editor-in-chief of the Kyiv Independent, the online newspaper that thirty young journalists founded in a few weeks. Independent English-language news from Ukraine is necessary, says Rudenko, especially now that a Russian invasion is imminent and Ukraine plays a major role in world news. So the fired editors of the Kyiv Post were in a hurry to launch a successor. In a coffee shop in Kiev, diagonally opposite the parliament building, Rudenko talks about the journalistic roller coaster she is on.
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An oligarch as an owner is a “time bomb,” says Rudenko. “Such an owner is risky, because they are erratic. As in Russia, oligarchs usually buy media because they want a stage, not out of interest in independent journalism. Initially things went pretty well with Kivan as the owner. He is a real estate magnate, from Syria, who got rich by building towers in Odessa in southern Ukraine. He bought the Kyiv Post in 2018 and tried not to influence our reporting. We did find it strange that when he first met the editors, he said: ‘Silence is golden’. Perhaps he thought we were too critical of the government.”
In October, the editors saw an announcement on Facebook. Someone from Kivan’s entourage said she became editor-in-chief of a Ukrainian-language version of the Kyiv Post. The editors knew nothing about those plans and demanded that the appointment be made in the normal way. Kivan took “revenge,” the editorial writes in a statement that went out immediately, by firing everyone. The Kyiv Post is still out. “Only six people from finance and automation work there again. No one else wanted to go back.”
Donated workplaces
Three days after the dismissal, the editors decided to continue under a new banner. Rudenko, then still in Chicago for a Journalism Upskilling Program of three months, was elected editor-in-chief. A daily newsletter was immediately issued to inform readers. Social media is widely used. There is not yet an office, meetings take place in donated workplaces. Or, like today, in the coffee shop.
The enthusiasm of the young editors – Rudenko: “I am one of the elderly, we only have a photo editor of fifty” – is contagious. Support came from at home and abroad. After the bad experience with a private owner, financial independence is one of the priorities.
Is that going to work? Rudenko thinks so. “The first two years we have to invest a lot of time in fundraising. Sponsoring, crowdfunding, fairs.”
The target of 10,000 British pounds (“GoFundMe can’t work from Ukraine, via London is handy”) for one-time donations has already been passed, the counter stands at more than 12,000 pounds. With the recurring donations, 662 ‘patrons’ now take care of 6,410 euros income per month. Insufficient for healthy business operations, Rudenko acknowledges. “We also need major investors, and we are going to do commercial projects, where we will provide content for clients. Strictly separated from the reporting, of course.”
In addition to donations, the Kyiv Independent has a ‘secret weapon’ for financial survival. Two of ‘s partners consultant Jnomics from London, specialized in sustainable business operations for media companies, are temporarily associated with the young initiative as general and financial director. Both once worked for the Kyiv Post and know the local conditions well. Rudenko: “Their expertise is extremely valuable to us.”
Journalistic pitfall
Ukraine is in the eye of a geopolitical storm. That is visible in the mission statement of the Kyiv Independent, where “Russia’s war on Ukraine” is listed as the first topic. It is also visible in the tweets of editors, who speak about “our soldiers” and “Glory to Ukraine”.
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Can a medium be neutral in times of impending war? Is patriotism a journalistic trap for the Kyiv Independent? Rudenko thinks the terminology in the mission statement is a “good point”. “We have to pay attention to that. But we don’t pretend to be neutral. It’s true, we don’t go to the Russian Defense Ministry to ask why they are attacking us. At the same time, we do not close our eyes to what is wrong in our country. If there are problems in the army, we write about it. Or if there are problems with the air raid shelters in Kiev. We are not holding back.”
There are more critical media in Ukraine, but the situation is worrying. President Zelensky is not a fan of independent media. Recently, he allowed only invited media to attend a press conference in which he exposed an unproven conspiracy and attacked media.
Rudenko: “Actually he said there: that’s how you can deal with journalists. That was a very wrong signal, especially in a country where the climate is already hostile to media. It is up to us to counter that.”
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