re:start democratic discourse – ECPMF and RPDI launch a new media literacy training project for rural Ukraine

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) and the Regional
Press Development Institute (RPDI) in Kyiv are launching the project ‚re:start democratic discourse‚
in the Southeast of Ukraine. Its main purpose is to improve the
professional skills of media workers and the media literacy of the
population.

According to a 2017 study by USAID, a broad majority of citizens in
rural Ukraine does not have any trust in media, whether it‘s TV, radio,
print or internet. The reason for this is a massive intrusion of
disinformation and biased articles serving political or economic
stakeholders into mass media. The ECPMF and RPDI intend to improve the
situation by stimulating a greater production of and a greater demand
for quality journalism.
The project „re:start democratic discourse“
consists of three elements – a social media campaign for press and media
freedom; trainings for bloggers, citizen-journalists and reporters from
small media outlets and media literacy courses for pupils, students and
citizens.
The logo of the project is an owl. It metaphorically
stands for wisdom and insight. The slogan is ‚behind the news‘. In
social media the organisers will primarily work with animations. The
first digital outlet of the project is the Facebook page.
The training programme will start in mid August. And the plan is to
send a group of ten Ukrainian journalists on a study trip to Germany.

„This project is extremely important for both Ukrainian media and
society. We have the opportunity to increase the media literacy of
Ukrainians and to improve the professional skills of regional
journalists and bloggers in the southern and eastern regions“, says Olga
Trufanova, Director of RPDI. „Presently, we are focusing on regions
which are most prone to progaganda and biased, often fake, news. This is
especially important considering the upcoming elections. We hope to
continue the project in the future and extend it to other regions.“
“We
are happy to realise our first project with RPDI, one of the most
experienced NGOs in Ukraine“, says Lutz Kinkel, Managing Director of the
ECPMF. „Ukraine is a battlefield for media freedom and disinformation.
We seek to build a sustainable partnership and knowledge exchange
because the situation won’t change tomorrow.“

The Regional Institute for Development of the Press (RPDI) in Kyiv is
a Ukrainian non-profit organisation. The Institute was founded in 2006
and since then has implemented projects worth 4.6 million US dollars.
The RPDI promotes a democratic civil society through the development of
independent, sustainable and pluralist media in the Ukraine.

The project ‚re:start democratic discourse‘ is supported by the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs.