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Transcript/ScriptUKR 1YR: Press Freedom Ukraine Safety
HEAD: Preparing for War: Media Groups Provide Gear, Training for Reporters in Ukraine
SUBHEAD: With the war in Ukraine bringing in journalists from across the world, support groups offer life-saving equipment and resources
PUBLISHED AT: 02/14/2023 at 11 AM
BYLINE: Heather Murdock
DATELINE: KYIV, LVIV UKRAINE
VIDEOGRAPHER: Yan Boechat, Heather Murdock
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: JJ, Bowman
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA ORIGINAL
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO _
TRT: 2:40
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG/RADIO
EDITOR NOTES: For VOA Press Freedom))
((INTRO))
[[On the frontlines in Ukraine, journalists confront risk to report on the war. But with several killed or seriously injured in the past year, media advocates have mobilized to offer training and equipment. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Kyiv, Lviv and the frontlines in the Donbas region of Ukraine.]]
((NARRATOR:))
Over the past year, thousands of foreign journalists have come from all over the world to cover the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian journalists also traveled into battle zones, instantly shifting their positions from beat reporters to frontline correspondents.
More than a dozen journalists have been killed out on assignment, and many others were seriously injured.
Veteran correspondents say the war is like none other in recent memory.
((For radio: Photojournalist Paul Conroy is part of London’s Frontline Club))
((Paul Conroy, Frontline Club)) ((Male, in English))
“I was down in Bakhmut and Soledar about two weeks ago, and to be honest, it was the most, what I’d imagine, World War II was, compared to a lot of the wars I’ve covered - civil wars and small groups of rebels fighting the army. But this is like total war, you know, very, very, very heavy artillery.”
((NARRATOR:)) The conflict has brought large numbers of freelancers to Ukraine.
Eager young journalists can “make a name” for themselves in warzones, but lack of preparation can be deadly.
The Frontline Club and other media support groups, like the Lviv Press Freedom Center in Western Ukraine, are attempting to mitigate the risks.
((For radio: Olga Letnianchyk is part of the Lviv Press Freedom Center))
((Olga Letnianchyk, Lviv Press Freedom Center)) ((Female in English))
“We can provide them with vests, with helmets, with medical kits. Also we help them build capability by providing some trainings.”
((NARRATOR:))
This man in Kyiv is not actually injured. He works with journalists who are getting free hostile environment training. It can be life-saving knowledge, says Conroy, who survived a deadly shelling raid in Syria in 2012.
((For radio: Again, photojournalist Paul Conroy))
((Paul Conroy, Frontline Club)) ((Male, in English))
“I know myself, I was blown up. I had to put a tourniquet on, so for me the medical side is critical. You do save your own life. It’s possible.”
((NARRATOR:))
But there’s no way to prevent all field injuries or deaths, no matter how well trained the journalists are.
And some say it’s worth the risk.
((For radio: Dima Khilchelko is a freelance journalist))
((Dima Khilchelko, Freelance Journalist)) ((Male, in English))
“There is no really safe way to be in the war, especially in this … war, because this war is brutal. There are casualties, civilians, and their houses are shot by missiles.”
((NARRATOR:))
Like many Ukrainian journalists, Khilchelko sees his work as part of the war effort.
In general, the goal of journalism is to present neutral information in conflict. But, Khilchelko says, he believes that keeping the outside world informed about the suffering of civilians inside Ukraine could be important to their “survival as a nation.”
((HEATHER MURDOCK VOA NEWS, KYIV, UKRAINE))
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