Before the full-scale invasion, the term “war correspondent” had relatively clear professional boundaries. It generally referred to a journalist who specialized in covering war and worked directly in a conflict zone. After 2022, the war created an entirely different reality. People became war correspondents who, only the day before, had been covering local politics, culture, or sports, working as television camera operators, or photographing weddings. For many, this was not a professional choice — it was a path dictated by the war itself.

But why does it matter who is considered a war correspondent and who is not? The term affects more than professional status or public recognition. It can shape editorial expectations, the level of training journalists receive, and their access to protective equipment, insurance, psychological support, and other resources. Ultimately, it determines whether we see working in wartime conditions as a distinct specialization — or as a new reality for a significant part of Ukrainian journalism.

At the same time, our understanding of who qualifies as a war correspondent has also changed. Is it only someone who works directly on the front line? Or should journalists in frontline and war-affected cities, who have spent years documenting shelling, evacuations, and life under constant threat, also be considered war correspondents? Who gets to draw that line — the newsroom, the professional community, the audience, or the journalists themselves?

War not only creates new war correspondents; it also reshapes their lives and careers. Some leave journalism, others join the military, some find themselves unable to work on anything unrelated to the war, while others dream of returning to peacetime journalism. But is such a return possible? And what will become of a generation of journalists whose professional identity was shaped by the largest war in 21st-century Europe?

This discussion is not only about how we define a profession. It is about the consequences of that definition, about how war changes journalists and blurs familiar professional boundaries. And it raises a question we may only be able to answer once the war is over: is being a war correspondent a profession you can leave behind — or an experience that becomes part of who you are forever?
Moderator: Anastasiia Ivantsiv, Journalist, Suspilne News.
Speakers:● Anastasiia Stanko, Chief Editor, Slidstvo.info;● Olha Kyrylenko, Journalist of Ukrainska Pravda.

Ukraine is currently developing a co-regulation system—a new mechanism for interaction between the state and the media industry designed to help establish clear operational rules for media without excessive state interference. The first year of practical implementation has shown that this process is far from simple: alongside significant achievements, disputes, conflicts of interest, and disagreements among market participants have arisen. Notably, important codes of conduct for the audiovisual media sector were developed and approved, potentially serving as a foundation for the further evolution of the co-regulation system. At the same time, the online media sector sparked debates regarding approaches, procedures, and the scope of liability for those involved in the process. What was achieved during the first year, and where did the system falter? Have the established rules proven to be an effective tool for the media industry, and what lessons can be drawn from the initial conflicts and setbacks? During the discussion, participants will take stock of the year’s results, address the challenges and contradictions inherent in co-regulation, and identify key objectives and potential risks for the year ahead.
Moderator: Oksana Davydenko (Ostapko), Member of the Board of the Joint Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual Media Services; Deputy Director for Legal Affairs at Starlight Media, LLC.
Speakers to be confirmed..

The discussion involves two hypothetical sides, each with three participants: "business-derived revenue" and "audience-derived revenue." Each side is represented by practitioners from various types of media—local, regional, relocated, niche, or independent outlets—to showcase a range of scales and contexts rather than a single, universal narrative.
The session begins with a brief outline of each position, explaining why a particular model can serve as a solid foundation for a media outlet. The moderator then leads several thematic rounds covering topics such as actual revenue, team resources, launch speed, risks, audience trust, scalability, and contextual dependencies. Afterward, time is set aside for questions from the audience, allowing participants to test these models against their own specific situations.
The session’s focus is not to persuade everyone to adopt a single model, but rather to highlight the complexity of the choice and help media outlets honestly assess what they can implement immediately versus what requires resources they do not yet possess.
Moderator: Mariia Kucherenko, Program Director at Ukrainian Media Business Academy (UMBA), Comfort Manager at PO"MAKES SENSE"
Speakers:● Taisiia Garmash, Acting Head of PO "MAKES SENSE”, Head of Partnership Departments of the websites 6262.com.ua and 0372.ua;● Bogdan Porokhniak, Founder, publisher of nauka.ua● Yuliia Kanzeba, Journalist TRYBUN;● Olha Zyma, Editor-in-Chief, Dostup.Media;● Natalia Kulidi, CEO of the Dnipro-based media outlet “Misto i Richka”

Moderator: Alyona Yatsyna, Executive Director and Co-founder of Kordon.Media.
Speakers:● Serhii Nikitenko, Editor-in-Chief of the online media outlet MOST;● Olena Leptuha, Editor-in-chief of the media Nakypilo;● Serhii Prokopenko, Editor at Gwara media;● Yakiv Brynza, Director Inform.zp.ua.

Media consumption is changing rapidly under the influence of war and AI. Audiences are becoming increasingly fragmented, and it is harder to know who your viewer, listener, or reader really is. Today, Ukrainian media audiences live in very different physical and information realities: from relatively safe regions of Ukraine to areas under constant attack, frontline communities, temporarily occupied territories, and abroad. A user whom analytics identifies as an EU resident may in fact be reading a Ukrainian outlet from a frontline town or from occupied Luhansk. At the same time, AI bots, scrapers, and agents increasingly "consume" content instead of real people, adding another layer of uncertainty. Under these conditions, how can media outlets measure and truly understand their audiences? Do familiar metrics need to be interpreted in new ways? Which indicators actually help distinguish between audiences and understand their needs today, and which do we keep using mostly out of inertia? The panel will discuss the key challenges in measuring and understanding today's media audiences, how approaches to collecting and interpreting data are changing, and the new role of AI: should it already be treated as a separate user segment, and how is it changing the very concept of an "audience"?
Moderator: Tetyana Nikitina, Senior Research Manager, BBC Media Action, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Team
Speakers:● Yana Mashkova, Media Analyst at the Institute of Mass Information;● Alona Serhiienko, Chief Executive Officer, CEO of Cukr Media;● Svitlana Zalizetska, Editor-in-Chief of RIA Pivden (Regional Information Agency RIA Pivden)        

Ukraine's military and defence technologies have become one of the most prominent topics in the media. Journalists report on new developments, battlefield effectiveness, procurement, investment, exports, disputes between manufacturers and the state, criminal investigations and possible corruption.
At the same time, this is one of the most challenging areas for journalists to cover. Some information is classified for security reasons, data on the real-world effectiveness of systems is often impossible to verify independently, and all sides — the state, manufacturers, the military and experts — have their own constraints and interests.
How should journalists cover this field when much of the relevant information is not publicly available? Where is the line between necessary secrecy and a lack of accountability? And how can they avoid disclosing information that could harm military personnel or defence manufacturers?
Panellists from the media, government, the mil-tech and defence tech sectors, as well as independent experts, will discuss practical guidelines for reporting on Ukraine's military and defence technologies during wartime that is professional, critical and accurate, without compromising security.

More opportunities or more obligations: what will EU accession really mean for Ukrainian media? How will European regulation change newsroom operations, engagement with online platforms, and the protection of the information space? Together with experts, we will debunk common narratives surrounding European integration and identify the steps media organisations should take today to prepare for operating under EU rules.
Moderator: Andriy Kulakov, Programme Director, Internews Ukraine
Speakers:● Oleh Dereniuha, NikVesti, media manager;● Anayit Khoperiya, Head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine;● Vita Volodovska, Head, Digital Security Lab Ukraine;● Lidiya Smola, Professor at the National Technical University of Ukraine Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.

During the workshop, journalists will learn how to use YouControl’s YC.Market to rapidly analyze markets and industries, identifying trends, anomalies, new market players, and hidden patterns that can serve as the foundation for analytical pieces, investigations of public importance, or explanatory journalism. Participants will see how to transform vast datasets into clear insights, test hypotheses, and back up their stories with figures and facts. Following the workshop, media professionals will gain a set of practical approaches and scenarios applicable to their daily editorial work.
Trainer: Daryna Bilova, Communications Manager at YC.Market by YouControl.

Trauma-sensitive leadership is not simply about 'being empathetic,' and it is certainly not about 'becoming a therapist' for your own team. It's the ability to account for the impact of traumatic experience - while still remaining a leader. A practical workshop on managing a team that works with war, loss, and traumatic content: recognizing early signs of overload, navigating difficult conversations, distinguishing support from rescuing, and understanding the limits of your own responsibility. This is about leadership where caring for people doesn't cancel out expectations - and where boundaries can themselves be a form of care.
Mental Support for Media is a comprehensive psychological support program for journalists, implemented by the Souspilnist Foundation in collaboration with the Braincult Center for Development and Psychotherapy.

Since 2022, over 70 newsrooms have received support for their journalists, and more than 700 media professionals have received psychotherapeutic care.
Moderator: Nataliia Vysiatytska, psychotherapist at the Mental Support for Media program.

Moderator: Olha Stukalo, Editor-in-Chief of the NGO “Recovery Window”.
Speakers:● Gohar Khodjayan, Ukraine Programme Lead / Head of IMS Representative Office in Ukraine;● Serhii Sydorov, Zaporizhzhia Investigation Center / director;● Karina Popova, Journalist in Recovery Window;● Anna Serdiuk, editor-in-chief of Vilne Radio.

Just three years ago, the greatest risks facing journalists on the front line were artillery shelling, small-arms fire, and being caught in the crossfire. Today, technological warfare has created an entirely different reality. Constant aerial surveillance, FPV drones, remote mining, detection systems, and precision strikes have turned large sections of the front into a kill zone — an area where any movement can be detected and targeted within minutes.
Under these conditions, it is not only approaches to journalists’ safety that are changing — journalism itself is changing. Reaching military positions is becoming more difficult than working at them. Assignments can last significantly longer because it may be impossible to leave the area safely. Traditional reporting crews are increasingly giving way to smaller, more compact teams, while planning a reporting assignment is beginning to resemble planning a military operation.
At the same time, emerging threats are forcing journalists to reconsider established approaches to their protection. Does PRESS identification still serve as a means of protection, or can it create additional risks under certain circumstances? Is it acceptable for a journalist to carry a weapon for self-defence, and what legal, ethical, and safety implications might such a decision have? Where is the line between the need to preserve life and the obligation to uphold professional principles?
How are journalists’ access to combat positions, logistics, and cooperation with the military changing? What skills, technologies, and equipment are becoming essential for working in a kill zone? Will the one-man-band model become the new standard for frontline journalism? And which stories can journalists no longer tell because of the changing conditions of warfare?
This discussion explores new approaches to protection and the decisions that allow journalists to continue covering the war in an environment where technology determines not only how the war is fought, but also whether information can be obtained at all.

Media remain perhaps the last institution people turn to in order to be heard. But the paradox is that media are also the institution most frequently placed under suspicion: highlight one problem, and you're accused of diverting attention from another; stay silent on something, and you're accused of serving the wrong side. Trust doesn't disappear in this process - it relocates. It flows toward a "white list" of two or three sources a person has decided to trust permanently and no longer evaluates critically; toward small communities - neighbors, chat groups, local pages, "their own" person on the ground; or toward conspiracy theories, which at least offer some explanation for the chaos.
People no longer have the capacity to verify facts, so they start evaluating the source's motives instead. How do you find footing under conditions of total distrust? Where does distrust go once institutions stop functioning? And is communication even possible with an audience that already sees media as part of the conspiracy?
Moderator: Otar Dovzhenko, deputy editor-in-chief, LB.ua.
Speakers:● Tetyana Troschinska, Presenter, Head of the Strategic Analysis Department at Suspilne;● Diana Dutsyk, Executive Director, NGO Ukrainian Media and Communacation Institute;● Angelina Soldatenko, Head of the International Public Organization "Institute of Regional Press and Information";● Nataliia Kryvda, Professor at the Department of Ukrainian Philosophy and Culture at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Head of the Supervisory Board of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, and Academic Director of the MBA program at the Edinburgh Business School at НК in Ukraine.

Ukraine's European integration is one of the defining stories of our time. Yet in Ukrainian media, it often sounds like legal analysis: clusters, benchmarks, screenings, recommendations. And here lies a painful truth: EU integration is one of the most depersonalized topics in the Ukrainian media landscape. The closer we get to the EU, the harder it becomes to tell this story — and the fewer people understand why it is their personal story too, not just a matter for Brussels and ministries.
In this panel, we want to have an honest conversation: why we so rarely write about reforms in clear words, what we lose because of that, and what journalists, experts, and communications professionals can do about it.
Moderator: Andrii Borovyk, Executive Director of Transparency International Ukraine
Speakers:● Liudmyla Suhak, Deputy Minister of Justice for European Integration;● Roksolana Lisovska, hromadske Special Correspondent for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, international affairs journalist;● Kateryna Ryzhenko, Deputy Executive Director for Legal Affairs at TI Ukraine;● Nataliia Pakhaichuk, Editor-in-chief Rayon.in.ua

Description to be confirmed.
Speakers to be confirmed.

Ukraine is currently undergoing a period of transformation that should lead to a final break with the post-Soviet space and integration into the world's developed economies. This ambitious goal has to be achieved under extraordinarily difficult conditions: Russian aggression, domestic governance challenges, and major shifts in the global order.
Public political discourse is an essential condition for a democratic ecosystem, even when political competition and elections are not possible under martial law. People are always at the heart of quality political journalism — as the subjects of reporting, as audiences and as citizens, rather than merely as consumers of information.
Topics for discussion:
Have media organisations changed their approach to producing political content? How should journalists address such important issues as European integration, social cohesion, free and fair elections in the future, recovery both now and after the war, economic development, national and local governance, political parties, lawmaking and public participation — bearing in mind that one of the functions of political journalism is to explain to people how government works, how political decisions affect their lives and how they can influence political processes?
How can political developments in Ukraine be analysed and explained in a global context for different audiences at a time when the information environment is saturated with AI-generated elements of hostile information and psychological operations?
Have the ways in which media organisations engage with political newsmakers changed?
How should voter education be approached now without harming democratic elections in the future? And how can the 'invisible people' — those who have dropped out of Ukraine's information space, including residents of the temporarily occupied territories — be brought back into the audience following political developments in Ukraine?
Moderator: Taras Petriv, President, Souspilnist Foundation, Associate Professor, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Speakers:● Viktoriia Yermolaiyeva, Editor-in-Chief of Hromadske Radio;● Anna Ovcharenko, Owner and CEO, EАSTERN POINT;● Vladyslav Bulatchyk, Journalist at the "OstroV" News Agency;● Olha Surovska, Editor-in-Chief of the online publication “Reporter” (Ivano-Frankivsk).

The study "Ukrainian Media: News Consumption and Trust" provides important empirical evidence for understanding the information resilience of Ukrainian society. It shows where people get their information, which sources they trust, how their media behaviour and information habits are changing, how they assess the credibility of information, and the extent to which the risks of disinformation remain significant.
Moderator: Andriy Kulakov, Program Director at Internews Ukraine
Speakers:● Maryna Nesterova, R&D director InMind;● Victoria Marchenko, Senior media and development advisor, Internews-Ukraine/Ukrainian fund for media and society

The full-scale war has transformed the professional trajectories of thousands of women. For some, leadership has been a natural continuation of a path that began long before 2022. Others found themselves in roles they had never planned for but had to take on — because newsrooms, businesses, and state institutions needed to keep running; volunteer and rehabilitation centers had to be created; and people were needed in the military and defense sector. In many of these stories, professional growth, personal choice, and the demands of circumstance are impossible to separate.

Even moving into an entirely new field does not mean starting from scratch. Women bring accumulated experience in management, communications, human rights advocacy, entrepreneurship, medicine, and crisis management into their new roles. War concentrates this expertise, accelerates professional development, and creates opportunities for leadership on a different scale. But along with greater responsibility, are women also gaining real authority, resources, and the power to shape the future?

What may have seemed like a temporary role in 2022 has now become years of professional experience. This discussion is about choice and necessity, organic growth and forced changes in professional trajectories — and about what needs to be done today to ensure that women’s experience is neither devalued nor erased, during the war or after it ends.
Moderator: Bohdana Stelmakh, Coordinator of the Volyn Press Club
Speakers:● Oksana Borovets, Co-owner and creative director, Creative Women Publishing.

When a court barred Slidstvo.Info and the Anti-Corruption Action Center from publishing an investigation into 143 properties owned by the brother of the director of the State Bureau of Investigation, more than a dozen leading Ukrainian media outlets published the investigation instead.

Journalistic solidarity ensured that the investigation was not only published despite the ban, but also received more than five million views within just a few days.
Why did journalists from other media outlets decide to take the risk and publish the colleagues' investigation? What followed, and did the publication influence the authorities' subsequent actions? Covering corruption and trust to government institutions: how can media strike a balance without fueling distrust and cynicism.

The discussion will also examine the impact of investigative journalism on public policy through cooperation with the anti-corruption agencies.

Which cases of illicit enrichment by public officials have resulted in procedural actions, systemic and personnel changes following cooperation between journalists and anti-corruption agencies? What lessons can be learned, and what does effective cooperation look like?
Opening remarks: David Dieudonne, Director of Informed (reg. in France as Internews International), Senior Director of Programmes.
Moderator: Valentyna Samar, Editor-in-chief of the Center for Journalistic Investigations
Speakers:● Anna Babinets, Slidstvo.Info director;● Daria Kaleniuk, Executive director of the Anti-Corruption Centre;● Angelina Kariakina, Co-founder of the Public Interest Journalism Lab, Advisor to the Head of Suspilne Ukraine Managing Board and a Member of the News Committee of the European Broadcasting Union;● Lesia Ivanova, Bihus.Info, Deputy Editor-in-Chief;● Uliana Chuchkevych, Head of the Detectives Department of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU)

Ukraine has long been a leader in the field of investigative journalism. Dozens of national and regional investigative projects operate across the country, exposing corruption, monitoring the use of public funds, and helping the public access vital information about the government's work. At the same time, the public discourse traditionally focuses far more on national-level investigations and high-profile exposés of grand corruption. The work of regional journalists often goes unnoticed, even though they engage daily with local authorities, businesses, and communities—frequently facing greater pressure and encountering additional security and professional risks. Is it more difficult to conduct investigations at the regional level? What specific challenges and risks do local journalists face? How can a regional investigation be elevated to a national issue? What effective models of cooperation exist between regional investigative centers and anti-corruption agencies? During this discussion, investigative journalists and representatives from the anti-corruption sector will share practical experiences and real-world case studies. Together, we will seek answers on how to strengthen regional investigative journalism, establish effective mechanisms for collaboration with anti-corruption institutions, and enhance the safety of journalists working on sensitive topics. The goal of the discussion is to combine the expertise of national and regional investigators and develop practical tools for stronger, safer, and more effective journalism in the regions.
Speakers:● Anna Matviienko, СEO of Dnipro media;● Alona Bereza, Founder and CEO of ZHAR.INFO;● Eduard Rybalko, Detective of NABU.

Description to be confirmed.
Speakers to be confirmed.

Description to be confirmed.
Speakers to be confirmed.

We have all been traumatised by war. But rebuilding society requires more than addressing immediate crises. People need a sense of safety, trust in one another and the ability to shape their own future.How can we move from constant survival to a fulfilling life when people’s experiences of war differ and communities have limited resources? Participants will discuss how to prevent post-war divisions in society and restore people’s sense of justice. They will explore what the state should be responsible for, what communities can do, and how the media can help people hear one another without oversimplifying their experiences or reducing the conversation about people’s needs to infrastructure reconstruction alone. They will also consider what steps we need to take now, without waiting for the war to end.
Moderator: Tetyana Troschinska, Presenter, Head of the Strategic Analysis Department at Suspilne
Speakers:● Oleksandr Batalov, Director of a charitable organization Unconquered Foundation;● Uliana Bakh, Head of the DIGNITY office and founder of the GNIZDO initiative;● Ievgenii Golovakha, Director, Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Everyone will get hacked — it's only a matter of time. The enemy is increasingly targeting the media, deliberately taking down data centers and telecom infrastructure and disrupting key information resources. Even well-protected IT systems are already suffering from such attacks. That is why the main task for media outlets today is to have an actionable plan: what to do during a cyber incident, how to respond in its aftermath, and how to restore broadcasting and get back to work as quickly as possible.
Myroslava Stremetska, Head of Cybersecurity Services Management at EPAM Ukraine, a leader of the Ukrainian IT market, will explain what today's cyberattacks are aimed at and which risks are the most critical, how to properly prioritize the recovery of key services, what an effective BCDR (Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery) plan should include, and why ""paper instructions"" without team drills prove powerless against a real threat.
All recommendations are based on real-life cases, and participants will come away with a clear understanding of how to prepare their infrastructure in advance so they can minimize the impact of an attack as early as tomorrow.
Speaker: Myroslava Stremetska, Security Delivery Manager, EPAM Ukraine 

Description to be confirmed.
Speakers to be confirmed.

Print media today find themselves at a paradoxical moment: some online outlets are deliberately moving into print to gain the status, artistic form, and durability that digital cannot offer, while other newspapers are being forced online just to survive. Its human quality and physicality make print a medium that outlasts the moment and becomes a historical record. Digital content disappears along with platforms and links, while a physical object ends up in archives and libraries for future researchers. The problem is that producing and distributing print - especially in frontline and de-occupied territories - is now more expensive than ever. At the same time, print provides infrastructural resilience during blackouts, a different level of trust for part of the audience, and preservation of local community identity. What real functions does print retain? And who is actually willing to pay for them today?
Moderator: Serhii Nikitenko, Editor-in-Chief of the online media outlet MOST 
Speakers:● Olha Maksymiuk, Editor-in-Chief, "Shpalta" Online Media;● Olga Makukha, Director of “Vist” Newspaper Editorial Office, LLC;● Oleksii Kovalchuk, Director of Visti Prydniprovya Ltd;● Veronika Poliakova, CEO of “More Liudei”;● Yuliia Sadova, Head of Project Management Department | Lviv Media Forum

Moderator: Marharyta Sytnyk, Holka
Speakers:● Yuliia Bin, General Director State Enterprise "The International Broadcasting Multimedia Platform of Ukraine" (SE IBMPU);● Oleksandr Moiseienko, Deputy editor UNITED24 Media;● Oleksandr Glushchenko, eQtv project manager;● Fabricio Vitorino, journalist from Brazil, PhD candidate UFSC (Federal University of Santa Catarina).

What should a newsroom do when a story turns out to be inaccurate after it has already damaged someone’s reputation? Should it acknowledge the mistake or delete the story? How do media outlets communicate their own errors, at what point does a lawsuit come into play, and why does a correction almost never catch up with the first sensational headline?
The participants will discuss what journalists should do when they make mistakes and how media can rebuild readers’ trust afterwards.
Moderator: Otar Dovzhenko, Media Development Expert at Lviv Media Forum NGO, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of LB.ua
Speakers:● Lesia Ivanova, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Bihus.Info;● Natalia Onysko, Executive Director and Co-Founder of NGL.media;● Vitalii Husak, Head of the Legal Department at RPDI;● Olena Holub, Analyst at the Institute of Mass Information.