Last week he reported from a front line in a bulletproof vest, today he’s sharing his journalistic experience from the war in Ukraine at Radiodays Europe. Andriy Taranov works for the Ukrainian public broadcaster UA:PBC Suspilne and in the conversation with the host Martin Liss he highlighted the importance of the strong team spirit in the newsroom.
While Russia attacked the radio and television infrastructure right in the first days of the war, the task to deliver the information to the people was of extreme importance. As Taranov says, Ukrainian journalists are working full time from bomb shelters and basements, demonstrating high dedication and ability to adapt to extreme conditions.
“News helps to keep you alive,” says Taranov and refers not only to the recipients of the information but to the journalists as well. The morale and inspiration is still high among the team.
The broadcaster is trying to keep its programme as diverse as possible, from cultural and celebrity content to broadcasting of sports events. “At this point, the war is rather for the external audience, we as Ukrainians often cannot watch anymore what keeps happening in our country,” explains Taranov.
Andriy also described the work under pressure: “Imagine that you have to run three times per day to the bunker because of sirens, but you still have to produce radio, broadcasting and podcasts.”
He also mentioned that mobile service works fine so they have a common network for communication and support from other countries to keep a huge flow of information verified. And at the end comes an important question from the audience: “How do you keep up your mental health?” Taranov replies simply: “We don’t”.
