Sharing experiences and expert support: training for hyperlocal editors from Suspilne Ukraine in Krakow

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Teams from Suspilne Ukraine and Swedish Radio worked on improving the quality of hyperlocal content, developing editors’ professional skills, and fostering effective collaboration with correspondents during a training session held May 4-6 in Kraków, Poland.

Jenny Johnsson-Roos and Anna Ims, along with representatives from Swedish Radio’s Media Development Office (SR MDO) — Uliana Kalush and Samuel Larsson — led the seminars and practical sessions with the groups. A total of 20 hyperlocal editors from Suspilne’s regional branches participated in the training.

“Since the phase involving communication tours and the selection of hyperlocal correspondents has already concluded, we are now focusing our efforts on further work with the teams. During the training, participants discussed how to effectively collaborate with correspondents, improve the quality of their reporting, and coordinate the joint work of editors and journalists in the field. Editors also analyzed content, evaluated materials from remote communities, and developed approaches to the professional development of the hyperlocal network,” said Yevheniia Haifer, project manager at Suspilne Ukraine, who is responsible for implementing the project.

Over the course of three days, participants analyzed the work done in their regions and developed effective tools for their daily collaboration with Suspilne correspondents in local communities.

“At the workshops in Krakow, my colleagues and I were able to evaluate our work as hyperlocal editors, as well as the successes and failures of our correspondents. The exercises on creating ‘roadmaps’ for collaboration with journalists and discussing the topics that most interest our audience were particularly useful. Sharing experiences showed that these needs aren’t always the same across different regions, but it was precisely through these discussions that we gained a better understanding of what we can improve in our collaboration with correspondents. It was a valuable experience and a very important professional reflection,” said Nazarii Rubanyak, hyperlocal editor at Suspilne Mykolaiv.

Editors from Suspilne Ukraine shared their teams’ success stories, analyzed the specifics of editorial support for hyperlocal journalists, discussed audience expectations regarding content and journalists, set goals, and planned the network’s future development.

“We discussed the work of hyperlocal correspondents in communities and shared examples of how to cover a variety of topics; I believe this will help improve the quality of local content. It was particularly valuable to hear our colleagues’ success stories and see how hyperlocal journalism helps shed light on issues that matter to people. In addition, working together helps us better understand the needs of local communities,” says Daryna Denysenko, line producer at Suspilne Khmelnytskyi.

Orest Hryniuk, acting editor-in-chief of Suspilne Rivne, highlighted the importance of communication within teams and the value of sharing experiences:

“During the training, we discussed how to work effectively with hyperlocal journalists: how to motivate them, build communication, plan work, and find topics for filming. The experience of hyperlocal correspondents varies across different branches—for example, at Suspilne Rivne, such a team has been working for several years, while for some colleagues, it has only been about six months. At the same time, it was very valuable to share best practices and simply chat.”

Suspilne Ukraine is an independent media company with a strong presence across all platforms: the TV channels Pershyi, Suspilne Kultura, Suspilne Sport, and a national network of local channels; the radio stations Ukrainske Radio, Radio Promin, Radio Kultura, Radiotochka. Find only verified news on suspilne.media, as well as on our national and local digital platforms. We broadcast in minority languages, represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest, develop the children’s platform Brobaks, and train media professionals through the Public Media Academy. Our Suspilne Mediateka platform offers unique video and audio archives dating from the 1920s to today. Defending freedom in Ukraine.

*Suspilne Ukraine implemented the project to develop a hyperlocal network as part of and with support from the project “Support for Editorial and Digital Transformation and the Development of Corporate Culture in Public Media in Ukraine,” funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

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“Since the phase involving communication tours and the selection of hyperlocal correspondents has already concluded, we are now focusing our efforts on further work with the teams. During the training, participants discussed how to effectively collaborate with correspondents, improve the quality of their reporting, and coordinate the joint work of editors and journalists in the field. Editors also analyzed content, evaluated materials from remote communities, and developed approaches to the professional development of the hyperlocal network,” said Yevheniia Haifer, project manager at Suspilne Ukraine, who is responsible for implementing the project.

Over the course of three days, participants analyzed the work done in their regions and developed effective tools for their daily collaboration with Suspilne correspondents in local communities.

“At the workshops in Krakow, my colleagues and I were able to evaluate our work as hyperlocal editors, as well as the successes and failures of our correspondents. The exercises on creating ‘roadmaps’ for collaboration with journalists and discussing the topics that most interest our audience were particularly useful. Sharing experiences showed that these needs aren’t always the same across different regions, but it was precisely through these discussions that we gained a better understanding of what we can improve in our collaboration with correspondents. It was a valuable experience and a very important professional reflection,” said Nazarii Rubanyak, hyperlocal editor at Suspilne Mykolaiv.

“We discussed the work of hyperlocal correspondents in communities and shared examples of how to cover a variety of topics; I believe this will help improve the quality of local content. It was particularly valuable to hear our colleagues’ success stories and see how hyperlocal journalism helps shed light on issues that matter to people. In addition, working together helps us better understand the needs of local communities,” says Daryna Denysenko, line producer at Suspilne Khmelnytskyi.

Orest Hryniuk, acting editor-in-chief of Suspilne Rivne, highlighted the importance of communication within teams and the value of sharing experiences:

“During the training, we discussed how to work effectively with hyperlocal journalists: how to motivate them, build communication, plan work, and find topics for filming. The experience of hyperlocal correspondents varies across different branches—for example, at Suspilne Rivne, such a team has been working for several years, while for some colleagues, it has only been about six months. At the same time, it was very valuable to share best practices and simply chat.”

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