“All in One”: Colmena for the Media in Ukraine

Four media outlets in Ukraine have been part of the Colmena community since September, sharing a single vision: to use the open-source software for the entire process of producing journalistic content.

For the media, this means simplifying their workflow by no longer relying on multiple applications such as Telegram or Google Docs for the exchange of ideas and the production of news pieces. By using Colmena, journalists can plan, discuss, and share stories between the team, as well as record, edit and transmit content from a single place.

Zakhar Davydenko’s shelter

Reporting from Ukraine is currently a challenge. After the recent Russian attacks, there were power blackouts across the country, as well as severe damage to the energy infrastructure. This has a major impact on the media, especially on freelance journalists who report from home and have limited resources to carry out their work. They must save on battery power for their phones and laptops and work without an Internet connection.

An example of the reality in Ukraine is that of Zakhar Davydenko, a journalist for Radio Culture. He interviewed Ukrainian author-turned-soldier, Artem Chapeye, inside a bomb shelter during the siren of an air raid in Lviv, western Ukraine. Newsmen like him report from the basements of their homes during the threats of missile attacks.

“The time and effort of Ukrainian journalists to create content is now more valuable than ever. We expect Colmena to simplify the audio creation process and enable media outlets to produce content more efficiently and with fewer or no additional tools.”

says Oleksandra Marchenko, Coordinator of Colmena in Ukraine.

The Colmena community of practice in Ukraine consists of Suspilne, Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine, Radio Culture, the founder of an independent regional media outlet in western Ukraine, Volyn Online, and an independent podcaster.

The Colmena application continues to be developed so that more and more media outlets can make use of it. The Ukrainian team has already conducted a first evaluation and is now testing the audio recording and text editing options to further improve the software. Thus, journalists like Zakhar will soon be able to benefit from it.

To find out more about Colmena, contact us at info@colmena.media.  

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