War Coverage in Ukraine: The Roles and Practices of Central and Eastern European Journalists Reporting on the Russian Invasion

• In Event: Media Discourses of War and Politics: Perspectives from Bulgaria and Ukraine

Abstract

This study explores the professional roles and practices of foreign correspondents reporting on the war in Ukraine for Eastern and Central European media organizations. While foreign correspondents for major Western media have professional teams in Ukraine, journalists from smaller outlets in Central and Eastern Europe operate with small crews and limited resources. Reporting from Ukraine is essential for these media organizations, as their countries either border Ukraine and Russia, or are geographically near the war. The “hierarchy-of-influences” framework (Shoemaker & Reese, 1996) offers a valuable perspective for examining the factors that shape foreign correspondents’ news gathering and their (self-)perception of their role. Through semi-structured interviews this study intends to answer the following questions: What influences the reporting of foreign correspondents covering Ukraine from Central and Eastern European countries, and how do they define their role as journalists reporting on the war for media in their home country?

Author

• Teodora Trifonova, U of Missouri - Columbia