OPINION: Where’s the Ukrainian Media Where It Matters?

As the Ukraine Recovery Conference takes place in Rome, one glaring omission should trouble anyone who cares about the country’s future: the near-total absence of Ukraine’s devastated media sector from the agenda.

While tourism and sport were given space on the program, there was no dedicated session to address the state of Ukrainian media—despite repeated appeals over the past two years to senior officials in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s circle, including Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

Their responses? Shrugs and stonewalling.

The toll on Ukraine’s media sector is staggering: dozens of journalists killed, more than 300 outlets shuttered, entire newsrooms displaced or destroyed, and a dramatic collapse in advertising revenues.

Russian missiles have even targeted media infrastructure, including attacks on the Channel 5 TV channel and a media training center in Kyiv during this very conference.

To make matters worse, President Zelensky’s government-controlled “telemarathon”—a wartime broadcasting initiative—has siphoned resources and audiences away from independent outlets, further weakening the ecosystem that once served as a vibrant check on power.

This isn’t just a media story — it’s a democracy story. A coalition of 45 Ukrainian and international media organizations, including Reporters Without Borders, published an open letter condemning the exclusion of media from URC2025’s main program.

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“The lack of any dedicated session... sends a troubling and deeply concerning message,” the letter reads. “Media must be part of the recovery conversation. Not at the sidelines—at the center.”

They’re right. As I wrote in The New York Times, a majority of Ukrainians cite corruption as their second-biggest concern after Russian aggression. A free and independent media is the best antidote to corruption—and a crucial pillar of any serious reconstruction effort.

Investors, donors, and the Ukrainian public all depend on the media to provide transparency and accountability. To sideline the sector at a recovery conference is not just shortsighted, it’s reckless.

There can be no meaningful reconstruction without a robust, independent press. The media must not be an afterthought. It must be at the table.

Reprinted with the author’s permission from his Word Briefing blog. See the original here.

The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.