Local news organizations are facing threats in multiple parts of the world, but is the trend irreversible? Two prominent researchers will dive into the economic, technological and sociological drivers...
Daryna Shevchenko
Daryna Shevchenko is CEO of The Kyiv Independent and a partner at Jnomics media consultancy in Ukraine.
Daryna has over 12 years of experience as a media manager, journalist, editor, media trainer and media consultant with a focus on HR, fundraising, strategic and operational management. For six years Daryna worked as a news feed editor and journalist for Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper Kyiv Post. In 2013 she co-founded a media development NGO - Media Development Foundation (MDF) - and ran it for three years as an executive director. Within her MDF work she created Ukraine's biggest mentorship and exchange program, sending aspiring journalists for internships at newsrooms across the country. The program still works both nationally and internationally. She also worked as a head of the investigative journalism department at Ukraine's National TV channel ZIK and ran a nationwide project on investigative journalism development with the media NGO Regional Press Development Institute.
In 2018 Daryna joined Slidstvo.Info - one of the best investigative agencies in Ukraine - as an executive producer, working on production operations, fundraising and strategic development of the organization. In 2019 Daryna joined Jnomics media consultancy as a partner and worked with over a dozen media outlets in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia helping them build sustainable business models, adjust their operations and create relevant development strategies.
In late 2021 Daryna took on a CEO position at The Kyiv Independent, Ukraine's most influential English-language media outlet. The publication was founded by the Kyiv Post editorial staff fired from the paper for defending editorial independence and Jnomics media consultancy. Within 8 months of its existence The Kyiv Independent has raised nearly 3 million dollars in funding and became a go-to source for information on Ukraine as the war started.
Events IJF 2025
With more than 1,000 days of full-scale war in Ukraine, the largest war in Europe this century, media outlets face the growing challenge of 'Ukraine fatigue'—a decline in audience engagement and cov...
When anything can happen: lessons in planning for the unknown from a wartime newsroom
Uncertainty is a challenge faced by every media organization—whether it’s due to global conflicts, economic instability, or shifting audience dynamics. The Kyiv Independent has had to learn how to...
At last year’s IJF, one independent news editor said “We are being trained to death, but that’s the only way we can access funding.” The viability of independent media relies on long-term str...
You’re under attack. Your country is at war. Your community needs your reporting now more than ever. How do you pivot to ensure you can continue to serve the information they need? Three editors and...
The Kyiv Independent: a Ukrainian media startup’s unprecedented success during war
The Kyiv Independent was founded in November 2021 by a group of journalists who were fired from their newspaper by a local oligarch for defending editorial independence. When Russia invaded Ukraine in...
The tumultuous events of the past 2 years - war in Ukraine, a crushed revolution in Belarus, a last gasp for Russia's independent media - have left the CEE media struggling to adapt. Audiences have b...
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: how local journalists are telling the story for their communities and the world
As Russian troops invaded Ukraine, advancing through the country, local journalists played a crucial role not only providing real-time life-saving information for their communities but also telling th...
You’re under pressure. You have to pivot. What’s the key? Founders, editors and publishers from the IPI global network take you under the bonnet of their audience-centred business models powering ...
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