On April 6, Women in Media conducted a sensitive journalism training for the Hromadske Radio team, focused on responsible coverage of socially significant topics.
More than 20 participants joined from across the newsroom — hosts, producers, editors, the SMM team, and other staff.
The training covered key approaches to sensitive journalism, including:
- what sensitivity in journalism means and how it connects to equality, diversity, and inclusion;
- how to identify high-sensitivity topics and cover them without oversimplification or distortion;
- risk markers such as generalizations, stereotypes, emotionally charged language, and vague sourcing;
- the impact of headlines, leads, and visuals on audience perception;
- correct terminology and the avoidance of hate speech;
- the risks of doxing, victim-blaming, and manipulative framing;
- and the role of editorial policies and standards in ensuring non-discriminatory content.
Special attention was given to countering gender-based online violence against women journalists — including how media outlets can avoid amplifying harmful narratives, and how to respond to attacks and support colleagues.
Viktoria Yermolayeva, Editor-in-Chief of Hromadske Radio and the initiator of the training, said: “Hromadske Radio is a transparent organization. We work every day guided by our Editorial Charter, Code of Ethics, security and gender policies, feedback response policy, and AI policy — all of which we publish openly. That is precisely why it matters to us to regularly revisit these standards in practice, including through trainings like this one, so they don’t remain just documents but actually function in day-to-day journalism.”
Vlad Bundash, Executive Producer of Hromadske Radio, added: “A long track record as an independent media outlet is a sign of its competitiveness, its ability to hold an audience and stay relevant in a complex information environment. That’s impossible without constant development, because journalism changes alongside society, the war, new challenges, and shifting audience sensitivities. Training, workshops, and regular returns to standards and ethics are not just a prerequisite for maintaining professionalism — they are a condition for continuous improvement.”
Liza Kuzmenko, head of Women in Media NGO, member of the Commission on Journalistic Ethics, and the trainer for the session, stressed: “As online violence against women journalists and gendered disinformation continue to grow, it is especially important that media outlets stop reproducing harmful narratives and instead become spaces of accountability, support, and professional standards.”
In a time of full-scale war, social polarization, and information attacks, responsible and sensitive journalism is not merely a matter of professional standards — it is an element of public safety. Audience trust and resilience to manipulation depend directly on how media outlets frame, explain, and present reality.
Hromadske Radio is an independent media outlet and one of the few non-commercial, non-state talk-and-news radio stations in Ukraine. Its broadcast network reaches over half a million listeners weekly. It is available on the following frequencies: Kyiv — 99.4 FM, Kherson — 94.4 FM, Nikopol — 91.5 FM, Mykolaiv — 88.3 FM, Kramatorsk — 90.9 FM, Chernihiv — 105.9 FM, and Sumy — 88.6 FM. In addition to broadcasting, Hromadske Radio operates as a multimedia news platform spanning on-air, web, and digital channels.
Women in Media NGO regularly conducts newsroom trainings, helping outlets adopt sensitive and ethical approaches in their work. If your team is interested, reach out at ngo.womeninmedia@gmail.com.
This was held with the support of the Dutch Foreign Ministry as part of the project “Strengthening the Resilience of Women Journalists in Ukraine: Combating Online Violence and Gendered Disinformation,” implemented by the Women in Media NGO.