Media Mobolization Gathered Christian Journalists from All Over Ukraine
The Media Mobilization conference of journalists, bloggers, Internet activists, and workers of church press services has come to an end. The number of participants was twofold of what the organizers’ expected: instead of 120 delegates, over 200 people came to the conference. And not only Ukrainians showed interested in this event – participants from Russia, Germany, and Kazakhstan joined the conference.
The Christian Media Mobilization conference was initiated by the Young Christians Union of Ukraine and the Spiritual Revival associations of Internet evangelists (AIY). The Religious Information Service of Ukraine was the general media partner of the conference.
The conference consisted of four thematic blocks: trends and challenges of the modern age, mobilization and lobbyism, the innovative Gospel, and journalism mastery. The participants learned about world trends, the possibilities of using social media to lobby their initiatives in politics, innovative forms of evangelization, conducting informational campaigns, and overall strengthening their journalistic level. Secular journalists and editors spoke to the young Christians about how best the church can establish cooperation with the mass media, which is one of the most important tasks of church press services.
One of the main events of the conference was the talk show “Sharp Corners of Christian Journalism,” which was organized by RISU and CREDO. During the talk show, in the presence of colleagues and like-minded people, Christians reviewed the main problems that religious journalists encounter in their activity.
Some of the famous and distinguished experts that spoke at the conference included: People’s Deputy of Ukraine Lesia Orobets; head of the marketing department of the network DC Ihor Didok; leader of the national youth organization Foundation of Regional Initiatives, expert in oblast government-relations Vitalij Shabunin; special correspondent of the newspaper Komersant-Ukraine Oleh Havrysh; editor of the Catholic social and religious periodical CREDO Mykola Myshovskyj; directory of RISU Taras Antoshevskyy; director of the online communication agency Madison Artem Zelenyj; editor and leader of the PR school of RISU, Olena Kulyhina; founder of the Christian school of theology Mykola Malukha; and others.
This was the third professional conference that was initiated by the Young Christians Union of Ukraine. Meetings of Christian doctors and Christian lawyers were held earlier.
“How can we use our professions to not only provide for our daily bread, but to serve God and the people? How much can be done to spread His influence in our society, being high class professionals? What real changes can take place in our country, when thousands of talented, young believers will develop professionally and spiritually, become nationally recognized experts, remaining “agents of influence of His Grandeur,” said Rostyslav Semikov, the deputy head of the Young Christians Union of Ukraine.
“The majority of the Christians perceive, like earlier, the church as an institute, at the time when humanity entered the epoch of networks – social and informational. In such conditions media service must use all the new possibilities and become an important witness of the Church in the decentralized and deinstitutionalized world,” said in his report Mykhajlo Cherenkov, the vice president of the Spiritual Revival, at the same time underlining the importance for the church to actively develop media services and use the possibilities of modern means of communication in evangelical work.
As one of the co-organizers of the conference, journalist and blogger Mykola Malukha says Media Mobilization is the best event from the media that is organized by Protestants in the post-Soviet space.
“First of all, the speakers are very qualified...They are all leaders in their spheres, in their environments. No one has seen such a concentration of speakers (at least not in Ukraine).”
This opinion is shared by the participants. “For me, as a new journalist, this conference had great meaning. More than 30 speakers, successful in their fields, gave plenty of valuable advice on how a journalist should work. The world does not stay in one place and it is very important to follow its tendencies. People spend more and more time on the worldwide network. The church, which throughout its entire existence was an innovator in various spheres, here started to lose its position.
“This conference helped us understand just how important it is for us Christians to gain the media space. I can’t even imagine where, if not at Media Mobilization, I could receive so much valuable information. I also had the chance to network with members of the conference, who, by the way, gathered in an unexpected quantity. This attests that Media Mobilization is a first-rate conference. I was left with countless ideas and only the best impressions,” Serhij Panonenko from Nova Kakhova told RISU.
Oleksij Shyshkov, a pastor from St. Petersburg, with “jealously” notes that Russians should learn church communication in Ukraine, and that is why they came to Ukraine for experience.
“This was a long-awaited chance for professionals to communicate. And the lectures were exceptional, and the seminars…We have grown, that’s what it’s all about. And we are confidently moving forward,” notes Olena Morkenchuk, an honored journalist of Ukraine. “Five years ago the idea of hold meetings for Christian journalists was first discussed. Three years ago we seriously reflected on whether Internet projects were necessary and discussed “improving” printed publications. A year and a half ago it seemed that the ideas of Christian materials penetrating the pages of the secular mass media were revolutionary. And today we were taught how to really work with a website, to make podcasts, organize PR campaigns, and lobby the interests of Christians – and this is perceived as normal, as ‘nothing new.’ This is what progress means!”
