Analytical platform VoxConnector will be bringing content and access to expertise for local media. Increased and more quality coverage of reforms progress is the ultimate goal.
Analytical platform VoxConnector will connect experts specializing in economic reforms with regional media. “Not to let reforms regress, they need to be legitimized among the wide public. We do not know how to talk to people and how to bring the opinion of quality experts to them. VoxConnector is to connect the expertise of analytical experts and media at regional level,” said Borys Davydenko, VoxUkraine editor-in-chief during the presentation at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
VoxConnector will bring content and expertise to the regional level as well as will be selecting local media. “We received 65 applications from local media in a week. They are our main partner. We will be boosting our reach gradually. We plan to reach the 200 mark. Our choice will be based on the audience reach figure as well as the on media’s enthusiasm in the framework of the project,” said VoxConnector manager Kyrylo Yesin. One million readers is the target reach figure planned to be achieved in 2017. Local editorial offices will be provided with comments, op-ed materials, video commentary as well as infographics. “We will be doing it on a daily basis targeting daily publications. We will prepare commentary packs for printed and online media,” explained VoxConnector editor Galyna Kalachova.
In addition to providing materials, feedback is also foreseen. VoxConnector will be also explaining developments on demand, based on ad-hoc requests from regional media. “Feedback is important to us not only to understand if the text that we’ve prepared is interesting or not, but also for us to understand what needs to be improved, what we should be looking at. It will be more efficient,” said Glib Vyshlinskyi, executive director of the Center for Economic Strategy, board member of the Reanimation Package of Reforms.
Readers in the regions are mostly interested in how reforms will affect people. “Interest at regional level is with local topics. There is a huge gap between what’s being topical at national level and at local one,” explained Taras Borosovsky, deputy chief editor of “20 minutes. Zhytomyr” (“20 khvylyn. Zhytomyr). Another problem is lack of interest on the part of Kyiv-based experts to cooperate with regional media. They accept invitations from central TV channels more willingly than those to write up a column for a regional newspaper. “Talking to regional journalists we fear that it is quite hard to write about reforms there. Owners do not allow writing on positive developments, they consider it being PR. It’s not that the developments we have are always negative. There are positive ones advancing and we need to spread the word on them,” added Iryna Solomko, head of communications department at the Reanimation Package of Reforms.
