The year 2024 marked the third consecutive year of full-scale war in Ukraine, characterized by ongoing hostilities, continued attacks on civilian areas, and sustained mobilization efforts. Media sector challenges persisted, primarily stemming from staff shortages and escalating financial instability.
Despite these challenges, local media outlets persevered, adapting their operations to overcome obstacles. Newsrooms continued to document the full-scale invasion while increasingly addressing topics related to daily life in response to audience demands. Concurrently, efforts to ensure sustainable development required a period of stabilization and institutional capacity building for media organizations.
This analysis “State of Local News in Ukraine 2025” is based on a comprehensive survey of independent local media across Ukraine, comprising 60 completed questionnaires and supplemented by 11 in-depth interviews. The findings were validated and interpreted with input from four experts specializing in media management, content, distribution, and HR processes.
The report examines persistent war-related risks in the media sector and provides a detailed review of publishers’ management challenges. This year’s study introduces an analysis of internal policy development. As in previous years, funding issues are addressed, and the research continues to explore content creation and audience distribution strategies.
Drawing from the collected data, we present concise recommendations for various stakeholders regarding the aspects of local media operations that have been studied. The report concludes with an overview of research methodologies and the project team.
This research was created and maintained with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Media Development Foundation and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
