Blog-cafe “Military woman and veteran woman in the focus of the media”

On June 4, the Zaporizhia Polytechnic National University hosted a blog cafe called “A Military Woman and a Veteran in the Focus of the Media.” Students and teachers of the Faculty of Social Sciences gathered together to discuss how the media portrays women at war.

The blog cafe was moderated by Olena Poda, ambassador of the “Together We Can” project. The focus is on problems that are often silenced: the stereotyped nature of the content, and sometimes the complete ignoring of the real experience of women defenders.

During the discussion “Media content about women at war: production of stereotypes or steps towards the truth?” important issues were discussed:
— are Ukrainian media ready to create high-quality materials about women defenders and veterans
— what does the audience want to see
— what topics should be covered, even if the audience is not ready?

The participants sought answers, discussed, argued, and definitely became more attentive to the media narratives that shape our society.

The event was held within the framework of the Empowerment Program for Public Leaders in Ukraine project, which is implemented by the NGO “Social Interaction”, NU “Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic” in cooperation with the NGO “Human Rights Foundation” (Kyiv) with the support of the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany. 

Listen, understand, don’t be silent: building a new culture of communication.