Editor’s note: The Fix is running a series of articles on different jobs in the news industry. Typically we speak with media managers who lead different functions in the newsroom or on the business / operations side – but this edition is different. Although Ukrainian journalist Nastya Stanko used to lead a large newsroom before the full-scale war, she is now a war correspondent reporting from the frontlines of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We asked her to describe what the job is like and offer advice to other war journalists.

There are currently 32 countries around the world that are facing conflicts and wars of various types and magnitudes. The job of a war correspondent is invaluable as they risk their lives to report stories about the military conflict, its aftermath, and the people affected.

The profession demands more than just journalistic skills. It requires unique qualities like courage, empathy, and a profound understanding of the situation in which events unfold. The war correspondent must report accurately and ethically without causing harm or further trauma to military personnel or civilians.

To shed light on this work, we spoke with Nastya Stanko, a prominent Ukrainian war journalist, who has been covering Russia’s aggression against Ukraine since 2014 and, after a few years of serving as a newsroom leader at Hromadske, returned to being a full-time war reporter in 2022.

What a war correspondent does

Anastasia (Nastya) Stanko is a freelance journalist who produces video reports and articles for Hromadske and foreign media outlets.

Stanko was one of Hromadske’s founders a decade ago, when the digital broadcasting outlet emerged as a leading independent voice covering Ukraine’ pro-democracy protests. She covered Russian aggression since its start in 2014 and even was briefly taken hostage by Russia-backed terrorists in eastern Ukraine. Stanko was Hromadske’s chief editor from 2020 to 2021 and left the organisation citing family reasons, including the birth of her child, but she returned to working as a war reporter in early 2022 with the start of Russia’s all-out invasion.

Over the past 1.5 years, Stanko has reported from Bakhmut, Kherson, Izum, Kupyansk, Lyman, and other places. She takes on responsibilities of her choosing and collaborates with Hromadske’s team during filming.

Her planning process for a trip to the frontline can take up to a week, and they publish approximately three reports after each trip. “I fully plan the shoot: the location, accommodation, who we are visiting, the route, who meets us, how we get there, who we contact, what we discuss. This means I keep the entire picture of what’s happening on the frontline in my mind,” explains Stanko.

She handles most tasks independently and shows the material to editors and the military for approval before releasing it. “We transcribe, communicate with the military and show them our materials to avoid revealing their positions. It is crucial not to jeopardise their lives,” says Stanko. “We are checking whether something has changed with the troops [since we recorded the material]. Unfortunately, we have had such cases where, upon returning from the frontline, we would edit the report and then discover that one of the people we interviewed had passed away by the time we finished,” she continues.

“There's another important nuance in what we do. We document the crimes committed by the Russians, and then all this becomes part of the criminal proceedings. This way we demonstrate that [Russian atrocities] are not the stories made up by the Ukrainians, that they did actually happen,” Stanko said while speaking at the ІХ LMF, a recent media conference in Lviv.

Stanko never imagined becoming a war correspondent until the war came to her country. She explains that she did not want to go to Iraq or Syria to cover other wars. “When people called me a war correspondent in 2014-15, I thought, ‘Why a war correspondent? The war is right here. What else should I film?’.”

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The most time-consuming responsibilities

Stanko explains that coordinating with the military press officers is the most time-consuming aspect of her work, which involves planning and finalising materials.

Transcribing the materials also takes a lot of time, and she prefers to do it herself to ensure accuracy. For instance, transcribing six and a half hours of footage took her 2-3 days, but she considers it necessary.

The work is intense during shoots, often starting at 4-5 AM, and sometimes requiring spending nights in military shelters. Stanko recounts staying in a basement with the military for three nights to avoid attracting attention. She says, “It's a safe place to sleep and where we spend most of our time.”

Daily work from home and travelling to the frontline

When Stanko works from home, she wakes up in the morning, prepares breakfast for her family, and then spends 2-3 hours walking with her child. When the child falls asleep, she prepares lunch. The nanny arrives after that, and she has three hours to work. Her husband takes over caring for their son when he comes home, and she can continue working.

However, when Stanko goes to the frontline, her day looks different. They usually leave early, coordinating with the military to pick them up from the agreed location and take them to their positions. They shoot for the whole day and sometimes at night if there’s enough lighting. After a day of shooting, they try to do some laundry and get some sleep before setting off early in the morning again. “It's a very intense working time where we work 10-12 hours daily. But that's what I like about this job,” says Stanko.

Why Stanko stays in the profession

As a war journalist, Stanko often questions why she continues to put her life on the line by going to the warzone and leaving her two-year-old child. “It is extremely difficult to leave, and equally challenging to return and communicate with family, as these are entirely distinct worlds,” she explains.

However, she finds inspiration in the incredible and unique people she encounters while working. Stanko speaks of the heroes she meets, “They are always there. You don't have any doubts that they exist. For example, there's the story of Kyrylo from Luhansk. He's fighting despite having lived under occupation since childhood for 8 years. He could have been broken, but he remains a person who believes in his country and not just believes – he is defending it.”

To Stanko, it is essential to share these stories so that people are aware of the reality. Despite the challenges and risks involved, Stanko feels she is doing what she does best and hopes her work makes a difference.

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Challenges of a war correspondent

Stanko says she faces three significant challenges:

First, she often places herself in immediate danger to capture the reality of war, which is a scary prospect.
Second, journalists are not always granted access to military locations, hindering comprehensive coverage of the situation.
Third, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff may have differing views on how to cover the war, and obtaining permits to film certain types of troops or equipment can take a lot of work. These challenges, unfortunately, limit what she can include in her reports.

Preparation for war journalists involves several aspects:

Be prepared to invest time. Sometimes capturing a report or writing an article may require several weeks of preparation, organisation, and coordination of details.

Understand the military structure. You need to understand who is responsible for what in your work area. This may include knowledge of military administration, operational command, different sectors, officer personnel, and various brigades.
Manage limitations and obstacles. For example, you cannot go to any village near the frontline. There may be checkpoints, and you need a press card from military authorities. You need to know where and when you can access specific locations.
Update information continuously. Conditions on the ground can change rapidly, so you must constantly update your information and be prepared to adapt quickly.
Develop skills and experience gradually. You need to start small in safer places and gradually improve your knowledge and understanding of the situation.
Know the local communication system. This may include knowing who the press officers are, which communication channels to use (e.g. phone calls or Telegram), and whom to contact for specific requests.

Recommendations for people interested in war journalism

If you're interested in war journalism, it’s essential to have empathy and humanity to report on the harsh realities of war, Stanko believes. Courage is also necessary, but it’s not enough on its own. You need to have a cool mind and know your limits, as the risks of injury or death are there.

Becoming a war journalist requires professional skills and inner readiness. War journalism demands great responsibility and a balance between information and ethics. Stanko emphasises the importance of taking an ethical approach in all aspects of war journalism, from interacting with people on the front lines to publishing content.

If you’re looking for resources to help you better understand war journalism, consider checking out:

War on the Rocks podcast
biography “In Extremis: The Life of War Correspondent Marie Colvin”
documentary ”20 Days in Mariupol”

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