Thread by @maksymeristavi

today was a good reminder for me that i should never be ashamed of practicing compassionate, empathetic journalism — because that’s actually how you do real service to your audience and invite them to relate

https://twitter.com/maksymeristavi/status/1545689310485159937

for years i’ve been contemplating of leaving journalism behind. i thought i was the problem — caring too much about the stories i cover, seeing personal stakes in them, building all these emotional bridges to people i’d feature

turns out the western idea of journalism that trained me is the real problem. this toxic, colonial straitjacket conditioning you for rigid emotional divorce from the stories you cover — borderline sociopathic

this utopian positioning of reporter as a superhuman capable of “objectivity” that in practice means indifference or emotional constipation or arrogance — or all at once. no healthy human brain works like that

with #UkrainianSpaces it became obvious for me that the best storytelling comes out when you make sure your speakers in a safe space, when they feel you relate, you care, you emphasize. when you laugh or cry with them. when you don’t feel like it is beyond you to agree with them

and even it happens you disagree or challenge them along the way, that trust and respect you’ve established through empathy allows us to continue an honest and productive conversation — something unheard for hyper polarized western journalism

thank you fellow ukrainians for making me falling in love with journalism once again. for inspiring me to find the ways to decolonize and harness it so i finally see the way how it can bring joy and service to both me and my audience. this is the future.

ukraine is future