The 11th Donbas Media Forum will take place in Kyiv on 8–10 October. Registration is open until 2 October on the Forum’s website, www.dmf.dn.ua, or via the registration form: https://forms.gle/M6EeDLqmHzYX4kRr8. Join us and become part of the community shaping the future of Ukrainian journalism. The Forum is organized by the NGO DII-Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, with the support of international and Ukrainian partners.
This year’s Forum is centered around the theme: “I_MEDIA: by the human — for the human — about the human. How can we bring people, security, rights and dignity back into focus in a world of wars, geopolitics, pervasive AI and broken connections?” The world stands at a crossroads. The fight for human-centricity is far from over and the outcome is not certain. And in all of this, media face a choice: go with the flow — or push back and return the human to the centre. We tend to think of media as newsrooms, platforms, algorithms. But media are people. Someone who creates. Someone who is portrayed. Someone who listens. And often — it is the same person in different roles at the same time. That is why I_MEDIA is about each and every one of us. Another cross-cutting theme shaping the program is the question of people who remain invisible to the media — those living in the temporarily occupied territories.
The three-day program will feature around 60 events, including panel discussions and workshops taking place simultaneously across five spaces at the Forum venue. Participants will also be able to receive consultations from experts in various fields at the “Safety Corner”, watch documentaries created by journalists and discuss them with their creators, and explore a variety of thematic exhibitions presented by media organizations.
This year, the Forum will be held in person in Kyiv. Participants from other regions can apply for a travel grant that will partially or fully cover travel and accommodation expenses. The deadline for travel grant applications is 8 September. Those wishing to apply do not need to complete a separate form — they only need to fill in the additional section at the end of the general registration form on the Forum’s website.
“It is very important for us that the Forum continues to bring together diverse participants: representatives of large media outlets as well as small regional and hyperlocal media, representatives of relocated newsrooms, and media professionals from the temporarily occupied and frontline territories. Donbas Media Forum is a national forum with a regional heart, where the voices and experiences of its participants are what make the Forum truly special. Apply today, and see you at DMF 2026!” says Liubov Rakovytsia, Head of the DMF Organizing Committee.
Donbas Media Forum is an annual conference created by journalists for journalists. The Forum was first held in 2015, when, following the outbreak of Russia’s war in 2014, journalists from Donetsk and Luhansk regions were among the first to face new challenges in their professional work — from relocating newsrooms to covering developments along the frontline.
Each year, the Forum brought together an increasing number of media professionals from across Ukraine and around the world to discuss issues related to Donbas. In 2018, the Forum became a major platform for regional journalists and local media from across the country. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion, it became Ukraine’s largest media event. In 2025, the anniversary Forum featured 75 events attended by 1,426 participants. Today, Donbas Media Forum remains a national platform with a regional heart.
Over the years, the Forum has been held in Kyiv (2015, 2023, 2024, 2025), Mariupol (2016), Sviatohirsk (2017), Kharkiv (2018, 2019), online (2020, 2021) during the pandemic, and in Warsaw (2023) as part of DMF Global. Yet every year, one wish remains the same: to hold the Forum next year in its native Ukrainian Donetsk.
Official online platforms of the Forum:
- Website: https://dmf.dn.ua/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dmf.ukraine
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dmf.ukraine
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dmf.ukraine
- LinkedIn (English): https://www.linkedin.com/company/dmf-ukraine
- Website (English): https://dmf.dn.ua/eng
