Especially in light of the war in Ukraine, the demand for Russian-language media coverage in Lithuania is constantly increasing. The cooperation between NewsSpectrum Fellow Denis Kisinevskij from the regional news outlet Atvira Klaipėda and Delfi Lithuania expanded the reporting capacity of both media when it comes to coverage of topics relevant for the Russian-speaking minority in Lithuania.
During his short-term placement at Delfi’s Russian-language news service, Denis produced around 20 interviews and stores related to the sociopolitical and cultural life in the region of Klaipėda, a port city in Lithuania. These included shorter articles and longer reads. Denis was also involved in creating videos for a daily show and proofreading the news feed, while also working as a special correspondent on projects related to national minorities.
Klaipėda has a significant Russian-speaking community. With Denis’s input, Delfi’s team gained valuable insights into the core topics relevant to the audience in the area, which helped them later improve their reporting from the region.
Within a few months of this fellowship, Atvira Klaipėda increased the volume of its published content by 45 percent. They have also increased the number of national news stories and have opened the Atvira Klaipėda Telegram channel.
At the same time, Denis had an opportunity to experience how one of the largest newsrooms in Lithuania works on a daily basis – what the usual workflow is and how they select, analyze, and publish information. Delfi has an extensive network of partners and contributors, which allowed Denis to make new contacts and establish professional connections with relevant experts, contributors and analysts countrywide.