Amidst the full-scale bombing alert, Alexis Gilli with other reporters and fixers take refuge in a bunker buried 10 feet underground in Ukraine. (Video courtesy: Alexis Gilli)
“Man, I’m sorry. I can’t take the exam tomorrow. I’ve got to go to Ukraine.” That’s the text message Alexis Gilli, an independent journalist from France, sent to his journalism professor at L’Ecole Du Journalisme de Nice in February 2022.
After telling his girlfriend, the 21-year-old Gilli grabbed his bulletproof vest and cameras and headed to the airport. He boarded a flight from Nice, in southern France, to Kyiv, Ukraine.
It was never a question whether he would cover the war. “It was a decision that was already made,” Gilli said. “It’s not like I had to think about it.”
Independent journalists often have to conduct their own research and establish local contacts before embarking on their reporting assignments. In some cases, unforeseen events like wars can erupt within a matter of minutes, leaving Gilli with little time to prepare. That's why he often opts to cross the border first and then build his network of sources on the ground.
COVID-19 added an extra layer of complexity for journalists like Gilli, with restrictions on travel and access to information making it even more difficult to do their work. “I wish I could have brought a bit more gear. I wasn't prepared enough. We'll never prepare enough,” Gilli lamented.
In today's media landscape, independent journalists are often facing challenges, including a lack of institutional support and legal protections that are typically afforded to their counterparts in established media outlets. As a result, they face a higher risk of harassment, arrest, violence and financial difficulties. Yet, these journalists continue to report on events in war zones and other sensitive regions.
It would not be the first time Gilli reported on conflict. Born and raised on a sailing boat, the world has been a playground for this young journalist. Gilli was forced to lock down at a hotel in Kashmir, India with a group of foreign correspondents when he was at a wedding shoot event for his commercial photography business in 2016. Their courage and determination to uncover the truth despite the danger amazed Gilli. That's when he realized that journalism was his true calling. He enrolled in a journalism program and started reporting in Somalia, among other places in Africa.
Gilli realized covering war in Ukraine would not be the same as the other general assignment stories he pursued on a daily basis in France. He found the experience of covering conflicts “extremely addicting.” The tension between Russia and Ukraine felt all too real to him as an European, and he expressed concern that many people did not fully understand how close the war could be.
Listen to Gilli talks about the freedom he chose to join a journey of fishing amid the war.
(Video courtesy: Alexis Gilli)
A war so close to home troubled him. “It’s about 26 hours of driving from Paris to Kyiv without traffic,” he said.
Gilli's trip to Kyiv didn't unfold as intended. On February 24, 2022, Ukraine haltedcivilian air traffic over Kyiv and Chişinău, Moldova due to Russia's full-scale invasion. Gilli's plane was diverted to Istanbul, Turkey.
Upon arrival, Gilli found himself in a precarious situation at the airport, carrying a backpack containing loads of bulletproof gear - items strictly prohibited in Turkey. As a freelance journalist with no institutional backing, Gilli faced a daunting situation with no one to turn to for help. “I was pissed, I wanted to get to Ukraine before everyone else. It’s a competitive market. You get to be the first.”
Gilli frantically searched for a way out. His frustration mounted when he learned that there were no direct flights to Moldova or Poland, the closest neighboring countries to Ukraine. He was desperate to leave Turkey.
He faced two choices: Take a flight to Moscow, Russia or Romania. Gilli had been stranded at the airport's international zone for a day and a half, and the situation in Ukraine was on the verge of escalating.
After much deliberation, Gilli eventually decided to head to Bucharest, Romania. From there, he hitchhiked, took buses, and rode in cars to cross through Moldova, finally arriving at the southern border of Ukraine after 30 hours of traveling. But that was just the beginning of his journey to cover the war.
On the other side of the border, as everyone else was going the other way, he hitchhiked with two Ukrainian women who had also hosted him for the night. He finally managed to reach Mykolaiv the next day, amid heavy shelling. It’s just the start of his 6-month embedment.
Despite the world becoming increasingly globalized and interconnected, with more pressing global issues and economic interdependence, international news coverage by the media appears to be on the decline. This was noted by Ethan Zuckerman, an associate faculty member at the Berkman Center at Harvard, during his talk at the 2010 TED Global conference of “How to Listen to Global Voices.”
According to Zuckerman, the US nightly news broadcasts had an average of 35% international news in the 1970s, but by the 2000s, it had dropped to 12-15%. This decline in coverage is due to many news organizations facing financial difficulties and needing to make cuts, which in turn reduces content and readership, which have increasingly focused on domestic news in order to attract viewers and advertisers, according to Pew Research center.
This has affected international coverage in the UK as well, with a research study by the Media Standards Trust showing that there were nearly 40% fewer international stories across four UK newspapers in 2009 compared to 1979, and the percentage of international news in these papers dropping from 20% to 11%.
Gilli filming in Ukraine. (Video courtesy: Alexis Gilli)
Media outlets are facing increasing challenges in supporting foreign bureaus, with many organizations experiencing budget cuts and closures. Philip Crowther, the Associated Press International Affiliate Correspondent, explains that “[big media companies] used to have a lot, much larger foreign bureaus and are now smaller.” This is due, in part, to the financial struggles faced by the industry, with media outlets not making significant profits in recent years. Crowther concludes that “there have been closures and that includes, a lot of the time, bureaus abroad.”
However, Crowther also sees a potential for growth in the industry, as media outlets adapt to the changing landscape. He describes the business as a "revolving door," with some organizations increasing their presence overseas. For example, The Washington Post, recently expanded its international coverage with the opening of bureaus in Sydney and Bogotá . These new bureaus bring the Post's total number of locations around the world to 26.
As the world becomes more interconnected, it's increasingly important for news outlets to have a global perspective. However, maintaining bureaus staffed by hundreds of reporters in every country is simply not financially feasible for most media organizations. This is where independent journalists come in, providing local knowledge and contacts that can be invaluable for uncovering stories that might otherwise go untold.
“It's the freelancers, a lot of the time, who know the place the best. Who've been covering [the story] for a long time before it became news item number one. And also who knows their way around.”
— Philip Crowther
According to Crowther, freelancers can provide unique insights and expertise that staff reporters might lack.
But while freelancers can provide an important service to news organizations, it's important to remember that they are independent contractors who may not necessarily want to become staff members. As a former freelance U.S. correspondent for France 24 and now a staff reporter for AP News, Crowther explains, “They might want to remain precisely that freelancers.”
Many journalists choose to remain independent, citing freedom as their primary reason. The freedom to pursue the truth without external influences or pressures is seen as essential for maintaining journalistic integrity. This freedom enables them to pursue stories that may not align with the perspectives or biases of a particular media outlet. However, independence comes with its own set of challenges.
As each day passes, journalists around the world continue to face attacks. In 2020 alone, UNESCO reported a staggering 274 journalists were imprisoned, marking the highest yearly total in 30 years. In a recent survey of female journalists, 73% reported they had been subjected to online violence because of their work.
The high number of imprisoned journalists and the prevalence of online violence are examples of the risks that independent journalists face. Many may struggle to find funding or stability for their work and may not have the same access to resources or networks as journalists working for prominent media organizations.
Even reporting on conflicts in areas that do not require heightened security measures, obtaining accurate information and conveying it to audiences demands a certain level of resources and support.
Crystal Chow, an investigative reporter based in Hong Kong, remains committed to freelancing. Despite the benefits of full-time employment opportunities, freelancing allows her to devote the necessary time and resources to produce in-depth, long-form reports, particularly in the field of environmental reporting.
“It's very difficult to survive as a freelance journalist full time in Hong Kong. I think, at one point, it really takes a huge toll on my mental health. Because I would constantly worry about whether or not I could pay my rent and know how this [job] can be sustained in the long term,” Chow says.
Five years ago, Chow was among the staff members laid off at Initium Media in the aftermath of financial struggles. Despite completing her master's degree in the UK with hopes of a new beginning in Hong Kong, she soon faced the harsh reality of the job market. However, her passion for storytelling compelled her to seek support from various outlets and fellowships.
Recently, the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2022 has shed light on the impact of the National Security Law's enactment in Hong Kong in 2020. The law has raised concerns about potential suppression of critical news coverage, which has resulted in police raids on the offices of digital news outlets Apple Daily and Stand News. The editors and executives of these outlets have been arrested on charges of endangering national security and publishing seditious material.
Other independent digital news outlets, including Initium, have relocated their headquarters to Singapore, and some public figures in Hong Kong have withdrawn their opinion columns from established newspapers. The situation has raised questions about the future of press freedom in Hong Kong and sparked global concern over the protection of journalists' rights and the freedom of speech.
“Obviously the whole media landscape is not going well in Hong Kong. Take Apple Daily for instance. The whole Next Digital media group, used to be one of the largest media organizations in Hong Kong. They used to employ hundreds of thousands of people. And it's like overnight all these jobs were gone.” Chow expressed how the closure and the political dynamics has affected her personally, with fewer opportunities and increased risk looming on the horizon. The media landscape in Hong Kong is clearly in a state of flux.
Staab prepares to fly a drone to provide aerial imagery of a destroyed civilian infrastructure as part of a needs assessment for reconstruction efforts in Ukraine in June 2022 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
(Photo courtesy: Maranie Staab)
Another independent photojournalist, Maranie Staab, based in Portland, Oregon, also flew into the war zone amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. She was embedded in Moldova, a country adjacent to the southern Ukrainian cities of Odessa and Mykolayiv, which have welcomed over 780,000 Ukrainian refugees.
As an independent journalist, navigating the world of international reporting can be an ambitious experience. When asked about the process, Staab said she figures things out as she goes along.
Staab and Gilli took contrasting approaches in their pursuit of stories. While Gilli may have prioritized finding the scoop, Staab preferred to establish connections with non-profit organizations such as World Central Kitchen. By pitching story ideas about these institutions, Staab built relationships that would prove useful in her reporting. In some cases, she addresses “it's increasingly common to hire local journalists who have the expertise and connections in their respective countries.”
When she started doing international work, she took on a lot of responsibilities, from purchasing plane tickets to conducting research and deciding which stories to pursue. It was a solo effort. Oftentimes, Staab found stories on her own and attempted to get them published by pitching to multiple media. While partnering with a nonprofit or NGO can be helpful in introducing potential story ideas and getting reimbursed for work, it doesn't always pay all the expense.
Staab founded her photography enterprise to finance her genuine, on-the-ground reports and has successfully amassed a small yet devoted following on the internet. Starting from a facebook post almost a decade ago, and has culminated in her most recent newsletter, exclusively available on Patreon — a membership-based platform for content creators.
Subscribers of her Patreon page pay a nominal monthly fee to unlock access to her captivating storytelling, which is priced about a cup of coffee. “The idea is to exchange and to share information and stories with them and then to receive feedback. And I may offer things like mentoring, and I want it to feel like they can know the person behind the stories that are being shared, ” explains Staab.
Yet, all the income from the side jobs are going to be spent like running water in the war zone.
As counterintuitive as it may sound that the cost of living would be cheap. Ever since the conflict began, the Ukrainian hryvnia, the official currency of the country, has experienced a significant downturn, losing almost 18% of its value; it's a little more than 1/50 of a US dollar.
For journalists working in war zones, that's often the case. Especially when you are lucky enough to live with the welcoming native families for free.
Gilli climbing on debris and filming in Ukraine. (Video courtesy: Alexis Gilli)
Reporters such as Gilli and Staab often rely on local stringers or fixers to handle logistics like transportation, lodging and other necessary services. Depending on the specific requirements of the assignment, the cost of these services can exceed 300 euros per day. Gilli said that covering the human stories of the conflict requires hiring a translator and fixer to make connections for him. The most expensive ones are often those who can speak Russian.
“In Syria, they were charging around a thousand euros per day, and in Afghanistan, it's still around two grand a day,” Gilli explains, noting that the cost of hiring fixers can vary based on the location and level of danger involved.
Sometimes all the hard work doesn’t get paid instantly. “I got paid like six months later for most of my deals, which was really tricky because you have to put down 10 or 20 grand and get that money back six months later. It's difficult,” Gilli spent about 10,000 euros for his six-month Ukraine trip.
And while the cost of living may be low, there are still risks involved. “It's going to cost a lot of money for drivers and fixers. And at the end of the day, these are the guys going to be risking their lives to get you to the amazing stories in the frontline,” says Gilli. Sometimes it costs 200 euros for a single car ride from southern Ukraine to Kyiv.
Gilli has returned to Paris, France and continues to produce long-form video stories. However, his journalistic duties have already called him back to the field. Just an hour after wrapping up an interview around 11 p.m Gilli received word of a mass shooting in Hamburg, Germany. He packed his reporting bags and hit the road. Despite the fatigue that had already set in, Gilli remained committed to his storytelling. “I really wish I could have caught some sleep,” he sighed.
