The Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine has announced a list of 22 regional media outlets that will receive institutional support to boost the sustainability of their editorial teams.

The support will be provided as part of the program “Stronger Together: Media and Democracy” implemented by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in partnership with the Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine (AIRPU) and the Norwegian Media Businesses Association (MBL) with the support of the Norwegian government.

These 22 media outlets were selected from 234 applications received. The selection was carried out as an open competition. Applications were assessed by an independent commission including five media business experts.

The Institutional Support Program was created to help regional media outlets become financially stronger by teaching them sustainable business models and providing institutional grants. Program participants will be able to gain a better understanding of their audience, master new approaches to wartime monetization and post-war reconstruction, says the AIRPU.

The participants in the investigative journalism category selected within the Transparency and Anti-Corruption component will be announced later.