Anastasiia Romashko on Ukrainian and Diaspora Journalism, and Resilence

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/12/19

Anastasiia Romashko is a Ukrainian journalist and media professional whose career spans radio, social media, and television production across Ukraine, Switzerland, and Canada. She began in the press centres of the Ivan Bohun Military Lyceum and the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, covering defence, education, and international economic cooperation. During the full-scale war, she returned home, training live on local radio and hosting programmes that highlighted volunteers and civic resistance. After moving to Canada, she joined Kontakt Ukrainian Television Network, where she works across content creation and assistant production, focusing on community information, social impact projects, and diaspora engagement.

This interview with Scott Douglas Jacobsen traces Anastasiia Romashko’s path from student internships in Ukrainian press centres to her current work with Kontakt Ukrainian Television Network in Canada. She reflects on learning the craft of live broadcasting in a small hometown radio station during the full-scale war, when she reported on volunteers, defence efforts, and local civic life. Romashko then compares academic training in Kyiv and Zurich, explains her shift into social media management and assistant production, and describes projects that support newly arrived Ukrainians. Throughout, she highlights resilience, community service, and the distinctive sensibilities of Ukrainian and diaspora media cultures in her practice.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How long have you been involved in media?

Anastasiia Romashko: I finished my studies six years ago. When I completed university—and even during my studies—I had already begun working in media. I have been involved in media for approximately six years.

My first experience was through internships in the military education system. The first place was the Ivan Bohun Military Lyceum, where I interned at the press center. I covered various events and activities at the Lyceum, including matters related to the Armed Forces as well as the students’ education and daily life. After that, I spent some time at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, again working in the press center. That role focused more on international relations between countries.

Different countries presented proposals to Ukraine to develop manufacturing and related sectors, and I covered these initiatives for a period of time. Then the COVID-19 pandemic began, and I had to move. After COVID, we faced the full-scale phase of the war. When the full-scale invasion started, I moved back to my home city. I was not very occupied there, so I decided to look for practical media work, especially since my studies mostly involved internships and I wanted real professional experience in journalism. The only real option in my hometown was the local radio station.

I had no prior experience in radio, so it was my first time working in that format. I sent them an email with an audio recording we had made for a media class at the university. In the email, I wrote that I was looking for practice, an internship, or any available work. I attached my recording and said they could listen to it, and that I was open to volunteering or working, depending on what suited them. They replied within a couple of days and invited me for a technical interview. 

I went there. It is a small radio station—the only one we have in my hometown. It covers the city and parts of the Cherkasy region. It was a very enjoyable experience for me because I had never worked at a radio station before. The team consisted mainly of the owner and founder, Vitaliy Slobodianyk, and the main host, Nataliia Zhyrna under the pen name Viktoriia Solodka. They effectively became my teachers; they taught me how to think and work in a live broadcasting environment. 

I began by doing live broadcasts, mostly covering the morning and daily news. As I became more comfortable speaking live—knowing that everyone in the city could hear me in their cars or at home—we created a couple of morning programs. In these programs, we invited guests for interviews and discussions: politically engaged people from the region, activists, and volunteers. 

This was during the war, so our main focus was on war-related events and on people supporting the defense effort and helping civilians. It was a meaningful experience for me, and working at the radio significantly improved my confidence in live public speaking.

Jacobsen: Would you consider the live experience or the academic training to be more important to your development as a journalist?

Romashko: I tried to catch everything from every side. It is always better to hear from different people, because if you know someone, they will definitely be more loyal to you than someone from outside. It is better to hear each person, make your own conclusions, and compare. I was open to criticism.

After the radio, I decided to go to Switzerland to study because my university had an exchange program. It was technically my fourth year. In my final year, I moved to Switzerland and studied at the University of Zurich.

We had almost the same program there as in Kyiv—journalism and media communication. I had classes once in the morning in Zurich and then again in the evening in Kyiv. If I contrast studying in Kyiv and in Zurich, I would say that in terms of information, Zurich gave less theoretical content. What I really liked, however, was that they used more modern examples, books, and materials—things you can genuinely use in journalistic work. Back home, the university focused more on foundational basics that you should definitely know, but you may not apply them in real professional work.

When I finished studying, I decided to move to Canada. At first, I did not look for media jobs because I was overwhelmed by the need to find a “real job” that fit me. During that time, my friend Denis found a job at a Ukrainian media outlet here—Kontakt Ukrainian Television Network. He asked whether I wanted to join, but I was not sure, because it is difficult to compare two different jobs and decide.

When I started researching the media landscape here—what they do and how they work—I remembered that when we were planning to move to Canada, my first thought was that maybe I could find something similar to what I had back home, like a radio station. I really like the radio. It is the kind of media I enjoy working in; it does not bore or tire me. It feels natural to me.

So I checked whether there were any Ukrainian radio stations in Canada. When you search for Ukrainian radio in Canada, you find Kontakt Ukrainian Radio. Unfortunately, it closed a couple of years ago, but the website had not been updated, so I thought it still existed, though it does not.

When I finally decided to join Kontakt, I actually started as a social media manager. Well, first I started as a reporter, because I prepared a couple of reports for them. But I am not a fan of being on camera, so I looked for something more suitable and interesting for myself within the media sphere and the television network. I talked to the producer, Uliana, and she offered me the role of social media manager. I would be responsible for Instagram, videos, reels, and similar content. I thought it was a good opportunity to learn something new, especially since I had never worked in social media management before.

It became more interesting for me to create engaging content and to promote different projects or other people’s materials rather than producing reports myself. It was a fun time. I believe the first large amount of work I received was connected to the festival—the Bloor West Village Ukrainian Festival 2024. That was my first experience trying myself as a real content creator and social media manager. We created various videos and promoted the festival on the page. That became my first real success because, in journalism, the usual metric is the number of views, and in the press center, you don’t see how many people read your articles or give feedback.

For the first time, I could see a response from the audience. One of the short Instagram reels received over 8,000 views, and I was amazed that I made something people actually watched. It made me happy.

With time, as I continued doing social media, Uliana began offering me different projects. Eventually, it developed into an assistant producer role because we worked on multiple projects together. I realized it was even more interesting—not necessarily more interesting than social media, but deeper. As a project manager or assistant producer, you are not just doing social media; you combine everything. You arrange the venue, speakers for the conference or event, and interesting personalities, and coordinate the entire workflow. You talk to the host, the reporters, and the guests. It becomes a complete project.

I found this really matched me, because I enjoy organizing things. We created many interesting projects—ranging from entertainment to social events. One example was an event with Andriy Semotiuk, an immigration lawyer. Because so many Ukrainians were arriving in Canada each year, people were overwhelmed and stressed about documents, and the system being so different from Ukraine. They needed support from someone knowledgeable.

We decided to organize a live meeting with him as an interview and a Q&A session. It was the first time we tried selling tickets, simply to cover the basic costs of the rented space, the operators, and technical needs. It was a major project: we created the Instagram advertising videos, the Eventbrite post, arranged everything with Mr. Semotiuk, sold the tickets, gathered people in one place, set up the chairs and tables, arranged the interior, and everything. It was incredibly interesting.

I feel these kinds of projects are socially important because they bring valuable knowledge to people. Of course, we also have projects that are less stressful and more entertainment-focused. Kontakt is a mix of entertainment and social content; not fully serious, but not purely entertainment either.

Jacobsen: What has been your favorite piece to work on in terms of entertainment, and what has been your favorite piece to work on in terms of social commentary or social issues?

Romashko: In entertainment, because I enjoy media and the media space in general, the work does not feel like work. When you do something entertaining, it feels more like a hobby. You do something you enjoy, you create something fun, and you have fun while doing it. When you film, meet new people, and feel that work rush, you feel genuinely engaged. It is a very nice feeling.

For social or political topics, it feels more like my contribution to something important for people right now. There is a difference between the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada and the community in Ukraine. Even though everyone is Ukrainian, many here were born in Canada or have lived here for a long time, so their perceptions of the situation in Ukraine differ. Social projects or political highlights on our side help bring them closer to the actual situation and to the current Ukrainian context. That is the main purpose of that work.

Jacobsen: What would be your dream topic to work on, or what events would you most like to attend and report on?

Romashko: For politics, I would not say I am deeply involved in political or social topics. I like attending events for support and engagement, sharing information, and receiving information. But if I were to choose a direction for my own media development, it would likely be something entertainment-related. I would choose larger entertainment projects.

My favorite part relates back to when I worked in the Chamber of Commerce. I really enjoyed everything connected to national development, businesses, manufacturers, and similar topics. I do not know why, but I enjoy listening to it. If I were to create a project, it would probably be something about businesses. It would be interesting to create a series of podcasts or interviews with business owners—to hear their stories, why they decided to open a business, and to understand their paths. That is the kind of large series I would create about successful people.

Jacobsen: Do you notice any differences in reporting styles between North American media and diaspora media operating in North America? Kontakt TV is explicitly dedicated to the Ukrainian community and language, so I imagine there are both similarities and differences between established outlets here and those newly formed within the Ukrainian diaspora. Where do you think those differences originate?

Romashko: You mean in general—North American media compared to Ukrainian Canadian media?

Jacobsen: Something like that. In one sense, it could be something as small and subtle as the way someone greets a guest for an interview, and then how they sit and present themselves. Even what they wear. My superficial understanding is that Ukraine is more of a dignity-based culture. In 2014, the Revolution of Dignity at Maidan reflected something very old in the culture, not something created by the Soviet period. In Canada, people almost pride themselves—not necessarily on indignity—but on being casual about how they dress, speak, present themselves, walk, spend their free time, and so on. I am trying to understand how that broader context seeps into journalistic sensibility—not ethics, because ethics must be consistent—but the sensibility of journalism itself.

Romashko: I would say there is a difference. It is hard to compare Ukrainian Canadian diaspora media directly with all North American media, but in general, when we compare North American media with Ukrainian media, there is a noticeable difference. In Ukraine, they try to make everything look excellent. Everything has to be perfect. It is more of a setup than a natural presentation.

It is more of a staged approach than something spontaneous. Here, people are more relaxed. You can see that on television, in podcasts, reports—people feel more at ease, and that comes through in the media as well. In Ukraine, everything must meet the standard. If in school they teach you to do something a certain way, then you will do it that way. It shows up in clothing, speaking style, tone, everything.

It is stricter, but I am not sure whether that stems from educational differences, behavioral norms, or simply a different mentality. It is probably connected to a different way of living and certain habits we grow up with. Ukrainian media have not changed much in terms of becoming more relaxed. If it is entertainment, yes, people are relaxed. But if it is something serious, like the news, no one will present it in the style of YouTube creators or younger generations. They follow the traditional line. The news must be presented on television in a specific way.

Here, it is different. There are more channels. For example, CP24 is very formal, and others are less formal. There are variations. There are still standards in North America—certain expectations about how reporters present themselves and conduct their reporting—but the range is wider.

It is also a different educational tradition. People show what they were taught. Ukrainians present themselves the way they learned in university and through earlier training. There is not much “free will” in presentation style anywhere; people follow the models they were trained in.

Jacobsen: Any favorite aphorisms or quotes that come from Ukrainian culture and capture Ukrainian sensibilities for you?

Romashko: When I read the question, the first thing I thought of was, “What does not kill us makes us stronger.” Yes, it is not a Ukrainian aphorism, but it is something I associate with Ukraine in general. In terms of the war or even in everyday life, Ukrainians have gone through so much. Especially when you compare young Ukrainians to young people in parts of Europe. Someone might say, “You studied at two universities, you worked several jobs, you traveled,” and then they ask, “How old are you?” And you answer, “Twenty-two, twenty-one, twenty-three,” and they are surprised. It is simply a different style of living. There are many challenges people in Ukraine face constantly—well, not constantly, but often enough. I would say resilience is what defines Ukrainians in general.

Jacobsen: If you had a dream interview, who would it be? Denys said President Zelensky, but he said he has more or less given up on that one.

Romashko: I would say either General Valerii Zaluzhnyi. When he was in his position—when he was responsible for the military—I read so many reports about him while working at the radio: how he developed plans, created backup strategies, and so on. At that time, I thought it would be incredible to interview him. It would be fascinating to hear how he thought in critical situations, how he formed his decisions, and how he navigated the entire military network.

I think I still feel that way because recently we almost had the opportunity to interview him when he was sent to the United Kingdom to serve as ambassador. So I will focus on that, and maybe one day I will have the chance to interview him—not necessarily about his past, but about his current work as an ambassador. We will see.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Anastasiia.

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