Jakub Parusinski from The FIX
The Fix is an international organisation run by and for journalists. Its mission is to find solutions to the business, technological, and organisational challenges facing the media sector in Ukraine. One of its co-founders, Jakub Parusinski—who attended Difference Day 2022—is the former CEO of the Kyiv Post and the current director of KI Insights, a research centre supported by the Kyiv Independent. To date, The Fix has raised over four million euros in support.
Laureate Difference Day Honorary Title for Freedom of Expression 2022
At the outset of the Russian invasion—the aggressive and brutal war waged by Russia against Ukraine and its people—The Fix, an international organisation run by and for journalists, immediately mobilised all available resources. Their goal: to save lives and support their colleagues in the Ukrainian media. For this effort, The Fix received the Difference Day Honorary Title in 2022 from the VUB and ULB.
The mission of The Fix is to find solutions to the business, technological, and organisational challenges facing the media sector. They solve problems literally. The Fix has deep roots in Ukraine: many of its staff and team members are Ukrainian. One of the co-founders, Jakub Parusinski—who attended Difference Day 2022—is the former CEO of the Kyiv Post and the current director of KI Insights, a research centre supported by the Kyiv Independent. The Fix relies on a coalition of organisations and media NGOs as well as support from a broad range of publishers. According to The Fix, financial support is allocated first based on the urgency of needs and then distributed proportionally. The Fix maintains contact with a network of 100 publications across Ukraine. To date, the organisation has raised millions of euros to support the Ukrainian media sector in general and, more specifically, the Kyiv Independent, an English-language media outlet in Ukraine. The Fix and its team’s strong commitment to press freedom, freedom of expression, and independent, fact-based journalism reflects everything that Difference Day, our university community, and we all stand for.
Jakub Parusinski welcomed the financial support and treats contributions with the utmost care: cautiously, yet urgently. “In wartime, critical decisions must be made within hours, sometimes minutes. The money goes out just as quickly as it comes in.” The primary goal of The Fix is first to save lives and then to protect independent and ethical Ukrainian media, which form an essential part of the country’s social fabric during this terrible time. Ukrainian media work around the clock to provide objective information while dealing with extreme logistical and operational challenges: relocating non-essential staff from active combat zones, organising essential supplies, and managing attacks on physical and technical infrastructure.
The Fix Media Foundation aims to support free press and media in Ukraine and Eastern Europe and to build a more resilient and interconnected European media community. The foundation provides grants to journalistic organisations and journalists in need. It connects international donors, governments, NGOs, civil society groups, media organisations, and journalists. Additionally, The Fix organises events, raises awareness, and advocates for media freedom issues in Ukraine and across Europe. They collaborate with a coalition of organisations, including Are We Europe, Jnomics, and the Media Development Foundation, as well as a number of volunteers and a broad range of publishers. To date, they have received over 4 million euros in support for the Ukrainian media sector from individuals, publishers, and donors—primarily in cash, but also in the form of staff, office space, and other resources.
