Training on Communication with the Media Held at the SSTC NRS

Recently, experts of the State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (SSTC NRS) conducted a two-day training for employees of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU), during which participants learned how to communicate with the media correctly and efficiently.

This training was the second stage of the COMMUNICATION project implemented jointly with the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA) and the SNRIU. The project aims to improve the communication skills of SNRIU/SSTC NRS experts and expand the knowledge of media representatives on nuclear and radiation threats. The previous stage included a three-day training on risk communication, crisis communication, and disinformation. Next month, the final stage of the project will be held with the participation of journalists, and SSTC NRS experts will conduct a course of lectures on safety issues for them.

“It is important to establish cooperation with the media both in normal conditions and especially during a full-scale war so that the position of such an organization as the SNRIU is known to the public and we are a source of reliable information on nuclear and radiation safety. If a crisis occurs, the media are primarily interested in what hazards exist for the public, how to save lives and health, how to proceed, etc. And it is very important to have direct contact with journalists whose honesty we are sure of and with whom we have communication experience. At this training, we learned not only to answer questions but also to ask them to journalists to protect our information from distortion. But I emphasize that we are open to everyone who addresses us”, said Tetiana Kutuzova, Head of the Emergency Preparedness and Radiation Protection Department, State Inspector of the SNRIU Safety Directorate.

During this training, the participants learned about the peculiarities of conducting interviews, how to prepare for answering journalists’ questions, how to overcome the fear of public speaking, and how to convince the interlocutor using verbal and non-verbal means of communication. Journalists Stas Kozliuk, a correspondent for Ukrayinska Pravda, Radio Svoboda, Novynarnya, and Babel, and Andriy Pohorilyi, a TV news anchor for Suspilne TV and host of the Open Studio program on Pryamyi FM radio, joined the training. They talked about how they see communication with SNRIU experts, what topics are currently relevant, and how to deal with the “yellow press” and those journalists who look for sensationalism.

“At the training, our SSTC NRS experts Zakhar Ivanov, Marharyta Makarenko and Dmytro Humeniuk shared their experience of cooperation with the media, where they acted as experts. They participated in TV projects, gave numerous comments during live broadcasts, were invited guests in the studio – that is, we presented the participants with as many options for interaction with the media as possible and taught them to cooperate, to convey competent, expert opinion to any audience, from children to foreign experts in the field of nuclear and radiation safety,” SSTC NRS Project Manager, SSTC NRS Spokesperson Tetiana Verbytska said. – “It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the Norwegian regulator’s assistance to Ukrainian colleagues at this time of the full-scale invasion when situations turn from risks into crisis and the regulator needs to be able to communicate and interact with the public being in a state of confusion. We are extremely grateful to the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority for supporting the project, it is really timely and very useful for all participants.”