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Before the start of the conference:
10
days
9
hours
8
minutes
7
seconds
2026-05-14 03:00 pm
Reality Under Attack: Flight, Freeze, or Fight?
May 14–16, 2026
Lviv
About the conference
The international LMF conference has been held in Lviv, Ukraine, since 2013. Last year, it brought together participants from more than 26 countries around the world. The conference is designed for everyone operating within the international information space: media professionals, researchers, policymakers, communications specialists, public intellectuals, representatives of the public sector, and international organizations.
The focus theme of LMF 2026 is “Reality Under Attack: Flight, Freeze, or Fight?”.
The focus theme of LMF 2026 is “Reality Under Attack: Flight, Freeze, or Fight?”.
Terms of participation
This year, participation in the conference is available with a charitable donation, which will support the work of Lviv Media Forum. Veterans and active-duty service members are welcome to attend free of charge.
All events within the LMF 2026 program will be held in English, without simultaneous interpretation. Due to the format of the conference, the organizers are required to limit the number of participants.
Submitting an application does not guarantee participation, and the organizers reserve the right not to disclose the reasons for their selection decisions.
All events within the LMF 2026 program will be held in English, without simultaneous interpretation. Due to the format of the conference, the organizers are required to limit the number of participants.
Submitting an application does not guarantee participation, and the organizers reserve the right not to disclose the reasons for their selection decisions.
Frankly Spoken
15:00-15:30
Opening ceremony
Welcome Remarks | Tetiana Berezhna, Minister of Culture of Ukraine
15:30-15:50
Keynote speech
Maksym Butkevych
16:00-17:00
Public Talk
Getting off the Sedative: Can Societies Handle the Truth in the Age of Crises?
Kolas Yotaka
Mark Laity
Solvita Denisa-Liepniece
Moderator: Valerii Pekar
17:00-18:00
Public Talk
Get Complicated. How to Counter Autocracies Through the Philosophy of Bildung
Frankly Spoken
Smartly Done
10:00-11:00
Discussion
From Informating to Sensemaking: How Public Media Guide Societies in the Eye of the Storm
10:00-11:00
Case study + Q&A
The 3D Challenge: How to Reach Distant, Distrustful, and Disengaged Audiences
11:00-11:30
Coffee Break
11:30-12:30
Discussion
Culture as a Target and Tool of Genocide: How Media Can Catch the Moment
11:30-12:30
Discussion
Donors to Media: Customers or Social Investors?
12:30-13:00
Coffee Break
13:00-14:00
Public Talk
Beyond Clicks and Cash: Measuring Journalism With a Different Ruler
Joanna Krawczyk
Kateryna Horchynska
13:00-14:00
Case study + Q&A
AI for the Business of News: Local Media Cases
14:00-15:00
Lunch
15:00-16:00
Public Talk
After Visibility. What Remains of Media Power When Algorithms Own Distribution?
Natallia Humeniuk
Natalia Antelava
16:00-16:30
Coffee Break
16:30-17:00
Presentation of Public Interest Journalism Lab
How Ukrainians Define Democratic Boundaries in War
Natallia Humeniuk
Angelina Kariakina
16:30-18:00
2-level aquarium
Ukraine Speaks: What Works, What Fails, What Scales
Yulia Marushevska
Olga Rudneva
Mykola Murskyj
Moderator: Iryna Domnenko
17:00-18:00
Live streaming
"Sociology Says" Podcast | Live Recording
War vs. Democracy: Can You Have Both?
Frankly Spoken
Smartly Done
10:00-11:00
Public Talk
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: Can Media Make Truth Matter Again?
10:00-11:00
Case study + Q&A
The Reality Check: How Technology Helps Media Defend the Truth
11:00-11:30
Coffee Break
11:30-12:30
Discussion
The Autocracy Trap: Is Transition to Freedom Still Possible?
11:30-12:30
Case study + Q&A
The Kill Zone Challenge: Rethinking War Reporting
Mykyta Havrylenko
Alicia Alamillos
Olha Kyrylenko
Moderator: Diana Deliurman
12:30-13:30
Lunch
13:30-14:30
Discussion
Not Sympathy but Infrastructure: Building Leverage in Nations Defending Freedom
Tamar Kintsurashvili
Moderator: Anastasiia Marushevska
13:30-14:30
Case study + Q&A
From Testimony to Narrative: How Methods Shape Understanding
Christopher “Kip” Hale & Peter Pomerantsev
Sasha Dovzhyk
Tetiana Symon
Anastasiia Loza
Moderator: Ray Baseley
14:30-14:45
Coffee Break
14:45-15:45
15:45-16:00
Closing Ceremony
About the conference ORGANIZER
The NGO Lviv Media Forum strengthens media, institutions, and public figures capable of fostering healthy public dialogue in Ukraine and beyond. Our goal is an effective and democratic society united by healthy communication. The organization was founded in 2013 to bring together media professionals from Ukraine and around the world in Lviv for the annual LMF conference. Over the years, we have grown into an ecosystem of people, organizations, and projects that support the media, develop comprehensive solutions for them, and promote the best media practices in Ukraine and globally. We are moving from supporting and developing media and journalists to a broader strategic focus: empowering communication actors, including media, civil society organizations, government bodies, and more.
Media about us
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