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Before the start of the conference:
10
days
9
hours
8
minutes
7
seconds
2026-05-14 15:00 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
15:00-15:20
Opening ceremony
15:40-16:00
Coffee Break
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
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
Live streaming
Discussion
From Informating to Sensemaking: How Public Media Guide Societies in the Eye of the Storm
10:00-11:00
Live streaming
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
Live streaming
Discussion
Culture as a Target and Tool of Genocide: How Media Can Catch the Moment
11:30-12:30
Live streaming
Case study + Q&A
Donors to Media: Customers or Social Investors?
12:30-13:00
Coffee Break
13:00-14:00
Live streaming
Public Talk
Beyond Clicks and Cash: Measuring Journalism With a Different Ruler
Joanna Krawczyk
Kateryna Horchynska
13:00-14:00
Live streaming
Case study + Q&A
AI for the Business of News: Local Media Cases
14:00-15:00
Lunch
15:00-16:00
Live streaming
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
Live streaming
Public Discussion
How Ukrainians Define Democratic Boundaries in War
Natallia Humeniuk
Angelina Kariakina
16:30-17:00
Live streaming
2-level aquarium
Ukraine Speaks: What Works, What Fails, What Scales
Yulia Marushevska
Olga Rudneva
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
Live streaming
Public Talk
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: Can Media Make Truth Matter Again?
Peter Pomerantsev
Chris Wylie
10:00-11:00
Live streaming
Case study + Q&A
The Reality Check: How Technology Helps Media Defend the Truth
11:00-11:30
Coffee Break
11:30-12:30
Live streaming
Discussion
The Autocracy Trap: Is Transition to Freedom Still Possible?
11:30-12:30
Live streaming
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
Live streaming
Discussion
Not Sympathy but Infrastructure: Building Leverage in Nations Defending Freedom
Tamar Kintsurashvili
Moderator: Anastasiia Marushevska
13:30-14:30
Live streaming
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
Live streaming
15:45-16:00
Closing Ceremony
About the conference ORGANIZER
The NGO Lviv Media Forums trengthens 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 tobring 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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