Citizen journalism in Ukraine and the Russian information war

Different meanings of the term ‘politics’ define its different dimensions - dimensions in which politics is being carried out. The overwhelming feature of contemporary politics is its mediatisation, which can be understood as ‒ according to Franciszek Ryszka, who said that “words create politics” - the hegemony of the symbolic sphere. Therefore, the study of politics should take into account not only the sphere of decision-making, but also the discourse which restricts and directs political activities. The case of Ukraine demonstrates that civic media (i.e. Media which are decentralized, non-hierarchical, based on networking and social media) are now the plane on which certain political ideas are manifested most fully, including declarations of intent to pursue a particular doctrine of the state. At the same time - due to its axiological marking – civic media are becoming an important forum for various discourses in the service of community. The analysis of politics, perceived as power over the meaning, is the primary dimension of the analysis, since other planes of politics and corresponding analytical areas are, in the modern world, increasingly subordinated to the discursive sphere which creates a meaningful (discursive, symbolic, axiological etc.) framework for political action. The article discusses the impact of civic journalism on political change - from the “Orange Revolution” to “Revolution of Dignity”. This section of the article presents, among other issues, the most important means of civic journalist narration. The following part outlines the role of civic media at the time of Russian aggression in Ukraine, where asymmetric hybrid warfare is taking place, that is a combination of conventional, irregular and information warfare. The article also discusses the key features and activities of Ukrainian grassroots journalism during the war, and then presents the main axiological pillars of Russian war propaganda and its criticism by journalists and civic media