Achieving dramatic audience growth and new subscriber revenue in Ukraine despite hardships of war

Positive news as a core mission

Launched by three journalists in 2017 as a Facebook page, ShoTam has grown into a cross-platform outlet with a staff of 34, a website and presence across Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, YouTube and Twitter. Its editorial mission is to inspire Ukrainians through stories of community resilience and social innovation, to engage in civic life and ‘to change themselves, and their country’ as framed on the ShoTam website.  

Listening to audiences' feedback and needs

ShoTam’s focus also directly addresses a trend toward news avoidance, where audiences have disengaged from coverage they find overwhelming, repetitive, or disempowering. With grant support from the International Fund awarded in December 2024, ShoTam invested in extensive polling and research to learn more about audience needs and interests. Over two months in early 2025, their polling conversations revealed that audience members valued positive news that informed and inspired them as an antidote to war fatigue, and coverage dominated by reports of lives lost, destruction, and blackouts. This research reflected findings documented elsewhere: a 2025 study by the Media Development Foundation (MDF) showed that 46% of Ukrainians had begun to avoid war coverage for the sake of their mental health, and acknowledged a sense of news fatigue.  

ShoTam’s polling made clear that for audiences to digest negative coverage, such as corruption investigations or the destruction and loss of life caused by Russian missile attacks, readers also needed to see more hopeful content. Respondents appreciated stories journalism that included coverage of successful grassroots initiatives and local entrepreneurs, volunteers working to rescue pets from frontline communities, or internally displaced Ukrainians rebuilding their lives, for example.

“Nobody in our community was interested in ‘perks’ for supporting us, they didn’t want a t-shirt. They wanted to support us because we inspired them, because we helped them keep their sanity in hard times, because we showcased a business they liked or told the story of their friends.”

– Artem Ipatov, ShoTam CEO

‍Revenue growth through adaptability

Taking on board these findings, ShoTam expanded its content offerings, and launched an audience engagement campaign that brought audience members together through live community events. Their efforts led to a clear uptick in audience numbers, as illustrated by social media reach which averaged more than 1.1 million users, and more than 21 million monthly engagements with content on social platforms. In addition, ShoTam has seen a dramatic growth in paid subscriptions; a remarkable achievement and measure of audience trust in the context of the financial hardships and scarcity brought on by the war. In 2025 alone, the number of monthly contributors increased by more than 630% and yielded a 14-fold increase in subscription revenue. 

Live community events have proven to be the key to growing and, importantly, maintaining community support for ShoTam. The organization plans to capitalize on this in 2026 by doing even more direct, face-to-face audience engagement— and exploring how the events themselves can become a source of alternative revenue to fund their core media operations. 

ShoTam’s first ticketed event took place on May 17, 2026 - a festival celebrating the ‘rediscovery’ of Ukrainian culture, with a program of master classes on arts and crafts, lectures on Ukrainian language and literature, and a concert from a local band reimagining traditional folk motifs in a contemporary style. The festival more than 1000 community members for a day of music, interactive zones, crafts displays and activities for all ages. While the event tested ShoTam’s team in new ways, they see it as a key learning opportunity, and are eager to put on even bigger events that would keep their audience engaged, and hopefully create another revenue stream.

“In today’s volatile media landscape, especially during wartime, staying relevant requires adaptability, active listening, and aligning strategy with mission and values… Market changes were so dramatic that we had a choice: either watch the decline, as many media outlets closed or merged, or actively adapt.”
– Artem Ipatov, ShoTam CEO