Responding to a tremendous piece of journalism, the National Press Club received permission from the Associated Press to display a package developed by its photojournalists working in Ukraine called “20 Days in Mariupol: the team that documented the city’s agony.”
Images from the piece are displayed on a 70-inch monitor in the Club’s lobby. The AP also agreed to let the Club post the package on its website. This special permission was granted for two weeks.
Lisa Matthews, the Club’s 114th president and AP’s US video manager was instrumental in obtaining permission from AP.
“We are starting to get really busy in the Club and find we once again have hundreds of people passing through the lobby on a daily basis,” said NPC Executive Director Bill McCarren. “It is important to us that the public and the journalism community know what journalists in Ukraine are going through to bring this historic story home. And that this work was done by Ukrainians working for the AP -- Mystyslav Chernov and Evgeniy Maloletka -- is so inspiring. We wanted to show in some way how we stand with them and are thinking of them and how important their work is to us.”
Chernov and Maloletka tell their story of working under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions as a city is being destroyed by shelling and bombing all around them. Photos displayed are of massive explosions and fires but also show the human condition in Mariupol – people huddled in hospitals; children; the wounded; bomb shelters full of families; corpses; twisted metal; abandoned cars; a hellish cityscape. As the last remaining journalists in Mariupol Chenov and Maloletka were hunted by Russian forces and were fortunate to escape the city with their lives.
McCarren sent a tweet showing the photos in the lobby of the Club that generated 10,000 impressions in the first 18 hours. While the tweet says the display will be up for a month that is a misunderstanding. The permission from AP was granted for two weeks. It will run through April 5. Members may view this work when they visit or click the link on the Club’s homepage.
