“Content for Content’s Sake”: Affiliate Journalist on the Problems of the Ukrainian Media Market

One day, Affiliate Journalist and Nikita from AFFHUB decided to record an interview. However, they weren’t able to do it because neither of them had the money to make a phone call.

We’ve wrapped up the cringy intro about financial problems in our media sector, so now let’s move on to more serious issues. As you’ve probably guessed, today’s guest at AFFHUB is the owner of the Affiliate Journalist channel. And the key topic of our conversation will be the problems facing Ukrainian media. So, let’s not drag this out any longer and get down to business. 

We’ve been seeing for years now that media—both in general and in our industry—is increasingly being “buried.” It’s easier for people to read a short post on Telegram than to visit a website and read a long article. Do you think there will come a time when media in the form of websites will eventually die out?

The answer is unequivocal—never. 

Similarly, year after year, people write off SEO, affiliate marketing, forums, and a whole bunch of other timeless things. 

Of course, some media projects die out over time, but that’s normal. New ones take their place, and so the cycle continues.

In my opinion, without media, the affiliate niche—and any other niche—would be incomplete. 

As for the “simpler” angle, sure. But posts like that are completely soulless, especially when every third channel is basically churning out content via AI. And a normal long-form post isn’t something a neural network can produce.

The advantages of blogs on platforms like Telegram or Instagram over traditional media are clear. What, in your opinion, are the advantages of traditional media over such blogs?

As I said above—for me personally, there’s soul in such projects. And it doesn’t matter what level this media outlet is at, whether it’s a holding company’s product or a personal blog.

Another issue is that most media outlets now produce polished content, but for me, the main indicator of quality is: “Is there something worth reading?” Something that lets you get lost in it for half an hour and forget about your chores.

If there is, then the project is worth it.

Among the additional advantages, I can highlight autonomy. My channel got banned, and in an instant, I was left without a platform or an audience. It all ended with a happy ending, but for a couple of days, the setback got me thinking about creating a stand-alone blog. 

P.S. And another cool advantage is that Telegram channels often inflate their numbers and sell ads to companies too lazy to check the stats. But there’s no point in inflating a website’s numbers because it’s immediately obvious.

Speaking specifically about media in affiliate marketing—in your opinion, what’s wrong with them?

You know, I’d like to bring up events here. Everyone says: don’t criticize events for screw-ups, because we’re left with, say, two brands. 

So can we say the same about media, if there are only a handful of purely Ukrainian media outlets with a stable content flow?

But I’m a believer that criticism drives the team and the product toward progress. Like, if a media outlet posts an article titled “How to Find an Offer in 2026” written by a neural network, what the hell is the point of that?

What are the overall prospects for media in our industry right now? And an important question—does it even make sense to launch new media outlets in Ukraine right now? Or are we more likely to see existing products shut down due to loss of relevance, lack of funding, and so on?

It’s a pretty complex question. 

If we look at the market, we see that over the past four years, the media outlets that have survived on a full scale are those that were launched not as a hobby, but as serious business projects.

Yes, there were media products with great content. But without an effective business model, they’re just dead weight. 

There’s a point to launching new media outlets if they’re different from existing content platforms. Like, reading yet another interview with Roma Korchak is great. But what’s next?

From one journalist to another. When I entered the field, I saw a lot of differences between traditional and niche media. What differences can you generally point out?

I see a lot in common, but between traditional and affiliate media, there’s actually a huge gap.

The core of useful online media is relevant content. It’s the same in traditional media, but a classic journalist wouldn’t be able to write an article for affiliate marketers right off the bat. Not even six months after entering the niche. 

I started getting interested in making money online in the 2010s, but even now it can be hard to write expert content on affiliate marketing. Not to mention beginners…

Are there even journalists in our field? Or are they more like people who perform the functions of copywriting, PR, and occasionally interviewing, etc.?

It all depends on how you interpret it.

A journalist is anyone who systematically collects, processes, and publishes any information. 

Theoretically speaking, there are actually a lot of journalists. Literally anyone who conducts a simple interview at a conference.

But when it comes to expert journalism on a regular basis—apart from you and a couple of other writers, I can’t name anyone else.

Speaking of copywriting in this field, what’s wrong with the copy in affiliate marketing? What kinds of copy and formats do you personally feel are missing in our industry?

It’s important to remember that “there’s no accounting for taste.” We all have the same alphabet and the same number of letters on the keyboard, but one person manages to write utter garbage, while another writes something brilliant.

I won’t go into business copy or SEO, but the main problem with copy is content for content’s sake and a lack of soul. 

Personally, I sorely miss the kind of content where, back in, say, 2011, I’d visit a site, read, and just get a kick out of it. One recent example is Gik’s piece “Channels and Media in the Ukrainian Arbitration Market: A Systemic Crisis That Can No Longer Be Ignored.”

It’s clear that the author poured his heart into it and was truly passionate about the text while writing it. That’s exactly what many media outlets are missing.