Dear Reader:
We did our best during the past year, working on the Ukrainian, Russian, and English versions of our newspaper, so you could receive/download 242 copies of Den and 77 copies of The Day. We held a Summer School of Journalism that lasted five weeks in 2010. We published the two-volume Extrakt 200. We organized our traditional photo exhibit at the Ukrainian Home. We held Holodomor Remembrance Days and issued the James Mace Memorial Prize. We traveled Ukrainian cities and towns, displaying our books and photos, and held meetings at universities.
The above is only a small part of Den/The Day’s regular activities. Ukraine offers a vast field for such creative endeavors. Fortunately, there is a new generation of Ukrainian journalists about to embark on their respective creative paths. In fact, we have discovered new promising names during our trips across Ukraine — people we would have certainly missed sitting in our Kyiv office, people we have discovered in Simferopol, Luhansk, Chernivtsi, Lutsk, Ivano-Frankivsk. Had we found these people earlier, there would have been no need for another Maidan rally of protest against the Tax Code, for the bill could have been publicly discussed in real time.
In fact, the phenomenon of Julian Paul Assange reflects a deep-reaching crisis in global journalism and morals. It is true that politics have never boasted moral paragons, although there have been some spectacular figures who have upheld this moral standard, among them Margaret Thatcher, Charles de Gaulle, Ronald Reagan. They were all battle-hardened, cynical politicians, but they kept to their own code of ethics. Today’s journalism is no longer capable of coping with so many political problems — and they keep piling up across the world! Ukraine, however, appears to be an exception to the rule, with its tapegate under President Leonid Kuchma. So we heard the tapes, so what? New challenges? Great. What next? The amount of data we have received isn’t a cure-all per se. In fact, we’re faced with an even bigger problem than previously. Apart from this information, we must have room and mechanisms to process this data and come up with practical decisions that will apply moral standards and produce results that will be acceptable by all these standards.
These editors are willing to convey a good message. I voiced my opinion several years ago: saying our country was lagging behind, yet could find itself ahead of its competitors. I think this view holds true. Ukraine has just rid itself of its stagnant post-Soviet mentality. This country doesn’t have to travel the trodden post-industrial path with its potholes of wasted natural resources. Ukraine boasts a wealth of landscapes, more than can greet the Euro-2012 visitors. I’m aggrieved to see yet another nature park being replaced by a series of concrete hi-rise apartment buildings. If I could I would have a talk with the bureaucrats in charge that would remind them last year’s heat wave.
If you don’t keep your home tidy, there will be dark spots, places where dirt will accumulate. Likewise, we must dispose of the malignant Soviet garbage, with whatever data being duly archived. The Baltic States and other countries in Eastern Europe have done just that, and have fared comparatively well. Mridula Ghosh, a sparkling intellectual, had this to say during her second academic discussion relating to the expansion of frontiers, bringing the periphery closer to the center: Even when India was under the British Crown the people were getting prepared to win their national independence; after India ceased to be a British colony, its intellectuals dominated the politicians. This is a very useful point of view. At the time I thought there was a short path between the Soviet past and independent present of Ukraine. A short distance anyone could walk. I believe that our independence could — and did — mature during the Soviet period, except that there were different fields where this fruit had to take a varying period of time to take root, grow, and mature. There are still varying fields of endeavor.
A nation that can’t figure out the reasons behind the physical destruction of ten million innocent civilians needs social therapy. We know that the US occupation authorities asked German workers who applied for jobs after WW II whether they knew who had started the war. They blamed the Poles and were told to think of a better answer. When asked again and when hearing the same reply, they were denied ration cards. That was the way they were taught history.
Recent events in Russia are proof of the vitality of Nazism-Stalinism. This doctrine appears to have a longer life than strontium. The current Kremlin rulers spent the past year fighting all Orange manifestations while missing the appearance of the brownshirts in the Moscow Manege Sguare. The very matrix of Russia is shaky while Ukraine, with all its problems, stands firm on its solid historical shield. President Yanukovych used the term “identity” in a recent interview involving three major journalists. If he meant what he said, there is hope for Ukraine.
Den will mark its 15th anniversary in 2011. All these years we have been supported by our dedicated readers.
Our watchword is SUBSCRIBE TO DEN! SUBSCRIBE TO The Day! ORDER OUR LIBRARY SERIES BOOKS! GIVE THESE BOOKS AS A PRESENT TO A LOCAL GRADE SCHOOL!
Our editors diligently seek like-minded individuals capable of offering fresh ideas. We abided by such criteria in 2009 when Den named Anatolii Kvasiuk, a restorer from Volyn, the Man of the Year. He had dedicated ten years of his life to the restoration of an icon of the Mother of God from Kholm. I would also like to thank the Inter Channel, possibly the only major channel in Ukraine to come up with a feature about this artist.
Den has named Mykola Khriienko the Man of the Year 2010. He is a Ukrainian journalist… His features serve as proof that there is more to be said about Ukrainians than the typical bland media coverage. Khriienko responded to Den’s New Year Eve inquiry: “I’m doing my best lest I degrade in the New Year’s world.” The program of our editors is aimed in the same direction, for our target remains the same: “Do What You Can To Help Ukraine!” This includes our young friends who attend our Summer Journalism School classes, all who help with our projects.
I wish all of you courage, creative energy, and love.
Season’s Greetings!
Editor-in-Chief, Den/The Day
