Eight years is quite a chunk of time. Two four-year cycles indicate certain maturity. In what way has Den (The Day) matured? Its intellectual level and well balanced, if somewhat ironic, tone has often been noted. What I would like to emphasize now is that our newspaper long ago surpassed the limitations of a daily sociopolitical publication, primarily because of its projects.
The first is The Day’s photo competition (there have been six to date), the largest of its kind in Ukraine, which has earned the respect of both amateurs and professionals.
The second is our foray into book publishing. No one in his right mind would keep newspapers at home. No matter how wonderful an article or a photo is, the paper yellows and collects dust. The books that form part of The Day’s Library series are a compilation of the unique experience of switching from daily routines to spotlighting history, like photographers who, in capturing a single moment in time, hope that at least one of them will become a masterpiece that will linger in the people’s memory.
Den/The Day has made a daring pilgrimage from political journalism to fiction and history writing. However interesting, paradoxical, or shocking the news may be, it is outdated a week later. Now, thanks to its books and photo albums, The Day has created a portrait gallery of both our contemporaries and extraordinary personalities of the past.
Whether or not we like ourselves is a different question. We may admire, curse, or be ironical toward somebody. In any case, this gallery exists and is eliciting an emotional response, which I saw with my own eyes at a book fair in Moscow.
We have tossed the bait consisting of the figurative characterization of our historical past and present. Wait and see — we may even hook the future. Let’s hope we get a good nibble!