The newspaper Den and Dnipropetrovsk National Mining University have been close friends for a long time. This paper’s regular readers work and study at this higher educational institution, and its library has a permanent stall which displays not only the newspaper’s current issues but also ones with the most acute and socially important materials. The latter are often and actively discussed, which is the best proof of the fact that what the newspaper prints never leaves the reader indifferent. The university regards as a major event the publication of Extract 150, a two-volume collection of the newspaper’s most topical materials.
It is not just a publication that places in a chronological order the articles on various subjects previously printed in the newspaper. Naturally, social significance and readers’ comments were some of the main selection criteria, but there were also others. The credo of this two-volume book was set forth by the newspaper’s editor in chief Larysa Ivshyna in her address to the reader.
A newspaper is said to live one day only because new events expel the already published ones from its pages. The reason is that readers want to be in the picture. This may have been the case, say, 50 years ago, although publications differed very much even then. We believe that the Anglo-Saxon classification of newspapers as yellow, popular, and serious, the latter being cited many years later, is still quite valid today.
In her address to readers, Ivshyna poetically compared some publications with a tree which “strikes roots in the national soil, feeds off the sap of its ground, and stretches out its branches and crown towards a high sky.” Another type of publications is “an advertisement pillar.” The newspaper Den/The Day has never been an advertisement pillar like this – it has always striven to rise to the challenge of societal problems. Ivshyna says that this is the mainline track: even when the freedom of expression is curtailed, one can always break free from the vicious circle vertically.
Extract 150’s chief goal is to show the reader that the problems that our country is tackling are increasing instead of being solved, but they will have to be solved in any case. In the course of time, they will only get aggravated and it will be more difficult to solve them. One more thing: the seriousness of Den/The Day according to the above-mentioned classification lies not only in that it offers its pages to universally-known experts, respected academics, culture and art figures, public administration pundits, lawyers and diplomats, but also in that it addresses the “eternal” problems of this country. This applies to practically all the spheres of today as well as the distant and recent past.
This book is not the newspaper’s first publication: there have already been eight of them which formed The Day’s Library Series. But while these were selected “horizontally,” Extract 150 gathered topical articles “vertically.” If you read the book carefully, you will see that this publication, like a skilled pilot, steers the reader through the dire straits of Ukrainian life and history. A thoughtful reader will find a lot of food for thought and, quite often, unconventional conclusions.
At the launch, this writer was lucky to perform a pleasant and honorable mission of presenting this publication to the National Mining University’s library and meet the newspaper readers. There was an interesting discussion.
Library director Olha Nefiodova said in her introductory speech that the newspaper Den/The Day continues the glorious tradition of Prydniprovia’s and Ukraine’s prominent figures who used to gift their high-profile works to the library. Incidentally, Academician Dmytro Yavornytsky, a researcher of Ukrainian Cossacks, maintained close ties with professors at what was Mining Institute at the time and would present it with his works.
Prof. Viktor Pushkin dwelt in detail on the close links and cooperation between the university’s current and former students and the newspaper. He especially focused on Den’s photo exhibit that had a resounding success in Dnipropetrovsk last autumn, with the National Mining University taking an active part in organizing and holding it. A great role in the development of ties between the university and the newspaper is being played by the university Rector Hennadii Pivniak, full member of Ukraine’s National Academy of Science.
As the meaningful and productive discussion drew to a close, there appeared the singer-songwriter Oleksandr Yaremchuk, a 4th-year student, who sang the song We Live, Juggling the Years.
Extract 150 is a required and, most importantly, timely book. Unfortunately, for quite obvious reasons, it could not comprise many other newspaper materials that should be given a new lease of life and reach the reader. It would be a good idea to continue this important and indispensable work. One more touch: the book is intended for the Ukrainian reader, but the newspaper is also extensively read abroad, especially in Russia and other CIS countries. A clear indication of this is the fact that many of the newspaper’s materials are reprinted and posted on websites in the countries of Central Asia, Southern Caucasus, and the Middle East, in Moldova, etc.
Some people cry out from our TV screens that Ukraine is interesting to nobody in the world. I must say to this kind of ladies and gentlemen: it is you that are not interesting, but a high-quality product, a newspaper in this case, is very interesting. And some petty unscrupulous politicians should not assume the role of a judge.
At the same time, one should not turn a blind eye on the fact that certain circles in the neighboring countries are trying to wage an information war against Ukraine, setting up an information blockade, and distorting this country’s policies. It would be advisable to prepare a similar extract of the newspaper’s materials for foreign, and perhaps for some Ukrainian, readers in the Russian and English languages. We could thus break the information blockade and show the outside world the way Ukraine responds to important events. Many of those who live in the capitals of close-by and faraway countries will be grateful for a publication like this.
