EDITORIAL: Our new subscription fees (06/21/98)

EDITORIAL

Our new subscription fees

This week our editorial space will be devoted to explaining our new subscription fees, which go into effect on July 1.

As readers may already know, if they read our news reports about the 34th Convention of the Ukrainian National Association, the prices for subscriptions to The Ukrainian Weekly were changed for non-members from $60 annually to $50.

The reasoning behind this move, according to members of the Financial Committee, which presented the proposal at the convention after deliberating this and other fiscal issues, was to try and attract more readers with a lower price. A sum of $50, it seems, may be much more palatable to readers who found it hard to swallow the price increase for the Weekly enacted in May of 1995 that doubled the subscription fee from $20 for UNAers and $30 for non-members to $40 and $60, respectively. As a result, The Weekly lost a significant number of readers who complained about the price.

At the UNA's 1998 Convention it was explained that members of the Ukrainian National Association already enjoy a very low subscription fee for the Weekly, thus the Financial Committee recommended that this rate be left at $40. After all, UNA members still get a substantial 20 percent discount off the regular price of the paper.

Convention delegates adopted the Financial Committee's proposal and the price rollback for non-members became a reality. (Incidentally, The Weekly's rates are the same as those for the UNA's Ukrainian-language newspaper, Svoboda, which as of July 1 will be published as a weekly also.) Readers whose current subscriptions will be in effect past July 1 will have the unused portions of their subscriptions prorated and their subscriptions will be extended for the appropriate period.

The UNA will continue to subsidize its publications - as one of the principal fraternal benefits it offers members and our community - but the goal of the Executive Committee is to substantially decrease the size of the subsidy. That is why, without the support of our subscribers and community members, the future of the UNA's two official publications is far from secure.

What can you do to help?

First of all, help us increase the number of subscribers. If you are reading someone else's copy of this paper, please subscribe; encourage others to subscribe; give gift subscriptions. At $40/$50, an annual subscription to The Weekly, or Svoboda, is a real bargain. (For those who wish to subscribe on a semiannual basis, the price is $25 for members, $30 for non-members.)

Second, use our paper. Promote your activities or business by advertising in The Weekly. Let others know about your community, your organization, or noteworthy individuals by submitting news stories. In this way you will help us broaden the appeal of The Ukrainian Weekly and, in turn, (we hope) increase the number of subscribers.

Finally, dear readers, we are always grateful for any contributions to The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund. These donations help us continue the job we've been doing for 65 years: keeping you informed about our community here in North America, about news events in Ukraine and Ukrainian doings elsewhere around the world.