UCC officer protests paper's headlines (03/25/01)

UCC officer protests paper's headlines

Following is the text of a letter sent to Richard Addis, editor of The Globe and Mail, by V. Walter Halchuk, president of the Ontario Provincial Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. The letter is dated March 4.

Dear Sir:

Please note that your news editors continue to skew the news with misleading headlines. You are certainly not living up to your billing. "Well written" does not mean insulting Canadians with simplistic and deceptive stereotypes. And "well read" is beginning to sound like "well red."

I refer to "Judge won't block deportation of ex-Nazi," March 3. The assertion that Wasyl Odynsky was found to have been a Nazi is false.

Furthermore the Honorable Justice MacKay found no evidence that Mr. Odynsky participated in any wartime atrocities. Mr. MacKay found him to be an unwilling collaborator from Nazi-occupied Ukraine who was forcibly conscripted into an auxiliary guard unit. He did not find that Mr. Odynsky was a Nazi.

Obviously you are still continuing to experience some difficulty in meeting your stated goal: "The Globe and Mail aims to serve all Canadian readers in a manner free of bias."

I corresponded with your office and members of your staff in November of 2000 and with Mr. Kuntz on a similar matter back in February and March of 2000. Unfortunately, negative stereotyping by some of your staff continues to be employed in your headlines, a practice which reflects bias and tends to exacerbate intolerance towards Ukrainians and Canadians of Ukrainian origin.

May we be of some assistance in that matter - a small media advisory group perhaps?

Finally, by bringing this matter to your attention again, we hope to start a dialogue with your standards people and possibly help you achieve your stated goal on bias. Should you chose to convey any regrets, please direct them to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress head office in Winnipeg (ucchq@istar.ca).

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