EDITORIAL: Our new price (04/01/01)

EDITORIAL

Our new price

Beginning this month, the price for an annual subscription to The Ukrainian Weekly goes up by $5, bringing the price to $45 for members of the Ukrainian National Association and $55 for non-members. This price increase is due to higher postage and newsprint costs that have already gone into effect. The price for our sister publication, the Ukrainian-language Svoboda, is going up by the same amount.

This should come as no surprise to our readers as it was reported last year in December, after the decision to raise subscription fees was made by the UNA General Assembly at its 2000 annual meeting. As well, it was announced in a January 14 statement from Ulana Diachuk, president of the Ukrainian National Association, the fraternal benefit organization that is our publisher.

We must point out that the current price increase will not even cover our higher expenses, as the cost of newsprint is soon to go up once again. We must also note that this year's price hike is the first since 1995, when our newspaper's price was increased from $20 for UNA members and $30 for non-members to $40 and $60, respectively. (In fact, that price was reduced for non-members in 1998 following the quadrennial UNA Convention held in May of that year.)

As since its inception in 1933, today The Weekly receives a subsidy from its publisher, which provides those funds as part of the fraternal activities it sponsors for the benefit of its members and the entire Ukrainian community. But a subsidy can only be so large ... The 2001 budget limits it to $50,000 each for The Weekly and Svoboda.

We trust that you, dear readers, will understand the need for this year's minimal increase in the price of a year's worth of our newspaper and will continue to support The Ukrainian Weekly with your subscriptions. We also welcome (and rely on) your donations to The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund.

We reiterate our pledge made in the editorial titled "New Year's resolutions," (January 14, 2001): "... we resolve: to refocus on our primary job, that is, informing our readers about the most significant developments in Ukraine, the United States and Canada, and throughout the diaspora; to establish more contacts with our local communities and its members; and to serve as a forum for the expression of diverse views held by our community's members." With your understanding and your support we can continue our mission. Indeed, our editorial, production and administrative staffs remain as strongly committed as ever to this newspaper's founding principles.

PS: For the record, and for those of you interested in the history of our newspaper's pricing, we have uncovered the following facts. The first yearly subscription price for The Ukrainian Weekly was set in 1945 at $2 per year (the newsstand price was 3 cents). Two years later, the $2 price remained in effect for non-members, but UNA members got a 50 percent discount and paid only $1 per year of The Weekly.

The next major price increase came in 1956, when the annual subscription price was set at $2 for members and $3 for non-members. Three years later there was an across-the-board 50-cent increase. In 1971 and 1973, respectively, there were price hikes for non-members (first to $4 and then to $6), but not for UNA'ers.

In 1980, four years after The Weekly was revamped as an independent 16-page tabloid-format publication, there was another price increase to $5 and $8. That price held for eight years and then increased to $10 and $20, offering UNA members a substantial savings. A full six years later, in 1994, came the next jump in price to $20 and $30. The price was doubled the following year to $40 and $60 to more closely reflect the costs of publishing this unique newspaper, which has grown through the decades from a four-page tabloid-format publication to its current size of 24 to 28 pages (and often more).

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