EDITORIAL: Sixty-eight (09/30/01)

EDITORIAL

Sixty-eight

Sixty-eight. A serious age that indicates years of experience and work, achievement and maturity. That is the age of The Ukrainian Weekly come October 6.

From its inception The Ukrainian Weekly, like its older sister, Svoboda, has been a shining example of the community service provided by their publisher, the Ukrainian National Association. The papers never were a money-making venture, nor were they intended to be. There was no profit motive at work. It was, simply put, the UNA's way of giving back to the Ukrainian community - or, in insurance terms, fraternal benefits offered by a fraternal benefit life insurance company to its members and their community.

Writing in 1953, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of The Ukrainian Weekly, Stephen Shumeyko, its first editor, explained how the newspaper came to be:

"Necessity for it brought about a demand for it, and the demand was met by the immigrants. For a long time they desired that their growing American-born youth have an organ exclusively their own, through which they could meet, exchange their thoughts and ideas; acquaint themselves with their Ukrainian background and heritage; impress them with their duties and obligations as native Americans; help their kinsmen in enslaved Ukraine to free themselves ... Essentially that is what the leading Ukrainian-language daily in this country, the Svoboda, had been doing for the immigrants themselves all the while. ..."

Mr. Shumeyko recalled The Weekly's well-defined goals, among them: propagating "the inspiring principles of Americanism," spreading knowledge "of the Ukrainian cultural heritage and of the centuries-old Ukrainian struggle for national freedom," serving as "a forum for [readers'] thoughts and views," keeping readers "abreast of the latest developments in Ukrainian American organized life" and "informed on the current events in the land from which their parents emigrated" and providing "information and reading material which [readers] could not obtain elsewhere."

Through the decades that mission continued and was expanded. Perhaps the most salient recent example of that expansion was the opening in January 1991 of our Kyiv Press Bureau, which enabled The Weekly to report first-hand on the rebirth of independent Ukraine. For more than a decade now our bureau has provided reliable and topical news direct from its source - unfiltered by other news providers; reports geared toward our community, our readers, our community's needs.

To quote Mr. Shumeyko once again, The Weekly also had what he labeled "organizational value" and he cited one reader who wrote: "The Ukrainian Weekly and Ukrainian American progress are well nigh synonymous." The illustrious editor may not have used the word "networking," but that's what he had in mind: using the newspaper as a networking tool, keeping our community connected and in touch.

Which brings us to today. The Ukrainian Weekly's mission has not vanished and its utility has not expired. That is why there still is a need for The Ukrainian Weekly.

Apparently, many of our readers agree, as evidenced by their great show of support for the work of this newspaper. That support was demonstrated in various ways, whether through personal contacts and phone calls, or e-mail messages and letters. It was also reflected quite significantly by numbers: the amounts of donations sent by our staunch supporters to The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund. And then there were the funds sent in during the last two years by our subscribers as payment for our two volumes of "The Ukrainian Weekly 2000" - many accompanied by special donations.

Without these funds, dear readers, it would have been impossible to continue The Ukrainian Weekly's invaluable mission and to serve your needs. And that's something we hope to do in the decades ahead, with the UNA's and your support. Thank you!

| Home Page |