EDITORIAL: Your community newspaper (05/11/97)

EDITORIAL

Your community newspaper

The Ukrainian Weekly has been published regularly now for a little more than 63 and a half years. (Its first issue came out on October 6, 1933). So it is not because there is an anniversary date that we are writing in this space about ourselves.

Wait, strike that. We are not writing about ourselves, come to think of it, but about you, dear readers. That, in fact, is the whole point of this editorial: The Ukrainian Weekly is your newspaper. That was true in 1933, and that remains the case today. Through the decades The Weekly changed with the needs of its readers and with the challenges faced by our community. The newspaper continues to change today, striving to offer you the latest news from Ukraine, direct from our Kyiv Press Bureau, news that concerns and affects our community, as well as news from our communities throughout the United States and Canada.

And that is where you, dear readers, come in. The Weekly has an "enormous" staff of three full-time editors at its home office (plus one part-timer), one in Kyiv and one in Toronto. It also has a small network of free-lance correspondents and stringers who can be counted on, more or less regularly, to contribute news stories, commentaries and features. There is yet another essential ingredient in the recipe for The Ukrainian Weekly's success: you. You can fill in the gap as we, the editors, cannot be everywhere. You can convey information to us, and we will use it. You can let us know how we're doing as your newspaper (give us the good and the bad - we can take it ...).

A case in point is our recently published supplement "A Ukrainian Summer." That effort hinged on your cooperation. We turned to readers via several announcements of the upcoming special issue and you responded. You made that issue come alive. Now that the issue has been circulated, we can report that the response has been very encouraging. One reader commented that the issue illustrated the connections among our community members and showed that our "hromada" has so much to offer. Another reader wrote: "The Ukrainian Summer section looks great! Where did you find all those bylines?" The answer: our readers came through.

Dear readers, you can keep proving that our community is vibrant and well-connected. The Weekly is your paper. Use it! Share news about your local communities, send in photos of your community events, and write letters to the editor. Our goal at The Ukrainian Weekly is to be open to all segments of our community and to help our community flourish. With your help we can make The Weekly even better and ensure that it remains a paper you need and a paper you enjoy.

P.S.: And, if you don't mind, dear readers, please spread the word about The Weekly to family, friends and colleagues, and help us increase our newspaper's reach and, thus, its effectiveness.

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