Svoboda weekly publishes first issue (07/12/98)

Svoboda weekly publishes first issue

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The first issue of the Svoboda Ukrainian-language weekly rolled off the presses on July 1 (bearing the date of July 3) with a new format and layout, as well as new features.

The tabloid bears a new flag (the nameplate atop the front page), that incorporates the typeface used by Svoboda in 1914-1920.

Inside, the 20-page issue published brief news items from Ukraine, as well as America and the world; editorial and "op-ed" (opposite the editorial) pages featuring opinion and commentary; a page devoted to the Ukrainian National Association, the newspaper's publisher; as well as pages labeled Science, Extraordinary and Noteworthy, Literature, Culture and Advice (featuring medical news and immigration matters).

The paper's editorial referred to the proud 105-year-old legacy of Svoboda, which weathered many difficult times and persevered, continuing to publish out of love for Ukraine and the Ukrainian heritage. Addressing readers, it stated: "Placing into your hands the first issue of the Ukrainian-language weekly Svoboda, we believe that you will accept it as a worthy successor to the daily, that you will support it and will encourage others to do likewise, and that you will ensure its future with your subscriptions."

"The editorial staff will do everything possible to make the weekly Svoboda interesting for all readers, filling its pages with interesting and diverse materials," the editorial promised.

The new Svoboda weekly's editorial board comprises Serhiy Myroniuk, acting editor, and staffers (in alphabetical order) Petro Chasto, Chrystyna Ferencevych, Halyna Kolessa, Olha Kuzmowycz, Volodymyr Romaniuk and Raisa Rudenko. Mr. Myroniuk was chosen by his colleagues as their coordinator after the Svoboda daily's editor-in-chief, Zenon Snylyk, announced he was retiring on June 18.

Mr. Myroniuk, 28, has been a member of the Svoboda editorial staff since 1995. He is a senior majoring in journalism at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.

Mr. Myroniuk said the paper will include several new features, and that he hopes to include more diverse materials and more photos on the new weekly's pages, as well as more letters to the editor. He added that he is looking for new correspondents both in the United States, Canada and the rest of the diaspora, as well as in Ukraine.

Plans for upcoming issues include pages on religion, history and language; features on legal matters and upcoming events; and a children's page called "Veselka," named after the children's monthly magazine once published by the UNA.

Mr. Myroniuk said the staff is also planning to publish special issues; the first one, devoted to the seventh anniversary of Ukraine's independence, will appear in August.

The front page of the first issue of the weekly Svoboda featured a statement from Ulana Diachuk, president of the UNA, in which it was noted that the daily Svoboda has been transformed into a weekly in accordance with a decision of the 34th Convention of the UNA.

Addressing readers and UNA members, she wrote: "We hope and firmly believe that you will receive the Svoboda weekly with the same interest, trust and well-meaning criticism that you did the daily."

Mrs. Diachuk emphasized that the new weekly will have the same goals as the Svoboda daily: "The newspaper remains a source of information about events in Ukraine, in America, in the world; it will continue to be the power that unites Ukrainians in the diaspora and the Ukrainian community on the American continent; it remains the official publication of the UNA, reporting on its activities and the work of its branches and districts, and publishing all reports and announcements."

The Svoboda staff, their colleagues at The Ukrainian Weekly and the Svoboda Press administration and print shop, as well as UNA executives celebrated the birth of the new Svoboda weekly with a champagne toast on July 2.