LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (12/05/99)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

UNA president responds to letter

Dear Editor:

The Ukrainian Weekly of November 21 published a letter to the editor from Roma M. Hayda of Easton, Conn., who wrote that the leadership of the Ukrainian National Association has "failed its membership dismally by allowing things to slide until solutions further devastate our community." She wrote her letter in response to the paper's editorial "The Complex Answer" of October 10.

Some readers may be surprised to learn that Ukrainian National Association is not a philanthropic organization but a fraternal society permitted to sell life insurance in accordance with the statutes and regulations of each state and province where it is licensed. The publication of newspapers and ownership of a resort are provided only as fraternal benefits to the membership, as are scholarships to the student members. Both newspapers, The Ukrainian Weekly and the Ukrainian-language Svoboda, are the official publications of the UNA.

In the past five years alone, the UNA has covered the operating deficits of both publications to the extent of $3,813,150. This financial burden on the society was hotly debated at the last convention, at annual meetings of our General Assembly and at all district committee meetings twice a year. Reports were published in both official publications. The past convention decided to publish Svoboda as weekly paper and to make budgetary cuts. The regulatory authorities do not permit the UNA to continue the practice of using surplus funds to support fraternal activities in the future. They expect each publication to at least break even.

Our past convention approved in the 1999 budget the sum of $100,000 to be advanced for both publications divided evenly. Unfortunately, The Ukrainian Weekly's deficit is much larger than permitted. This fact precipitated a cut in the expenses of The Ukrainian Weekly.

The UNA opened an insurance sales office in Toronto in 1994 with the intention of increasing its membership in Canada. A substantial sum was allocated to marketing our insurance products, as well as our publications, Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly, on TV, radio and in newspapers. At the same time, one of The Ukrainian Weekly's editors, Andrij Wynnyckyj, moved to Toronto to better serve the Ukrainian community. Unfortunately, the results of our membership drive through sale of insurance was disappointing and after four years the office had to be closed. The number of subscribers in Canada has not increased and stands at 550 at present for a community close to 1 million strong.

Let me assure the UNA membership and The Ukrainian Weekly subscribers that we are proud of our publication. But, in order for it to be published in the future, it must have stronger support from its readership and members. Membership donations to The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund would help to decrease the deficit at the present time.

The support the UNA, as publisher of both newspapers, needs most is an increase in its membership by purchases of UNA insurance. Every year the UNA experiences a drop of 2,000 members due to death, cashing of policies or maturities. As a result, since 1990 UNA membership has decreased from 70,063 to 56,000 - a drop of 14,063 members. Membership premiums support both newspapers and our resort, Soyuzivka. If the members want these fraternal benefits to continue, they must increase their insurance coverage with the UNA, sign up their children and grandchildren, urge their friends and acquaintances to join the UNA, and be our goodwill ambassadors.

If The Ukrainian Weekly is important to the membership and the community, the membership and the community must not neglect to support its publisher, the Ukrainian National Association, as well.

Ulana M. Diachuk
Parsippany, N.J.

The writer is president of the Ukrainian National Association.

About the UNA and The Weekly

Dear Editor:

A recent letter (November 21) and several others took the Ukrainian National Association to task, contending that by reducing the subsidies for its two newspapers and the Soyuzivka resort the UNA has failed its membership, and that mismanagement may have been the main cause of these cutbacks.

Last year, in a long statement in The Ukrainian Weekly, Ulana Diachuk, UNA president explained in considerable detail the reasons for belt tightening. These were sound business decisions that had to be made in today's liberalized, highly competitive, and, some would say, frenzied financial markets, to halt the ominous slide into red ink. The proof of the pudding as to the management's success or failure is not yet in. But the key indicator, the state of UNA's core insurance business, is positive.

The notion that the UNA, with its diminishing membership, must cut expenses to protect its survival apparently has not yet been fully grasped in the community.

I also wish to comment on The Ukrainian Weekly's editorial, "The Complex Answer" (October 10). The overall Ukrainian journalistic landscape - in my opinion only - is somewhat paltry. The Ukrainian Weekly is the only Ukrainian newspaper in which I can find unbiased news, other than the obituaries, with factual detail.

The main feature that differentiates The Ukrainian Weekly from others is that its staff comprehends the difference between news reporting and editorializing. Consequently, its news is not squashed by judgment and not colored by moralizing. In short The Ukrainian Weekly is a quality product.

This quality has become apparent only in the last 15 years; more precisely, since the coming of the present, rejuvenated editorial staff of the post-baby-boom generation. If it consists of only two and a half or three people, it proves that miracles do happen. But the good luck cannot be pushed too far. Deficits can be reined in by a larger subscriber base or higher price. In this connection, I dare make a comparison between The Ukrainian Weekly and the American establishment-pampered weeklies like Newsweek and Time ($2.50 per copy). It goes as follows:

Forty years ago, these journals had a substantial news content, albeit with an opinionated, Madison Avenue-animated spin. However, with the dumbing-down of America as witnessed in the popular media during the last two decades, these periodicals have sunk to a level only a shade above high-falutin' tabloids, with 90 percent of space taken up by advertisement wasteland. The remaining 10 percent of content consists mainly of riding the pop culture highway, Beltway bushwhacking and pillow talk and is intermingled, like DNA segments, with armadas of snowmobiles, flying Lexuses and Fregola skin divers. Again, in my view, this metamorphosis has come about because in a country with a growing income gap, where 5 percent own 90 percent of everything, you don't want to have an overly educated population.

In the middle of this cultural and media desert, The Ukrainian Weekly would be a bargain at $2.50 per copy. And perhaps more sensible than, say, the feel-good storming of Washington, by high-powered professionals last June.

That is why the current arduous debate about how to wish away the inconvenient cost of publishing The Ukrainian Weekly, or viewing it as a fringe benefit, leaves me nonplussed. It is true that many members belong to the UNA precisely because of a generous support it has been giving to Ukrainian activities since its inception. It is not stopping now. But I have a feeling that time has come when the UNA can use an expression of confidence from the community. And a tangible appreciation for The Ukrainian Weekly.

On the one hand, it is apparent that our multi-layered organizations with grandiose facades and tin-can budgets are seldom part of the solution. At the same time, the number of potential subscribers who can easily afford higher fare is legion. To begin with, contributing to The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund is a simple way, one that does not require higher-up deliberations.

Boris Danik
North Caldwell, N.J.

Editor's note: Sincere thanks to Mr. Danik for donating $200 to The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund.

We must speak up to the news media

Dear Editor:

I was crushed that our November 20 processional walk commemorating the 10 million Ukrainians who died in Stalin's genocide in Ukraine received no airtime on the local evening television news in New York. Below is a letter I e-mailed to news desk staffers who worked that day on WABC and WNBC local news. I think we as a community need to speak up and protest. It's not too late to call or write.

I'm not much of an activist, but I can tell you that I felt much better after sending my letter. Now that we have the Internet, the world is at our fingertips. No more excuses.

Andrea L. Odezynska-Ihnat
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Dear Sirs:

I am very disappointed and outraged that you chose not to air any coverage of my community's 47-block processional honoring the 11 million Ukrainians who died in Stalin's engineered famine in 1932-1933 (in Ukraine).

I know it must be very difficult to decide which stories get aired. I don't envy your position, but what does it take to make the news these days? Our ceremony at St. Patrick's Cathedral was honoring millions of innocent people who were exterminated by slow starvation. Why does our Genocide have to remain hidden from society? Are Ukrainians not worthy of commemorating the victims of this atrocity in a public forum?

I think that the mission of the media should, in part, be to educate the public about historical as well as community events. The procession and commemorative mass held at St. Patrick's Cathedral did not involve only a significant number of Ukrainian New Yorkers, but local politicians and religious leaders as well.

If 60 seconds of reporting is too much time (in your opinion) to devote to the Ukrainian community in New York, I feel it is important to report on the public activities and opinions expressed by Sen. Charles Schumer and the religious leaders of the Archdiocese of New York and the Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

I am sincerely asking your professional advice. What should we as a community do differently next time? Hire a publicist?

Let members select Christmas cards

Dear Editor:

Today's mail brought the 1999 UNA Christmas card collection to my doorstep. Ever the dutiful UNA member, I immediately mailed a check for $15 to support the worthy causes of the Ukrainian National Association. I did it for that reason alone, because nothing on earth would have possessed me to buy most of the cards on my own.

While I am sure that some of the art depicted on this year's cards is select enough to grace the walls of art museums, virtually none of the pieces is sufficiently captivating to be made a centerpiece of a holiday card collection. Many of the faces of the Mother and Child suggest an everlasting desire to portray a suffering, enslaved Ukraine.

Well, it's time to rejoice, even if the reality there does not always allow that. I personally like the artwork of one of the featured artists, Luba Maksymchuk of Kyiv. Why not commission her to do an entire series?

Undecided how to select an artist? Well, why not publish several examples during the year and have UNA members vote as to which ones should be published? I'm willing to bet that more joyous artwork will translate into more sales realized.

Andrew Fylypovych
Willow Grove, Pa.

Lay-off affects coverage of Canada

Dear Editor:

I was very dismayed to read of Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj's lay-off, as his articles were, for me, one of the main attractions of your excellent newspaper, The Weekly.

This action seems to signify a rejection on the part of the UNA of the importance of the Ukrainian Canadian community and its news. Therefore I will have to seriously reconsider my long-time subscription.

Irena Bell
Ottawa

Editor's note: Unfortunately, The Ukrainian Weekly has a total of 554 paid subscribers in Canada, and those figures influence economic decisions made by our publisher.

The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor and commentaries on a variety of topics of concern to the Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian communities. Opinions expressed by columnists, commentators and letter-writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of either The Weekly editorial staff or its publisher, the Ukrainian National Association.

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