LETTER TO THE EDITOR (09/17/00)

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

About The Weekly and Soyuzivka

Dear Editor:

Enclosed is $50 to The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund, which I will repeat annually.

Although I knew that finances were very tight at The Weekly I really didn't understand the situation until I saw the financial and circulation figures in your recent report. The Weekly lets me now what is happening in Ukraine and the diaspora, and is certainly worth $2 an issue.

Unfortunately, worth is often the minor factor in the success of a publication. I remember when I first arrived at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Over the next 10 years I saw the newspaper get better and better, yet its circulation and advertising kept going down. The demographics were against it: the steel industry was in decline, many people were unemployed and many were moving out of the region. Yet the newspaper hung on, absorbed the competing paper and is now very profitable.

It often takes a great deal of repetition to get a message across to people and that is very frustrating to those sending it.

For example: you've had an article and advertisements about Sputnik Global Communications (1-888-900-UKIE), which is offering telephone service to Ukraine for 29.9 cents a minute and U.S. long distance for 7.9 cents a minute. This is a very good deal and a fraction of profits go to The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund. But the message didn't penetrate my head until I saw a poster at Soyuzivka. Sputnik is actually a Ukrainian business in Chicago run by a man who wanted to help The Weekly.

This difficulty in communication makes me think of the preacher who was asked why he was so effective and said: "First I tell them I'm going to tell them. Then I tell them. Then I tell them I told them."

But though the demographics are now unfavorable, I think it is important to ride this out. In a few years the situation may change. It would be a tragedy if we lost what our parents and grandparents worked so hard to establish. That means the UNA people must work harder and smarter than they ever worked before.

Let me say my family thoroughly enjoyed our recent stay at Soyuzivka. Not only is it a lovely place, but the region is filled with fascinating destinations and things to do. A week at Soyuzivka is also a great bargain. We certainly plan to come again.

Bohdan Hodiak
Miami Beach, Fla.

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