REACTION TO PULITZER BOARD'S DECISION: Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (12/14/03)

REACTION TO PULITZER BOARD'S DECISION

Ukrainian Congress Committee of America

Following is the statement of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America on the Pulitzer Prize Board's decision not to revoke Walter Duranty's prize.

On Friday, November 21, the Pulitzer Prize Board decided not to revoke the Pulitzer Prize received by The New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty for a series of reports from the Soviet Union regarding the Five-Year Plan, which The New York Times published in 1931. As the largest Ukrainian representative organization in the United States, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America is affronted by the decision of the Pulitzer Prize Board, which not only sullies the current Pulitzer Prize Board members, but also diminishes the honor of those who have received this prestigious award.

The UCCA conducted a yearlong campaign to prove to the Pulitzer Prize Board and The New York Times that Duranty was deliberately fraudulent in his articles as attested by Duranty himself in 1931, whereby admitting that in an agreement between Soviet authorities and The New York Times, "his official dispatches always reflect the official opinion of the Soviet regime and not his own." In our opinion, the evidence provided to the Pulitzer Committee and The New York Times verifying Duranty's fabrications was clear and more than sufficient to revoke the prize.

In fact, since the Pulitzer Prize is renowned for upholding a standard of excellence in journalism, the Pulitzer Prize Board falls short of its commitments to journalistic integrity and ethics when it surmises that Duranty's articles "fall seriously short" of standards used in journalism today. The lives of as many as 10 million Ukrainians and Duranty's own admission of knowledge about the Famine-Genocide in private conversations with British diplomats are enough reason to revoke the Pulitzer Prize awarded to an immoral journalist who not only denied the existence of the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine, but maligned those who had the courage to speak out against the Stalinist government and inform the world of its unfathomable crimes.

The UCCA plans to actively continue the campaign to revoke Duranty's Pulitzer Prize. We will continue to inform the American people about the despicable cruelty with which Stalin murdered the Ukrainian people and attempted to cover up the atrocities, with Duranty's and The New York Times' compliance. To honor the memory of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide victims, we will not stop until the truth is recognized and Duranty's Pulitzer Prize is revoked. We will continue our work to expose the double standards employed by both the Pulitzer Prize Board and The New York Times and strive to clear the name of the prestigious award, which is presently marred by its association with Duranty.

We urge the Pulitzer Prize Board not to compromise its own integrity and review its journalistic ethical standards, for it was the prize's founder, Joseph Pulitzer, who coveted journalism in the "highest moral and intellectual" standards. Furthermore, we urge The New York Times to root out its culture of deception, which has extended from Duranty's 1931 writings to Jayson Blair's 2003 reports. We urge all Ukrainians in the United States to actively continue the campaign against the Pulitzer Prize Board and The New York Times. It is our collective duty to correct this historical injustice and honor the memory of the Famine-Genocide victims by disallowing the Pulitzer Prize Board and The New York Times to include Walter Duranty among its honored.

On behalf of the Executive Board of the UCCA:
Michael Sawkiw Jr., President
Marie Duplak, Executive Secretary

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