Two Ukrainian women among 32 journalists honored in Washington by National Press Club (07/24/05)

Two Ukrainian women among 32 journalists honored in Washington by National Press Club

by Yaro Bihun
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

WASHINGTON - The National Press Club honored two Ukrainian women at its annual awards dinner here on July 18.

The two - Olena Prytula, who co-founded Ukraine's leading Internet newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda, and Natalia Dmytruk, a sign-language news interpreter on Ukraine's UT-1 television network - were named this year's international recipients of the prestigious John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award.

They were among 32 journalists honored with the National Press Club's 2005 awards for their work in various aspects of their profession.

Ms. Prytula's fellow co-founder of Ukrayinska Pravda, Heorhii Gongadze, was murdered five years ago, and secret tape recordings of conversations in then President Leonid Kuchma's office suggested official complicity in the crime.

"It took a lot of guts (for her) to continue after his disappearance, in the face of very strong pressures from the previous political regime," the judges noted in their decision. "The online newspaper was for a very long time the main source of non-governmental news and made a definite contribution to the country's democratic turnaround."

That turnaround, now known worldwide as the Orange Revolution, which gave Ukraine a new administration headed by President Viktor Yushchenko, also put a spotlight on Ms. Dmytruk's role in the process. While sign-language interpreting the news about the November 21, 2004, presidential election results, she staged her own silent protest on the state-run UT-1 TV by signing to her viewers not to believe what was being said about a Viktor Yanukovych victory.

"Our president is Yushchenko," she signed. "Don't believe what they say. They are lying."

With neither honoree present at the July 18 dinner to receive the award, it was accepted by the press secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy, Iryna Bezverkha, for forwarding to the recipients. Chargé d'Affaires Sergiy Korsunsky read a message from President Yushchenko for the occasion stressing the importance of an independent media for democracy.

His administration is "resolutely and consistently" striving to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in Ukraine, the president said, adding that ensuring freedom of speech and of the press "is our immediate and key task."

Mr. Korsunsky also presented the president of the National Press Club with an orange scarf, imprinted with the Orange Revolution motto: "Yushchenko - Tak" (yes). This was the second time in three months that Ms. Dmytruk was being honored in Washington. In April, Vital Voices Global Partnership, an organization dedicated to increasing the womens' rights and leadership roles worldwide, honored her and other Ukrainian women for their role in the Orange Revolution.

The domestic winners of the John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award were Matthew Cooper of Time magazine and Judith Miller of The New York Times, who, when the awards were first announced in early June, were facing possible imprisonment for refusing to reveal confidential sources to investigators of the possible disclosure by White House officials of the identity of a covert CIA operative and wife of a critic of the administration's Iraq war policy. Since then, Mr. Cooper has testified before a grand jury; Ms. Miller has not and is now in detention.

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