“People were very emotional about the newspaper,” Trudova Slava’s second issue brought to front-line Orikhiv

The second special issue of the local newspaper Trudova Slava was published in the front-line town of Orikhiv in Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday, May 23. Its Editor-in-Chief, Svitlana Karpenko, who was the one to bring the newspaper to her hometown, shared her impressions of the trip with the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU).

“The first destination on our route was the fire and rescue unit, which, despite the systematic shelling, still operates in Orikhiv,” said Svitlana Karpenko. “People were already waiting there as they knew the rescuers bring bread and water there… Many of my acquaintances were there. We hugged, we cried… People were very emotional about the newspaper they had subscribed to for decades, and now they had a chance to hold it for the first time in a year. It was like a breath of fresh air for them.”

According to Svitlana Karpenko, one of the long-time subscribers, said that, despite the lack of funds, she still subscribed to the newspaper when there was such an opportunity.

Currently, the newspaper’s distribution in dangerous front-line conditions is carried out through volunteers and local self-government bodies. The first issue, published in early April with the assistance of the NUJU, had a circulation of 2,500 and was published only in the Orikhiv Community. The second one, which consisted of 3,000 special edition copies, was destined to remind readers of four other communities of the former Orikhiv District of itself: Preobrazhenka, Mala Tokmachka, Tavriiske, and Komyshuvakha. In addition, it was decided to leave a certain part of the circulation in the city of Zaporizhzhia for displaced people.

“The person who distributed the newspaper together with humanitarian aid in the Orikhiv Community told me that she had distributed 400 copies “instantly.” Everyone asked for a newspaper… For decades, readers and I lived as one big family. And now Trudova Slava still represents our Orikhiv region. It is part of the history of our region,” Svitlana Karpenko said.

The editor, together with journalists from the German television channel, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), took copies of Trudova Slava to Orikhiv.

“The Germans want to understand for sure whether a printed newspaper is still needed in the front-line territory,” says Svitlana Karpenko. “They filmed the production process in the printing house, the trip to Orikhiv, and the newspaper distribution among the people. I told them a lot about the city and the newspaper. They liked what I was saying and sometimes asked me to repeat it on camera. But the people in Orikhiv, my compatriots, told them firsthand all about the importance of the newspaper. They emphasized that the Internet is very good, but it is not available everywhere now. Moreover, not everyone has phones and other gadgets to use it. And some people simply need the printed word: a newspaper, a magazine, a book. According to the head of the Tavriiske Community, there is still a library that people in the village of Yurkivka constantly visit despite the war and shelling.”

The second special issue of Trudova Slava was successfully published with the financial assistance of the NUJU and the Zaborona online media. Thanks to this help, the issue was twice as long as the first and now consisted of eight pages. The equipment for the newsroom was provided by the Association of Independent Publishers.

“The emotions today are unbelievable. With tears in their eyes, local residents are holding the second issue of their dear Orikhiv newspaper,” NUJU President Sergiy Tomilenko wrote on a social network. “Since last year, the publication has stopped being published due to constant Russian shelling of the city. In April 2023, the NUJU helped our colleague Svitlana Karpenko publish the first “military” issue. A new issue has been released thanks to the response and support of Ukrainian and international partners. And we dream of permanent publishing of the newspaper, which in the conditions of constant shelling of Orikhiv, is the only available source of verified and important information. The British newspaper The Telegraph already wrote about the Orikhiv district newspaper, and a report by German journalists was filmed. Journalists are important!”

NUJU Information Service