Andrii Danylets: “Currently, the work of the newsroom relies on the enthusiasm of the people who have devoted themselves to journalism”

Novyi Chas is a weekly district newspaper of the town of Zhydachiv, Lviv Region. For more than 30 years in Independent Ukraine, it has been almost the main local publication of Zhydachiv and nearby villages, towns, and communities. For 20 years, the publication has been headed by Andrii Danylets – a person known in the journalistic environment of the Lviv Region.

The newspaper was published for the first time in the Zhydachiv District back in 1939. As the editor says, “The first soviets” knew the value of words and, in October 1939, released a combat leaflet called the Soviet Way. At that time, “a body of the district committee of the party” distributed [the newspaper] over the territory resided by about 90,000 people. The one-time circulation was approximately 20,000 copies. More than 30 people, including those responsible for printing, worked on the publication.”

With time, the newspaper was renamed as Novyi Chas.

Nowadays, life is very difficult for printed local media. The war, which adjusted all plans for the local press, was not the biggest disaster. Having slipped out of the state’s control in 2019 and without promised state or local support at the beginning, the newspapers were destined to take care of themselves by themselves. Many of them did not make it. The Novyi Chas magazine, according to Andrii Danylets, survived thanks to the fact that it was prepared, to some extent, for the processes of denationalization and had a good material and technical base.

Newspaper journalists were always at the epicenter of local events, and with the beginning of a full-scale invasion, the work of the newsrooms grew to almost 24 hours a day. Back then, in those early days, when everyone wanted to help but didn’t know what to do, journalists were just among those who knew what to do. Novyi Chas has created a Telegram and a YouTube channel, and the latest information was provided almost online. Both local journalists and those who returned to Zhydachiv from Lviv and Kyiv worked for this. At that time, no one paid attention to money; everyone worked for victory.

Time passed, and despite the enthusiasm, funds were still needed. At this time, advertising revenue fell completely. Inflation took away working capital, and income was needed for printing and at least some salary. Before the full-scale invasion, there were six employees in the newsroom of Novyi Chas; now, there are actually three left. The full-time staff moved to 0.5 salary positions, and it works like this to this day, but the workload remained the same as before. The editor-in-chief is a journalist, a typewriter, and a director, and a person being in constant search of funds.

Currently, the prices for printing, energy carriers, expenses for salaries, and taxes have increased. But Andrii Danylets believes that this will not destroy the local media. The editor now considers the position taken by Ukrposhta to be the main culprit.

The newspaper has many articles about Heroes who gave their lives for Ukraine. Today, the publication talks more about what is happening in communities, but the theme of war is undeniably present in every issue.

The corrections to the work of the newsroom were made by turning off the electricity, the so-called “blackouts.” However, despite everything, the newspaper was and continues to be published.

This year, journalists from Italy presented several generators to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), and one of them went to the newsroom of the Novyi Chas newspaper. After all, for quite a long period, their generator has already somewhat failed.

According to Andrii Danylets, the most difficult thing in the editor-in-chief’s work today is not being able to pay people a decent salary.

Today, the main subscribers of the newspaper are pensioners, people who have been subscribed to the newspaper for 30-40 years in a row. The circulation is 1,300 copies. One thousand are printed in advance, and 300 are sold retail. When something sensational appears on the pages of a newspaper, it is bought in retail just to read specific materials. The newspaper continues to be published every Thursday, but due to delivery problems, it reaches readers only on Saturdays and even on Tuesdays. The Novyi Chas newspaper continues to reach its readers despite all the challenges of fate.

Andrii Danylets also has a global vision of the local press prospects. As a member of the board and secretariat of the Lviv regional organization of the NUJU, Andrii became the initiator of an appeal by journalists to the Cabinet of Ministers [Ukrainian Government] and the Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian Parliament] to raise the question of the further functioning of local print media. After all, the issue of information security and survival in the present time of local media newsrooms should become the effort of not only caring journalists.

“Today, farmers are supported, displaced people and businesses are subsidized, so why not subsidize the state enterprise Ukrposhta so that it does not drive our publications into debt with their prices? There should also be targeted support from the state for printing services. After all, it [Ukrposhta] did not fulfill its promises when denationalization took place. Today is not too late to come to the rescue. And the funds, by the way, are not that big: UAH 2-3 million will be enough for the Lviv Region. Because journalists will endure everything, they cannot get used to it. But when the newspaper ceases to be published, no one will ever restore it,” Andrii Danylets sums up.

Alina Shtempel