THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
“‘Our favorite district newspaper’ is what residents of the front-line Orikhiv Community warmly call the Trudova Slava newspaper. We are very happy that for more than a year since our newspaper resumed publication, people are eagerly waiting for each issue and read it literally from the first to the last line,” Nataliya Krasno, the head of the united organization of the trade union of education workers, spoke so warmly about the Orikhiv Community’s publication. Now, she is also a volunteer of the Pivden charitable foundation, which provides assistance to resettled compatriots.
“Orikhiv residents come to our foundation not only for humanitarian aid but also to receive and read the latest issue of the Trudova Slava newspaper. Before the unification of the districts, it had the status of a district newspaper, and now it is a newspaper of our community. It has not lost her authority and respect among readers. Because in peacetime, it wrote a lot about people and their lives and glorified the hard work of our compatriots. And now, on its pages, there is information about the exploits of our indomitable defenders who defend Ukraine from the russian aggressor, about compatriots who contribute to the victory. We all need it like air,” says Nataliya Krasno.
Distribution of the newspaper through the foundation is not the only way to distribute the publication among the residents of the Orikhiv Community. According to Svitlana Karpenko, the editor-in-chief of Trudova Slava, she personally delivers fresh issues of the newspaper to people in the front-line communities of Komyshuvakha and Tavriisk together with rescuers. It is delivered to Orikhiv by representatives of the local authorities, who go there almost every day.
“The fact that people are waiting for the newspaper are happy for it, take each copy of it with such trepidation… They say: “Long live our district! It is impossible to convey this without excitement. So, we work for nothing, and it is not easy to give each number. We already have our own website, which my compatriots who are forced migrants in Zaporizhzhia and other cities read with pleasure, but here, in the front-line territories, the printed version of the newspaper is in great demand,” notes Svitlana.
She says that now the 15th issue of the wartime newspaper is being prepared for printing. And the first restored one was released on April 5, 2023.
“With gratitude, I once again emphasize that this became possible thanks to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, its creation with the help of foreign partners of the NUJU Journalists’ Solidarity Center, and the identification of one of the priority areas of work – the restoration of the output and support of local print media in the front-line territories. After all, the large-scale invasion, constant heavy fighting along the contact line, bombings, and shelling caused the closure of almost all print media here. And the lack of light, communication, and the Internet left the inhabitants of these territories without electronic means of communication and, therefore, without relevant and objective information. Print media became its only source,” says the editor-in-chief of Trudova Slava.
Call the Zaporizhzhia JSC at 096 277 5352 (Nataliya Kuzmenko and Valentyna Manzhura, the Zaporizhzhia JSC coordinators). The Center’s address is 152 Sobornyi Avenue.
ABOUT JSC
The Journalists’ Solidarity Centers is an initiative of the NUJU implemented with the support of the International and European Federations of Journalists and UNESCO. The initiative is designated to help media representatives working in Ukraine during the war. The Centers operate in Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro and provide journalists with organizational, technical, legal, psychological, and other types of assistance.
ABOUT UNESCO
UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. It contributes to peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, sciences, culture, communication, and information. UNESCO promotes knowledge sharing and the free flow of ideas to accelerate mutual understanding. It is the coordinator of the UN Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which aims to create a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers, thus strengthening peace, democracy, and sustainable development worldwide. UNESCO is working closely with its partner organizations in Ukraine to provide support to journalists on the ground.
The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this digest do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area or its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this digest and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit to the organization.
Valentyna Bystrova
Photo by Nataliya Krasno
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