Soon, residents of the front line city of Orikhiv in Polohy Raion, as well as displaced persons, will receive a special issue of Trudova Slava along with humanitarian aid. The circulation of the district newspaper is 2.5 thousand copies.
“Local publications are important. Especially now, when there is no electricity, water or gas, our small newspapers must be present,” said Svitlana Karpenko, editor-in-chief of Trudova Slava.
The editor-in-chief shared her plans to create publications for other communities as well. After all, she continues, the newspaper is needed not only by readers, but also by local authorities in order to convey the necessary information to people.
“I would like to believe that we will be able to negotiate with the leadership of the communities so that they financially support the printing of the newspaper,” said Svitlana Karpenko. “We understand that today it is difficult for people to allocate funds for a newspaper subscription. And while there are intense battles and shelling, this is unrealistic, because Ukrposhta is not fully operational, it cannot distribute.”
The special issue, which was actually prepared by two people, tells about the security situation in the Orikhiv community, about what is happening with communal enterprises and with filling the community budget, there are stories about Ukrainian defenders.
In March the President of the the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), Sergiy Tomilenko, together with Svitlana Karpenko, visited the front-line town of Orikhiv. After talking with local residents, the journalists realized that a newspaper was needed here as soon as possible. The resumption of publication of the newspaper became possible thanks to the support of the Zaporizhzhia Journalists’ Solidarity Center, NUJU and international partners.
The restoration of the local press in the de-occupied and front-line territories, where there is often no electricity or Internet, no regular TV or radio broadcasting, is among the priorities of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. As of now, with the support of foreign donors, NUJU has managed to finance the release of at least one issue (usually, the first after a long break) of 25 local newspapers.
NUJU information service
Discussion about this post