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The Vechirni Cherkasy newspaper is quite young – it appeared on the media market of Ukraine in 1993, and it was created by Cherkasy entrepreneur and publisher Stanislav Zhurylo. He has been the head of the newsroom team since the first days and has always defended and still defends the independence of the Ukrainian press.
Together with the newspaper, a printing house created by Stanislav Zhurylo started work, where, along with other products, many newspapers are printed not only from Cherkasy but also from neighboring regions. The quality of the work of this company can be said by the positive reviews of the editors. In particular, during a conversation with the editor of one of the local newspapers of the Cherkasy Region, she said: “Now we print [the newspaper] in Cherkasy, and I regret that we did not start cooperation with this printing house earlier.”
It happened that under the wing of Vechirni Cherkasy, one after another, the private editions Press Center, Zhinocha Hazeta, and Aktsent joined. For some time, they were published as separate newspapers, but later, they became part of the weekly Vechirni Cherkasy.
The weekly is published, as it has always been, on Wednesdays. Of course, the large-scale russian aggression left its mark on all life, including on the development of the press. We had to reduce the number of newspaper columns: there were 32 and 24, and now, there are 16. At the same time, we decided to preserve the output in color – so that the newspaper would remain familiar to the reader.
The number of pages has decreased, but not at the expense of the amount of information. They simply began to prepare less lengthy publications and changed the layout to accommodate more materials on the page. In addition, there are slightly fewer advertisements and announcements, which also makes it possible to save space.
Vechirni Cherkasy also publishes the program of a number of TV channels. To do so, agreements have been concluded with relevant information agencies. As it turned out, along with the informational marathon, people are also interested in other content of TV providers, and they are even more interested in the materials of local TV channels.
This confirms once again it is local information that people really need; they want to watch local television, listen to local radio, and read local newspapers. It will be good when the government officials find out about it, and for now, the publication of the TV program not only by all-Ukrainian but also by local TV channels adds popularity to Vechirni Cherkasy.
A traditional question today: what does the newspaper live on?
Deputy editor-in-chief Nataliya Tavanets said that the life of the newsroom is supported by subscriptions and advertising. From the first day of existence of Vechirni Cherkasy, along with journalism, the work of the advertising department was well done, thanks to which the newspaper successfully developed and conquered the information market of the Cherkasy Region.
Although these indicators decreased with the beginning of the large-scale russian invasion, they still remain at such a level that the newspaper reaches the reader regularly. Even when there were blackouts, the Internet worked with interruptions; not a single issue of Vechirni Cherkasy was missed.
By the way, the publication has a normal business relationship with mail carriers.
“Our newspaper is distributed throughout the region, and there are cases when the newspaper is delivered late. But those are more the exception than the rule, to which mailers respond without delay and effectively,” says the deputy editor-in-chief.
The newsroom team is currently small: together with the deputy editor, two journalists fill the weekly magazine with materials, and the layout is managed by a designer. It is noteworthy that in the newsroom, as in the good times, the advertising department is actively working (today, this is quite a rarity), which even today provides the publication with financial support in addition to subscription funds.
It is also economically beneficial that Vechirni Cherkasy has a good partner nearby – a printing house that was created together with the newsroom and never fails with printing.
Not relying only on the printed version of the newspaper, Vechirni Cherkasy runs its own website. Summing up, we can say Vechirni Cherkasy is where creativity and economy go side by side, and results are achieved together.
Olha Voitsekhivska, Journalist of Ukraine
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