Winnipeg Free Press 2009 Recipient of Syrnick Journalism Award

On March 09, 2009, the Editorial Board of The Winnipeg Free Press was named recipient of the John Syrnick Award for Journalism. For the third time, the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko awarded its Syrnick Journalism award.  According to Shevchenko Foundation President Andrij Hladyshevsky, Q.C., “The Winnipeg Free Press was chosen for best sustained coverage in 2008 of the 1932-33 Holodomor, a famine/genocide of historical significance to the Free World and the Ukrainian Canadian community.”

The Syrnick 2009 National Selection Committee included pre-eminent Canadian academics and community leaders from the Ukrainian-Canadian community. Dr. Christine Turkewych, Chair of the selection committee, commented, “The Editorial Board of The Winnipeg Free Press facilitated consistent coverage by their staff writers and independent journalists. The Year 2008 was full of events across Canada to commemorate Holodomor as well as to explore the issues and controversy surrounding it. The Winnipeg Free Press provided coverage throughout the year, almost monthly.”

During the reception, selection committee members were acknowledged and thanked for their generosity in sharing their expertise and for their dedication to serving Ukrainian Canadian interests. Members of the Syrnick 2009 National Selection Committee were (from west to east):

Alberta - Prof. Zenon Kohut, Director, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, Daria Luciw, President, Ukrainian Canadian Congress Alberta and  Halya Wilson, Southern Representative of Alberta Council for the Ukrainian Arts; Saskatchewan -  Prof. Bohdan Kordan, Professor & Chair in Department of Political Studies, University of Saskatchewan; Manitoba - Bohdan Halkewycz, Shevchenko Foundation Board Member; Ontario - Roman Senkus, Director, CIUS Publications Program at University of Toronto, Christine Isajiw, Ukrainian Canadian Research & Documentation Centre, Irka Mycak, Chair of UCC National Holodomor Committee, Oksana Zakydalsky, Writer and Executive Member of Plast Ukrainian Youth Organization,  Prof. Dominique  Arel, Chair of Ukrainian Studies, University of Ottawa, Irena Bell, Producer & Host, Ukrainian Radio Program, CHIN Ottawa and  Dr. Oleh Waler,  St. George’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church Council, St. Catharines; and from Quebec -   Rt. Rev. Dr. Ihor G. Kutash, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada and the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada – Montreal Branch.

The Winnipeg Free Press accepted the Syrnick Journalism award at a reception on Monday, March 9, at Canad Inns Garden City in Winnipeg. Over one hundred and fifty invited guests included Manitoba dignitaries, Holodomor survivors, leaders of the Ukrainian-Canadian and business communities, and the media.  Shevchenko Foundation Executive Director Lesia Szwaluk emceed the programme while Leo Ledohowski, President of Canad Inns and Andrij Hladyshevsky, Q.C., Foundation President, presented the award to Free Press Editor Margo Goodhand.

The award is named in honour of John Syrnick, who served as editor of Ukrainian Voice from 1947 to 1970. Under Syrnick’s editorial stewardship, Ukrainian Voice became a leading voice for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian Canadians who sought to define and promote the interests of their community within a multicultural Canada.

In 2005, the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko launched the Syrnick Journalism Award to demonstrate to Canadian media that the Ukrainian Canadian community is a watchful readership/audience, and to encourage Canadian media to report continually on topics of interest to the Ukrainian Canadian community.

The first Syrnick recipient was journalist Mark MacKinnon, from The Globe and Mail, for providing consistent and thorough coverage of Ukraine’s history leading to the Orange Revolution during the critical period from the second election to the final results of the third election in December 2004. In 2007, Victor Malarek, Senior Reporter at CTV’s W-FIVE, was named second recipient for his continual dedication to substantive research and reporting on issues of importance and relevance to the Ukrainian Canadian community.

Photos by Andrew Sikorski