Journalistic
By Walter Kish
Most of the time, I have no problems coming up with a theme for
this weekly column. Something in the
news will spark an idea, or I will come across some interesting fact in
something I am reading, or during a conversation my wife will take something I
said and suggest that I write a column on it.
Regular readers know that I write on a broad range of things - some
educational, some political, some serious and some downright irreverent or eclectic. The only thing common to them is that they
have some connection to my being Ukrainian and they spark my creative literary
juices.
I do it of course, because I get a certain sense
of self-satisfaction out of being creative and seeing my efforts published and
read by a wide audience throughout Canada and indeed the world, since this
paper has a significant number of international subscribers. I am especially gratified by the number of
people I meet who relate to me how much they enjoy reading my weekly column,
and how it resonates with their own personal views and experiences. More than anything else, that is what keeps
me going, week after week for some eight years now, since I receive no formal
remuneration for writing for this paper.
I am fortunate as well that I have the freedom
and independence to write pretty much whatever I please without any real
editorial restriction or limitation. In
all the years that I have been writing, I can recall only two occasions when
the powers that be behind this paper took exception to one of my diatribes and
would not publish what I had written.
In one case, I would not budge and the column in
question was never printed. In a more
recent case, after some discussion, I altered one contentious sentence and the
column went to press.
Since newspapers first started being published,
journalistic and editorial freedom has always been a difficult principle to
maintain. Writers, like most creative
artists, are often blessed with strong egos and temperaments and are notorious
for flouting conventions and accepted boundaries of thought and behaviour. I am at times as guilty as anyone of doing
the same.
Although doing so may at times offend the
sensibilities of the organizations that publish newspapers or journals, be they
corporate or political, it is intrinsic to the role of a free press. It is our job to question the conventions, to
poke holes in the facades, to skewer the pompous, light a fire under the
complacent, expose the corrupt and shine the light of transparency on those who
would exploit or try and fool us. This
undoubtedly will at times offend some, disturb others and create discomfort
among those that would prefer not to make waves.
I recognize the fact that there will be times
when some people will take strong exception to something I write. That is to be expected and is an accepted
part of the journalistic experience.
There will also always be a certain amount of creative tension between
editorial independence and the corporate political sensibilities of the paper’s
owners.
I have no issue with the right of the publishers
of this paper to question specific aspects of what I may write from time to
time, and am prepared to defend my opinions and ideals. I am grateful for the fact that in the past
they have never attempted to impose any kind of generic editorial restrictions
or asked me to conform to any particular “party line”. I know that they also understand that I would
never submit to any such limitations.
The few disagreements we may have had have been rare exceptions and I
continue to be pleased to be part of this paper’s journalistic team.
In a broader sense, I think it testifies to the
fact that this paper reflects a wide breadth of thought and opinion in the
Ukrainian community, one that resonates with all Ukrainian Canadians,
regardless of age, religion, generation or political belief. So long as this paper continues to embody
that philosophy, I will continue to be a part of it.