UCC Community Meeting – Svitohliad and Future Prospects

On August 16^th, 2012 the Ukrainian Canadian Congress National President, Paul Grod and his Ontario and Toronto counterparts held a community information session at the Ukrainian National Federation Toronto Branch about the recent cancellation of the Ukrainian language public affairs program Svitohliad on OMNI Television. The meeting was attended by community leaders and members of various organizations from the Toronto community, as well as others from across Canada who joined via a conference call.

The meeting began with Mr. Grod giving all those present a background synopsis of the meeting that was held with representatives of the UCC and OMNI management. He explained that the recent cancellations affected all of the weekly ethnic programs, and that the decision to cancel the numerous shows (16 in total) was purely financial, as they were not drawing the advertising and viewership that was required to maintain them at a break-even level. He also noted that the example of the television program KONTAKT as a private entity was being used by OMNI as the model for all future ethnic programming, and that if there was interest in maintaining another Ukrainian program, this is the model they would be looking to use.

At this point, Mr. Grod opened the discussion up to the floor asking for input from the community as to whether we need a second Ukrainian show on television, what this show could look like, and who would be interested in getting involved etc. The first to speak on the topic was Bohdan Leshchyshen from the BCU Foundation, who announced that, separate from the discussions that the UCC was having on behalf of the community with OMNI, the BCU Foundation had already entered into advanced discussions, and was in fact ready to sign a contract for 29 weeks of a new Ukrainian television program. He explained that funds from the Foundation had been set aside, and that BCU was looking for the community to support the initiative through sponsorships and advertising. This announcement was met with some surprise from those in the room who were under the impression that the UCC would be spearheading or at least coordinating a new program representative of the entire Ukrainian Canadian community. A lively debate ensued where questions were raised centred on the lack of involvement of other groups and organizations, as well as questions on the content of the new BCU production, the overall work required to make it a profitable entity, and in fact whether a second program on television is even required. Above all, there was a lot of concern expressed about the BCU Foundation’s lack of coordination with the UCC on this issue which seemed to imply that the viewpoints and opinions of the entire community were not being considered.

On behalf of the UNF of Canada, Vice President Slawko Borys spoke about the lack of coordination on this issue and that it is not appropriate for one segment of the community to launch a television show without consulting our national coordinating body (the UCC), and then ask that the entire community to support it financially without knowing anything about its format, or having no say in the content of the program. It was made clear that the UNF is not opposed to BCU’s initiative, but that it should be an initiative that is coordinated through the UCC and supported by all, or at least by most of its members who can have an input in the financial support and management of the program’s content to ensure that it is truly representative of the entire Ukrainian community. The alternative situation being that the BCU Foundation can continue to work on the program on its own and look for corporate sponsorship to ensure it is viable, thereby ensuring BCU’s control of the content which may or may not be representative of the views of the UCC or its members. The discussion continued for quite some time, at the end of which a request was made for any organization or group of individuals who wished to participate fully (both financially and with resources) in the development of the new program to express their interest in writing to the BCU Foundation Board of Directors who then would consider all requests. The UNF has expressed its interest to continue the discussion on the topic and encourages everyone who has an interest to do the same.

For more information on the topic please visit the UCC website at www.ucc.ca

Slawko Borys,

Vice President, UNF of Canada

 
PHOTO

During UCC Community Meeting