The Ukrainian Press in North America: Is There a Future?

Keynote Address presented by Dr. Myron B. Kuropas at the 80^th anniversary celebration of Noviy Shliakh - The New Pathway Ukrainian Weekly on October 30, 2010, Ukrainian National Federation Trident Banquet Hall, Toronto.

Your Excellency, Reverend Fathers, Honourable Consul, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen!

The title of my presentation tonight is:  “The Ukrainian Press in North America: Is there a Future?” I will begin by very briefly reviewing the history of our press, focusing on Canada.  Next, I will take a look at the current Ukrainian press scene in North America. I will conclude by presenting my humble suggestions on what has to be done if the Ukrainian press is to endure.

The first Ukrainian-language newspaper to be read by Ukrainian Canadians was Svoboda, published in the United States by the Ruskiy Narodniy Soyuz, today known as the Ukrainian National Association, UNA.  First published in 1893, Svoboda is today the oldest, continuously published Ukrainian language newspaper in the world.

By 1896, Svoboda was publishing a regular column titled “Kanadiyska Rus”. Of special significance were the reports of Nestor Dmytriw and Pavlo Tymkevych, two Ukrainian Catholic priests who were among the founding fathers of the UNA. Both lived for a time in Western Canada working with Ukrainians there. It is important to note in this context that it was Fr. Dmytriw who in 1897, celebrated the first Ukrainian Divine Liturgy on Canadian soil at Terebowla, near Dauphin, Manitoba.   

Following much discussion in Svoboda about the need for a Ukrainian newspaper in Canada, Kanadiyskiy Farmer made its debut in 1903.  By 1908, the newspaper had some 3,000 subscribers and enjoyed financial support from Canada’s Liberal Party and the Winnipeg Star.  A second Ukrainian Canadian newspaper, Slovo, appeared in 1904.  It had a religious orientation and enjoyed the support of Canada’s Conservative Party.  As Canada’s Rusyn/Ukrainian population increased, other newspapers emerged.  It was not until the appearance of Ukrayinske Slovo in 1910, however, that Canada had an independent periodical.  Slovo was also the first newspaper to use the word “Ukrainian” in its title. 

As in the United States, the first Ukrainian political party to emerge in Canada was the Ukrainian Socialist Party which published a number of periodicals in Western Canada prior to World War I, including Robitnychiy Narod in 1909. Soon after the Bolsheviks shanghaied the Russian Revolution, however, most of these socialist organizations joined the Communist front, leading to the establishment of the Ukrainian Labour Farmer Temple Association known, since 1946, as the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians.  With financial support from the Komintern and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian Canadian Communists enjoyed a dominant press presence in Canada’s Ukrainian community for decades. The only viable counters to Ukrainian Communists during the 1920s were the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and the United Hetman Association, all with vigorous newspapers in the community.

It was against this background that the first issue of Noviy Shliakh appeared on October 30, 1930, exactly 80 years ago today.  The founding editor was the visionary Mykhailo Pohorecky, who in a 1936 interview explained that the purpose of the newspaper was to propagate “the ideal of maximal Ukrainian nationalism”, the expression that of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, OUN”.  Noviy Shliakh and UNO, its parent organization, remained the voice of OUN in Canada until the end of World War II and the arrival of the Third Wave.  I might add that in view of the way Stalin was being romanced by the Western powers during World War II,  being a supporter of OUN was not exactly the way to enter the winner’s circle in mainstream Canada.  Fortunately, UNO and Noviy Shliakh weathered the many scurrilous attacks against them launched by the Communists.

The third immigration [wave] brought much ideological baggage with it and OUN was soon divided into Melnykivtsi and Banderivtsi.  UNO and Noviy Shliakh became associated with the Melnykivtsi.  Following a series of ups and downs over the last fifty years, Noviy Shliakh now appears to be flourishing under a dynamic, younger, less ideologically oriented leadership.  My father was a contributor and, I am proud to say, so am I.

Today, the Ukrainian press in North America is at a cross-road.  The older organizations which sponsored Ukrainian newspapers in the past are no longer in a position to do so. Many older newspapers have disappeared.  The latest victim is Narodna Volya, the proud flagship of the Ukrainian Fraternal Association – UFA, a progressive mutual benefit society which ceased to exist recently after 100 years on the scene.  The UFA also published Forum, edited by long-time MUNO activist, Andrew Gregorovich.  The future of Forum at the moment is uncertain. 

Today, America - published by the Providence Association of Ukrainian Catholics since 1912, as well as, Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly - both published by the UNA - are still standing. With so many Ukrainian-language newspapers now available free of charge, however, these three remaining fraternal benefit national newspapers in the United States are hard-pressed to compete. 

The Ukrainian-language press faces other problems as well.  The Fourth Wave is an economic immigration, largely indifferent to local Ukrainian issues of concern to older immigrants and their children.  Most fourth wavers are loath to join existing organizations and to read the old-line newspapers.  Their children moreover, are assimilating faster than the children of any other immigration.  At the same time, the children and grandchildren of the older immigrants are not too keen to read texts in the Ukrainian language. Nor are they enamoured of the OUN battles which energized their parents.  A final problem of course, is the internet explosion which is fast making some hard copy periodicals obsolete.

So what is the future of the Ukrainian press in North America?  In the past, our newspapers have admirably informed, educated, and created Ukrainian public opinion.  As the official website of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress explains: “Apart from education, the print media have been a major vehicle of cultural continuity.”   The question remains: Will our print media endure?  My answer in a nut shell is this.  They must.  They must because there is no alternative. We need a visible and vigorous press in North America now, more than ever.  The Ukrainian identity is at risk, in Ukraine as well as here. 

Today, Ukraine has once again fallen under the thumb of a Russian puppet.  Ukraine’s Minister of Education and Science is a Ukrainophobe who is happily rewriting the history curriculum used in Ukraine’s lower grades.  Opposition to President Yanukovich is being suppressed by the SBU.  The press in Ukraine is no longer as free as it was in the Yushchenko era and, as in Kuchma’s time, a journalist has gone missing. The North American Ukrainian press must continue to write the truth and be a sounding board of public opinion both here and in Ukraine.  A debate is raging over Ukraine’s future and the print media in North America must participate.

More important in my opinion, however, is the need for a similar debate regarding the future of the diaspora in North America. This is not a new idea.  In the year 1998, Dr.  Bohdan Vitvitsky organized a conference in the United States titled: “2020 and Our Future”. He chose the year 2020 because he believed that was the year by which most of the third wave immigrants would have passed on.  In his opening remarks, Dr. Vitvitsky stated that there were three basic attitudes prevalent in our community. The first belonged to the “automatic pilot” crowd which said in effect: “Just let things be. All is well, thank you.”  The second perspective reflected the beliefs of those who took the position that the sole purpose of the diaspora had been to fight for an independent Ukraine.  “Now that Ukraine was moving toward independence, (they argued), our work here is done”.  The third view was the gloom and doom perspective which adopted the stance that assimilation is inevitable.  So why fight it.  Although remnants of all three perspectives still exist in the USA, none of them has prevailed.  Yet. 

It is interesting to note that [also] in 1998,  University of Manitoba professor Yaroslav Rozumnyj presented a paper at the University of Illinois in which he agonized about the slowly eroding Ukrainian community in Canada.  He called for a task force of intellectual and civic leaders to address the issue.  I spoke with Professor Rozumnyj a few weeks ago and asked if such a task force was ever established.  No, he told me sadly. No. 

So where do go from here?  I suggest a paradigm shift, a change in focus.  We’ve devoted twenty years to Ukraine. Much time and treasure has been spent and that is good.  In 2010, I believe we will help Ukraine best by helping ourselves here.  It was here, not Ukraine, that the Ukrainian identity was developed and preserved.  It was here, not Ukraine, that the Ukrainian national anthem was sung and Ukrainian independence days were celebrated for over ninety years. And it is here that Ukraine will continue to live regardless of what happens in Dnipropetrovsk. Our future and, paradoxically, Ukraine’s future, depends on what we do here. 

But what does this have to do with the future of the Ukrainian press, you ask?  The future of the Ukrainian press on these shores, ladies and gentlemen, is inexorably tied to the future of the Ukrainian community here.  No community, no press.

Here’s what I believe needs to be done.  First, we need to focus on strengthening our societal foundations.  We can begin with our churches, institutions that our parents and grandparents loved and cherished.  It was the churches that maintained our traditions and helped form our national identity in North America. This is something that the people of Ukraine seem to appreciate intuitively, even if we don’t.  It is our churches in Ukraine, moreover, that are currently in the forefront of the opposition to the Yanukovich regime.  Our secular institutions also need our attention, perhaps more than the churches.  They also have played a vital role in our development as a uniquely rich and dynamic people.

Second, let’s begin an outreach effort to the Fourth Wave and their disenchanted youth.  Let’s be patient here as well.  They’re not like us because their formation process was very, very different.  They lived under the Soviets, who created the most toxic regime in the history of the world. Let’s be realistic, however, and reconcile ourselves to the fact that some fourth wavers will join us in our efforts to build a stronger community... but most will not.  That’s the reality.

Finally, we need to examine ourselves, our hearts, our minds, and our souls.  Some of us are still too ideologically constipated, too stubborn to change.  Others of us are weary, worn-out, simply tired of being Ukrainian.  “It’s not easy being Ukrainian and not everybody can cut it,” as my father used to say.  Still others of us are too gloomy and pessimistic. I hear it all the time. Ukraine is lost.  Our community is lost.  Has the world passed us by? I think not. 

Yes, I know, there are too few of us to make a difference.  I hear that all the time.  Really?  I ask you, when in our entire history in North America have there ever been too many of us?  Every community, every organization has always relied on a handful of people to carry the load.  That’s the way it has always been and that’s the way it always will be.

We need to remember that every Ukrainian generation has played a role in developing, enriching, and preserving our community here. Past generations had it a lot tougher than anything we have to contend with today.  Just think.  They weathered two world wars, an economic depression, and an environment that was not always conducive to Ukrainian ideals.  Ukrainians were interned in concentration camps and condemned for their love of Ukraine... There were no Ukrainian Studies Chairs, no Ukrainians in parliament.  Multiculturalism wasn’t even discussed.  And yet, UNO members were able to build UNO halls all across Canada. They developed a significant organizational structure for men and women, created a vibrant youth program, published Noviy Shliakh as well as numerous books, and sent the First President of MUNO to the Canadian Senate.  UNO in Canada has a proud and glorious history, a tradition of excellence.  It remains a model to be emulated by other Ukrainian organizations, especially in the United States. 

Ukrainian Canadians are blessed.  Ukrainian Canadians, especially UNO, therefore, have a moral obligation to take the lead in revitalizing Ukrainian institutions and the press in North America.  You have political power we can only dream about in the United States. You have a Prime Minister who went to Ukraine and had the courage to openly and unabashedly stand up for freedom of the press there. Mnohaya lita, yomu!    

Noviy Shliakh will prosper as long as UNO is alive and vibrant.  Today, UNO is making a dramatic comeback.   In 2010, UNO has a golden opportunity to move to the “next level”.  UNO must take the lead in the sorely needed revitalization effort in Canada and the United States.  It is UNO and Noviy Shliakh that can put together the task force that Professor Rozumnyj talked about some twelve years ago. 

It’s not too late, ladies and gentlemen.  You know what needs to be done far better than I can possibly tell you.  You have the talent.  You have the resources.  You have the expertise.  So, dear friends, go out there and show us how it’s done. I have faith in you, in your leadership, in your people, in your know-how.  You’ve done it before.  You will do it again.  We in the United States are counting on you to show us the way.  God Bless you for all that you do... 

And now, ladies and gentlemen, for the two words you’ve been waiting for:  “In conclusion”… Let me say that my wife thanks you. My son Stefko thanks you.  But most of all, I thank you... for inviting me here for this very special occasion... and for your kind attention. 

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Keynote Speaker Dr. Myron B. Kuropas