When a printed newspaper re-appeared again in the de-occupied Izium with the assistance of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), journalists from Kherson, who had to leave for Lviv, looked enviously at their colleagues from Izium and even jokingly touched them, as sometimes young women touch pregnant women: “Let this happen to us too!”
At that time, thoughts about the return of the newspaper to readers seemed to be audacious dreams, and Kherson residents were even afraid to talk about it seriously. But this day has come! The first issue of the Kherson regional newspaper Novyi Den since the beginning of the full-scale war has been printed and sent to readers!
“How come we achieved the release of a fresh issue? There was a solid reason, the liberation of Kherson, the arrival of President Zelenskyy, and in general, there was a desire to give a nice gift to the people of Kherson! We turned for help to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, which helped with the funds of foreign benefactors, to colleagues from the Lviv newspaper Vysokyi Zamok, who finalized and printed our issue. Everything was done very promptly, because the promptness of information is important for the newspaper,” said Anatolii Zhupyna, the editor-in-chief of Novyi Den, answering the press service of the NUJU.
As earlier reported, after the capture of Kherson by the Russians, most of the editorial staff had to leave the city and move to new places in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government. They worked remotely, through social networks, and later restored the site. The rest of the media workers continued to stay in the occupied territory, helping to publish information.
“When our Defense Forces liberated Kherson, we wanted to be useful to our compatriots in new conditions. It became clear that since there is no electricity and stable communication in the city, our web posts do not reach them. Although our audience is all over the planet, the most important thing for us is to provide information specifically to the people of Kherson. First of all, up-to-date information about what pharmacies, banks, post offices, water dispense points, etc., are open. So we, together with the journalists’ union, came to the idea that it is worth publishing at least a four-page special issue so that our readers can learn about what is most important to them,” said Lyudmila Zhupyna, a deputy editor-in-chief of the NUJU.
All journalists who now live in different cities of Ukraine and missed their work took part in the preparation of the issue’s materials. Heroes were found, articles were prepared. In particular, they interviewed the head of the Kherson City Military Administration Halyna Luhova. The regional military administration, the Kherson Regional Music and Drama Theater named after M. Kulish also responded the request.
“When I saw the photos of the new issue, despite the fact that I knew about its preparation and wrote materials, I couldn’t hold back my tears. When I left occupied Kherson, I had to destroy all the copies of Novyi Den that remained in the house. This had to be done in order not to endanger the relatives. I was right: later, it turned out that they came to them, looking for me… Imagine what it meant for me to see my dear newspaper, my dear logo again! I cried, but they were tears of joy. We survived, we don’t give up and fight our way through the thorns to the stars!” says journalist Maryna Savchenko.
10,000 copies of the printed circulation of the special issue of Novyi Den are currently on the way. Volunteers deliver them to Kherson, and with the help of the city authorities and the military, they will distribute it in places where local residents gather. Currently, according to the estimates of the city authorities, there are about 80,000 people in Kherson.
Editor-in-chief of Novyi Den Anatolii Zhupyna says that he hopes for the publication of the next issues of the newspaper. However, everything depends on whether it will be possible to find financing for this. The editorial office had 32 tons of paper, which it stored in the territory of the Kherson printing house, but the occupiers used this paper to print their propaganda. The editors of Novyi Den could only be glad that the Russians did not start publishing a fictitious Novyi Den, as they did with many other newspapers. Another thing is inspiring: not a single collaborator was found among the editorial staff.
But the editorial office was looted and destroyed, it was left without office equipment. In addition, the authorities do not advise returning to Kherson yet: there are problems with light, water, and heat…
“However, colleagues from Lviv do not refuse help. We can turn to Vysokyi Zamok again, and ask our fellow colleagues to write new materials. At the same time, everything depends on funding, because newspaper business is a business, and no one can constantly do any work for free. But there is a desire to publish a newspaper, we feel the strength for it. Meanwhile, we continue to fill our website and pages in social networks,” says deputy editor-in-chief Oksana Pavlenko.
Novyi Den is already the fifth front-line local newspaper published with the support of the NUJU. To date, newspaper issues have been printed for Izium, Lyman, Barvinkove, and Bakhmut. In the near future, three more issues will be published on the de-occupied territories of the Kharkiv Region and Mykolayiv Region.
“We, the journalistic community of Ukraine, admire the professionalism and patriotism of Kherson journalists, who have preserved their dedication to the profession. Together with many people from Kherson, they experienced kidnapping, physical and moral torture, forced relocation to other places, destruction of editorial office property, pressure of obsessive and lying Russian propaganda. But they survived and endured! The NUJU supported colleagues from Novyi Den who fled from persecution and went to the territory under the control of Ukraine, but every day they tried to truthfully inform their Kherson audience about the events in the city, in the region, in Ukraine, and in the world through all Internet channels and with the help of social networks. And here finally comes the happy day of direct communication between Novyi Den newspaper staff and their readers! We at the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine are incredibly glad that we had the opportunity to participate in the release of this historic issue of the newspaper,” notes Sergiy Tomilenko.
Sergiy Tomilenko also said that the support of local media in the de-occupied territories always remains a priority for NUJU.
Maksym Stepanov, NUJU information service
