The latest issue of the Zmiyivskyi Kuriyer, a popular newspaper published in the town of Zmiyiv in the Kharkiv Region, was published thanks to the financial support of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and foreign benefactors.
“All subscribers received the issue. It has also been delivered to all retail outlets (we distribute the majority of the circulation via retail network),” Oleksandr Sumets, the editor-in-chief of the publication, said in a comment to the press service of the NUJU. “Although constant power outages significantly interfere with work, we have already adapted and go to work precisely during the hours when there is light.
The eight pages of the issue contain news from the Kharkiv Region, materials from the session of the Zmiyiv Town Council, an interview with the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, about the first months of the war, information on innovations in the technical inspection of cars, and the life stories of famous residents of the Kharkiv Region, in particular, volunteers and soldiers.
The newspaper Zmiyivskyi Kuriyer has been published since 1994: at first, as a district, and now as a regional publication. The media positions itself as state-owned and independent.
Last year, after the start of the full-scale war, printing had to be suspended for three months.
“Neither the post office nor the printing office were operating. On February 24, despite the fact that the war had begun, we still had time to distribute part of the circulation to half of our 70 sales points. But then the situation started to be terrible, and the outlets began to close. We had to suspend publishing the newspaper for three months,” Oleksandr Sumets says. “The team went to safer places of Ukraine.
However, as soon as the Kharkiv Printing House resumed operation, all four newspapermen returned, and from June 1, the publication started to be available to the readers. Despite the economic difficulties, the increase in the price of paper and newspaper printing services, the decline of the advertising market, the bankruptcy of the bank the editorial office kept its funds with, the newspaper maintains its weekly printing frequency. However, the volume had to be reduced from the pre-war 16 pages to 8.
“We are published against all odds,” says the editor-in-chief. “We have subscribers, we sell the newspaper via the retail network, we are trying to restore advertising volumes little by little, although it is incredibly difficult. The volume of advertising revenues decreased eight times. That’s why we really need working capital. But we hope that the situation will improve in the spring: some enterprises are already starting to work.
In view of the appeal of the editors and taking into account the importance of the restoration of the printed press in the de-occupied and near-front territories, the NUJU with the assistance of foreign benefactors provided financial support to Zmiyivskyi Kuriyer.
“Almost a year of the war has become a great test for each of us,” says Sergiy Tomilenko, the President of the NUJU, congratulating the readers of Zmiyivskyi Kuriyer. “Media workers were no exception. Many of them, especially in the front-line territories, have to work under fire and in life-threatening conditions. Newspapers are suffering from rising prices for printing services, a decrease in the number of advertisements, etc. Zmiyivskyi Kuriyer could not avoid all these problems. But the persistence with which the employees of the publication overcome numerous difficulties in order to bring true information to you, the readers, is impressive and deserves great respect.
As earlier reported, an employee of Zmiyivskyi Kuriyer, who delivered the newspaper to readers, was injured during the explosion of a Russian rocket.
The resumption of newspaper publishing in the de-occupied and near-front territories is one of the priorities in the work of the NUJU team. Currently, one or more issues of newspapers have been printed for Izium (Obrii Iziumshchyny), Lyman (Zoria), Barvinkove (Visti Barvinkivshchyny), Bakhmut (Vpered), Kherson (Novyi Den), Snihurivka (Visti Snihurivshchyny), Zolochiv (Zoria), Kharkiv (Selianska Hazeta), Zmiyiv (Visti Zmiyivshchyny), Blyzniuky (Nove Zhyttia), Bohodukhiv (Mayak), Kupiyansk (Visnyk Kupiyanshchyny), and Nova Vodolaha (Visti Vodolazhchyny) settlements. Besides, several more editions are to be revived.
NUJU information service
