On the way to Ukrainian dream

Recently many interesting events, which were initiated by The Day, took place in Lviv. On May 29 the International Photo Exhibit “Den-2013” started operating in the central building of Lviv Polytechnic Institute. You are welcome to see the photos and vote for the best ones daily till July 10, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Incidentally, a pleasant surprise happened at the opening ceremony, which has already been covered by The Day: folk artist from Ivano-Frankove, Yavoriv raion, came to the exhibit with a special aim to present Larysa Ivshyna with a Yavoriv toy: a double-harness cart carrying readers of The Day. As Mr. Semen told us later, he works on reviving of authentic Ukrainian toy of the 17th century and makes toys of ecologically clean materials, like wood, mostly aspen which frightens away the evil. And the aspen cart which came to the days of The Day in Lviv was made practically overnight, according to the craftsman’s wife Halyna. “I know your newspaper very well. It is truthful and interesting. My friends, acquaintances, as well as the local administration in Yavoriv perceive The Day very well.” “The newspaper is quite original and I would like to make friends with The Day to tell the world via ‘my own’ Den about our authentic Yavoriv toy which goes back to the 17th century,” Semen Tlusty says. Halyna adds, “This cart, which has been made with a special purpose, carries people who read Den/The Day, so that as many people as possible read it, bought, and subscribed to it.”

The visitors of the photo exhibit could make sure that the works on display are not simply photos, but 150 various aspects of one nationally-minded view. Year after year the exhibit has been drawing all the more people, so the society takes interest in looking at itself with its own eyes.

UKRAINIAN DREAM IN THE CONTEXT OF “ARMOR-PIERCING POLITICAL WRITING”

As soon as the photo exhibit opened, a conference attended above all by students took place at Lviv Polytechnic. Young Ukrainians set a difficult question before themselves: “How to make the Ukrainian dream come true?” Sources for the reports of the participants of the discussion were above all the opinions of Ukrainian thinkers expressed in the series of books “Armor-Piercing Political Writing.”

Director of the International Institute of Education, Culture, and Liaisons with the Diaspora of the National University “Lviv Polytechnic,” moderator of the meeting Iryna KLIUCHKOVSKA noted: “It has already become a good tradition to hold The Day’s photo exhibit in the premises of Lviv Polytechnic, as well as the meetings of The Day’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna with academic circles of the university, the students, and the public. Without doubt, this is a significant event. And it shows different kinds of Ukraine, like in the poetic lines by Oleksandr Oles: ‘Joy is embracing with sorrow…’ because it contains joy, sorrow, and hope, and most importantly, food for contemplations.

 “This time we’ve offered the students to plunge into the ideas of ‘Armor-Piercing Political Writing,’ because it is very important for us that the intellectualization of our youth was made on the base of national ferment, like choice Ukrainian bread, so that this national component was present while they obtain professional knowledge.”

Interestingly, the students made emphasis in their reports in the question of a nation and human freedom, in particular, they analyzed the opinion writings of Mykola Khvyliovy and Petro Hryhorenko as an example of the path which leads in the first case to the nation and in the second case – to freedom.

“HONEST OBSERVATION MAKES THE BASIS OF ANY CONVERSATION”

On May 30 Larysa Ivshyna paid visit to the Lviv Discussion Club at Journalism Department of Ivan Franko National University in Lviv. The topic for discussion was the question: a default or a new stage for Ukrainian journalism? Faculty’s dean Mykhailo Prysiazhny thanked the participants of the discussion and Larysa Ivshyna for discussion of “urgent matters,” because when “owners fight, other people suffer.” “Honest observation is the basis for any conversation,” Ms. Ivshyna noted.

The participants of the discussion spoke about the conflict of values and commerce in journalism. According to great American journalist Walter Cronkite, journalists must check when they go to work whether they did not leave their conscience at home. This expression gave way to discussion of the question of commercialization of Ukrainian journalism.

It is important to keep in mind that instead of looking for the guilty, one should ask himself, “what to do?” Probably, values and commerce would not be in conflict, be there harmony present, balance of the black and the white in journalism.

Civic broadcasting could become a compromise. “Civic television must exist to provide the opportunity to recreate the social opinion,” members of the Discussion Club Oksana Koval and Snizhana Palazhchenko noted. The purpose of civic television is providing all the citizens with equal access to socially important information. Analyzing the British broadcasting the abovementioned club members concluded that civic broadcasting enjoys higher trust than commercial mass media, therefore it should be targeted at the development of the society.

The situation with the TVi Channel also became a topic for discussion. “This is not simply a business row, this is a result of deep media processes in the society,” the Discussion Club members Sviatoslav Motren and Dmytro Palchykov admitted. “The new leadership refused to fulfill the demands of the professional union of independent journalists, and it is clear to everyone: the declarations that the channel will continue the previous policy are nothing more than an empty promise,” Sviatoslav Motren noted. Ignoring of the opinion of the channel’s staff could not but evoke the outrage that has taken place. “If everything was transparent, would it be possible that the owner Kostiantyn Kahalovsky failed to defend the project in which he invested? Why were not the official structures like the MVS or SBU involved?” Motren asked. “This situation showed to which extent the journalists are afraid of the system and to which extent they are ready to defend their name,” Palchykov said. “The choice between what is good for me and what is good for the society is faced by journalists with increasing frequency.”

“The employees of the majority of Ukrainian mass media resemble taxi drivers: they go wherever you tell them to go and write whatever you tell them to write,” considers member of the Discussion Club Solomia Bui who has conducted her own monitoring of Ukrainian media market. The media work for the sake of ratings, fresh proof of which is that the share of entertainment TV projects in Ukraine will be 70 to 16 percent of intellectual ones. The domination of foreign produce will also be a great problem for Ukrainian media market.

Student of the Donetsk National University Oleksandra Chernova joined in the discussion owing to Skype connection and shared with the people present her own vision of the situation in the Ukrainian media: “Presently there is an open question of readiness of the media to reinforce the nation, meet the notions of Ukrainians, customs, tradition, and mentality, certain value and spiritual guidelines which would create a strong base for internal integration within the state and would correspondingly play an important role in its European integration processes.”

The economic factor is named the source of by far all troubles in Ukraine. “At a seminar our teacher of history asked us, ‘If Ukraine were an economically wealthy state, would it resolve all of our problems: cultural, political, and social?’ This led us to a blind alley in fact, Discussion Club member Mariana Baloban shared with the people present. Indisputably, today’s economic situation of the state poses serious challenges before journalists. But money is not the main value in journalism.

“Development is impossible without freedom and justice. This will be either degradation or stagnation,” the student considers. We, Ukrainians, frequently forget that namely freedom and justice as a whole thing determine our activity. Therefore the economic problems are the consequences of the violation of this harmony. “It is important for us to learn to compare and analyze not only the things in which we are lagging behind. Yes, we are lagging behind in some things, but we can be ahead in other things. We should not feel like eternal outsiders,” Ivshyna said.

Apart from that the students contemplated on how the Europeans manage to foster leader’s positions. Ivshyna revealed this question on the example of Poland: “In every generation of Poles the inclination for historical memory is being fostered. The Polish revolt of 1963-64 became a symbolical event for entire Europe. At that time many great Ukrainians supported the Poles. Ukraine remained close to these processes. Currently we feel estranged from them. Polish do not ask whether you are a Pole or not. You must carry the historical memory of your people. But they ask: why doesn’t Ukraine have the project like Gazeta vyborcza? Because the Poles are ready to pay right away for bringing your truth. And who is financing the Russian projects in Ukraine? Ukrainians! Because there is a feeling of illusion in Ukraine that we have already done everything. And if other European countries have accomplished this way earlier does not mean that we don’t need to do this. Yes, Ukrainians are alive. Some of them are conscious, others – only partially. But it does not mean that we don’t have to make up our minds about how we are going to provide our future. We need a clear work on developing this system of coordinates. At the moment signing the Association Agreement with the EU remains the most urgent matter. Why was the opposition blocking the work of the Verkhovna Rada when they needed to work? Today, in the conditions of freedom, we must look for a decision based on our own contemplation, in order to understand at such moments whether to speak for or against the European integration. To be ready for this a lot must be done: reading, analysis, and discussion. Discussions are very important. Ukrainian rows are connected with a low social and cultural level. Is it possible to change everything at once? No, it is not. There are people who won’t just hear a word said without any particular reason, but they will hear a peace of music decently performed, a worthy play in theater or a movie. So, the internal integration should take place before the European integration.”

Within the framework of the days of Den in Lviv Ivshyna took part in the program “In no uncertain terms. Blitz” on ZIK TV Channel with Ostap Drozdov where they discussed whether the anti-governmental aggression is able to get intellectual quality for which one would not feel ashamed. At the moment you can see the video on The Day’s website in the section Den-TV. Ms. Ivshyna has also spoken on the air of the Nezalezhnist Radio with Maria Luhova on responsibility and civic stand of a journalist as well as about the value of living communication in online era. This conversation is also available at our website in the section “The Day of Ukraine.”

The meetings which took place over three days in Lviv of course won’t lead to immediate changes. But such insignificant at first glance events make us understand: we have things to offer to the world community. Yes, we have things to work on, and we are ready to gouge this rock. After pondering such important questions we can assert that we do care. This might have been just a small step towards Ukrainian dream, but great things start with small ones.