Ukrainian Journalists Visit the U.S.

5 things to know about Ukrainian journalists

Four Ukrainian journalists from the Sevastopol Gazette (and two translators) are visiting the Daily Press in Newport News, Va. They are part of an international media exchange sponsored by IREX, a non-profit organization that fosters independent media in developing countries. Here's what I've learned about Ukrainian journalists in the last few days:

1. A photographer is a photographer is a photographer. It doesn't matter what country they come from, they all speak the same language -- the language of pictures. I figured this out at dinner when I asked what the best part of the day was and Andrey Lyubimov, the photographer from the Sevastopol newspaper, said something that made no sense to me because I don't speak Russian. But one word in English translated everything I needed to know. He mentioned the first name of the photo editor, who spent an hour with him during the day. That name told me everything I needed to know.

2. Reporters don't need to speak the same language. No matter how far away they live, reporters share the same need to write in their journalistic DNA. That became clear today when I asked Mariya Starostina, the reporter visiting from the Sevastopol Gazette, what she liked about her day. Her answer in the morning: meeting the shopping reporter. Her answer at lunch: going to city hall with the Hampton reporter. Her answer at dinner: spending time with the cops reporter. Oh yeah, no pattern there.

3. Publishers can talk about anything. When you put them in the same room, two leaders from very different newspapers (Daily Press Publisher Digby Solomon and Sevastopol Gazette Publisher Andriy Soboliev) can talk for hours and still be late from lunch because they aren't done yet. It just shows the underlying connection between anyone steering a news operation in the new media landscape.

4. Technical guys don't need to speak at all. I learned this from Ukrainian journalist Oleksandr Deinega who spent his day shadowing people who speak a language he doesn't. Of course, he speaks computer -- which is an international language if you just take the time to stop, watch and learn. And that's exactly what he did.

5. Food is an international language. Say what you want about the differences between people and/or journalists, I know the truth. I learned this at lunch after watching four pizzas disappear in less than an hour. Here's a universal truth: It doesn't matter where you come from. Good food ovecomes all language barriers.

 

3 ways Ukrainian elections differ from elections in the U.S. -- or not

A few days ago the U.S. held its elections. The American elections came a few days after the elections in the Ukraine.

The differences -- and similarities -- were discussed today as part of a journalism exchange program sponsored by IREX, a non-profit that fosters independent media in developing nations. Two months ago, Circulation Director David Messick and I went to the Sevastopol Gazette in the Crimean Republic to learn more about their newsroom. On Saturday, a group of journalists from that newspaper arrived in Hampton Roads to visit with the Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg and the Daily Press in Newport News, Va.

Over dinner tonight, the discussion honed in on the recent elections in both countries. How do elections in the countries differ -- or not? Among the points made:

1. Politicians say they change things but never do...at least that's what some Ukrainians think. And if that's the case, there's no reason to spend the time to vote because nothing in the Ukraine will change anyway.

2. The voting process isn't always up front. The recent elections in the Ukraine have included allegations of fraud by the U.S. government. The visiting Ukrainians think that the voting process had some issues, but they're certain no one will do anything about it -- because it's the Ukraine.

3. Voters don't want to vote. In the most recent Ukrainian election on Sunday, Oct. 31 (Ukrainian elections are held on Sunday), only 41 percent of the country turned out to vote for local elections.This seems to be a challenge no matter where you live in the world.

3 ways Ukrainian newspapers differ from newspapers in the U.S.

 

Ukrainian journalists from the Sevastopol Gazette watch as Cathy Grimes of the Daily Press goes through the pages of the tomorrow's newspaper as part of an exchange program that receives U.S. funding to promote independent media in developing countries.

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Journalists from the Sevastopol Gazette in the Ukraine have been in Hampton Roads, Va., for two days now. They are part of an exchange program sponsored by IREX, a non-profit that fosters independent media in developing nations. The group has toured area battlefields, walked Colonial Williamsburg and sailed the York River to learn about American history. But the real lessons being learned on both sides have taken place in the discussions during their visit.

Our afternoon discussion focused on what makes people read the newspaper, how to make money in print and online and what tools we had to negotiate the new digital media landscape. On these points, there were a number of similarities.

But culturally there are some interesting differences between Ukrainian newspapers and newspapers in the United States. How do they differ? Here are three ways: 

1. Ukrainian newspapers don't have lots of advertising. The inserts you see in the Sunday paper in the United States wouldn't be in the newspaper in the Ukraine. Grocery stores advertise their specials in-house. It's the same for most goods and services.

2. Independent newspapers like the Sevastopol Gazette are a rarity. Most newspapers are owned by the state or political parties, and reporters write the stories they're told to write in the way they're told to write them.

3. Home delivery is non-existent. Readers get their newspapers in the mail or they buy in at kiosks. The government has its own  newspaper distribution system, which independent newspapers can pay for if they want their products to be sold. The rest of the newspapers are sold by contractors.

Election 2010, press freedom in the Ukraine and a visit from Sevastopol journalists

It's Election Day 2010 in the United States. The results of the local races are rolling in. Since early this morning journalists at the Daily Press in Newport News, Va., have been filing updates for dailypress.com, tweeting about local election news and sending out text and e-mail alerts as needed. They are now putting the finishing touches for the print edition that will end up on doorsteps in the morning, with a final update for the web when that's done. 

In between that, there was -- of course -- pizza. I say "of course" because pizza is a tradition in American newsrooms. "The pizza is coming," one digital editor e-mailed excitedly earlier in the evening. "I love pizza." When it finally arrived at the Daily Press, a group of hungry journalists sat around a conference room laughing and talking and eating until the boxes were almost empty. Being in a newsroom when the pizza arrives on election night is one of the best parts of Election Day. In my mind, it falls into the same category as baseball and apple pie. It's almost un-American to order anything else for the newsroom on election night.

I wonder....Is this how it was in Ukrainian newsrooms in the most recent election? Elections were held there on Sunday, Oct. 31. They were the first since Presdient Viktor Yanukovych took office in February in a country that is struggling to define itself. The Ukraine split from the Soviet Union 19 years ago, and some of its citizens still only speak Russian.

It's uncertain what will happen to the Ukraine under President Yanukovych. A recent court ruling increased his authority and caused speculation about whether he will use that control to move the country closer to his pro-Russian views.

In the meantime, independent media outlets, particularly those who are critical of the government, find themselves on the wrong end of that increased control. At least one media outlet was shut down in August after airing critical views. Journalist Vasyl Klymentyev, who was planning a story critical of local government, went missing several months ago. He is presumed dead.

There are growing concerns about press freedom in the Ukraine. It's one thing to commit journalism in a place where you can file Freedom of Information requests to get documents to source your stories. It's another to commit journalism in a place where thinking about writing a story can cause you to disappear.

As I consider all of this, we are days away from a visit by a group of Ukrainian journalists from the Sevastopol Gazette. They are visiting as part of an international exchange sponsored by IREX, a non-profit that fosters independent media in developing democracies. Two months ago as part of that exchange, I traveled with Daily Press Circulation Director David Messick to talk about journalism in their newsroom. Next week, they get to visit our newsroom as part of that program.

We've got a lot of things planned while they are here: a visit to Colonial Williamsburg, a weekend trip to the Newseum in Washington, D.C., a boating trip on the York River. But the best part of the exchange has been the journalistic discussions we've had along the way. I know I'll want to talk about election coverage for 2010, how they covered the story and what effect that story might have in their community over time. I'm betting they'll have questions of their own.

And when the discussion is over, we'll take them to lunch down the street from the Daily Press. There's a good pizza place there. It will add to their American experience.

 

 

The Huffington Post, the Orange Revolution and the November election

What do the Huffington Post, the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine and the November election in the United States have in common? Take a look at this article by Andrea Chalupa and you can figure it out yourself.

The article reminded me of my recent trip to the Ukraine. I was on the tail end of a journalism exchange with the Sevastopol Gazette. Funded by the non-profit IREX, the idea is to foster independent media in developing countries.

We (two representatives from IREX and David Messick, my colleague from the Daily Press) flew to Kiev to spend the day in the capitol city and learn more about the culture of the Ukrainian people. While walking through a park downtown, we stopped in front of a monument to the 14 million people who died in Stalin's forced famine during 1932-33.

As I snapped photographs of the monument, one of the IREX representatives turned her camera on a sign near the walkway. The sign explained the mass murder had occurred as Stalin raped "the bread basket" of the Soviet Union to stamp out nationalism in the Ukraine. The IREX representative said she was taking a picture of the sign because there was no guarentee it would be there next time she returned.

When I asked why, she explained that Ukraine's current president, Viktor Yanukovych, has close ties to Moscow and is now downplaying the tragedy. She wanted to make certain she had a photograph so she could remember what the words on that sign just in case they disappeared. In a place where the previous president was supposedly poisoned in a political plot, her explanation seemed a real possibility.

I was thinking about that moment in the park later that evening, and I realized so much of what we had seen in the Ukraine had to do with events that had been white-washed by a nation. One day, we'd taken a tour of a World War II battery where tens of thousands died when the Ukrainian city was abandoned by Moscow's military. We toured another museum dedicated to the victims of the Chernobyl disaster -- a disaster that was nothing more than a brief in the Soviet newspaper the day after it happened, a disaster that wasn't acknowledged to the Ukrainian people for years. (As a sidenote: It was a full story in the New York Times the day after.)

Here is another reason an independent media is so important to any country. Without independent journalists who will write stories in the face of opposition, who will write the truth no matter what the cost, a country can lose its own past. Thathas  happened before in the Ukraine. Given the current political state in the country, I can only hope it doesn't happen again. 

 

 

 

What Does Lonely Planet Say? A Guide to Books, Travel Advice and the Ukraine

When I agreed to go to the Ukraine, I went to area bookstores to look for information about the country. I found one: "The Lonely Planet Travel Guide." While it offered a good introduction to the country and its culture, I finished it wanting to know more about the place I was visiting as part of a media exchange between the Daily Press and The Sevastopol Gazette.

My publisher, Digby Solomon, offered to send two DP representatives on the trip after talking with Eleeza Agopian, a representative of IREX, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering independent media in developing countries. IREX wanted to pair an American newspaper with a program targeting The Crimean media in the Ukraine. The Crimean is a Russian stronghold in the Ukraine, which has been independent since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

When The Lonely Planet didn’t offer enough information on The Crimean, I looked up the state department’s travel site. It was a good thing to register my travel plans, a friend told me. I got additional travel information when my traveling companion, Marketing Director David Messick, and I went to get a hepatitis shot for the trip. The nurse there kept saying the same thing over and over again. “Don’t eat the salad.” She prescribed Cipro just in case either one of us came across a bug of some sort or another from the food.

The thing is, the Ukraine is Eastern Europe. But even the people from the Crimea aren’t convinced of that. On my last night at dinner with some staff members of the Sevastopol Gazette, I asked how often they traveled to other countries in Europe. Many of them had not been outside the Ukraine. “What about Paris?” Everyone wants to visit Paris, I thought. Ok, maybe not.

When they asked where I had traveled, I went through a list of countries in Europe and Central and South America. I must have seemed like a real traveler in comparison. Still, when I was preparing for my trip to Sevastopol, the Ukraine seemed like the most foreign place I'd ever been.

Now that I've been back in the states for more than a week, I've realized it wasn't as different as I had anticipated. I certainly didn't need the granola bars I brought along, just in case the food wasn't something I could stomach. I didn't really need the hand wash, which I've found so useful in other countries.

The plane rides were certainly longer than I'd ever experienced, which is not a lot of fun for someone who isn't particularly fond of flying. But I've ridden more than eight hours on a bus while sitting on a bag of camera equipment as fellow passengers brought their chickens aboard for the ride. The point is, I've dealt with worse.

As we began our trip back to the states, David and I discussed the preparations for the trip and all the advice we'd gotten beforehand. Flipping through the guidebook, we agreed: While it's useful for initial information, you just have to experience the place for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

When people ask me about my trip to the Ukraine, I tell them this: It was the experience of a lifetime. And some day, if I am very lucky, I will get to go back.

 

 

 

 

 

A Month Later, Ukrainian Journalist Still Missing after Researching Story

Ukrainian journalist Vasyl Klymentyev went missing August 11. Almost a month later, Radio Free Europe is reporting that Ukrainian Interior Minister Anatoliy Mohylyov thinks the journalist "is probably dead."

Mohylyov also has said that "security forces are suspected of involvement in his disappearance."

Klymentyev, 66, is the top editor of New Style in Kharkiv in the eastern Ukraine. He was working on an article about mansions owned by Tax Chief Stanislav Denisyuk and three other local officials, one of whom was a former member of the Ukrainian secret service.

The article was scheduled to be printed but then Klymentyev disappeared.

I'm not sure I would have known about Klymentyev last year. I only became interested in his disappearance after I agreed to be part of a journalism exchange sponsored by IREX. The international non-profit fosters independent media in developing countries. The Ukraine recently celebrated its 19th year of independence since the fall of the Soviet Union, but its newly elected president has strong ties to Moscow that may threaten the country's independent mindset.

These days, I have Google alerts for all topics Ukrainian. I check them at least once a day to see if there are any stories where I can learn more about the country and its people. Today, a day after our return home from a visit to the Sevastopol Gazette newsroom, I found this story.

It made me think of the work that's being done by the small newsroom of dedicated journalists in that seaside community in the Crimea. And it reminded me once more of why Daily Press Marketing Director David Messick and I went so far away to talk about something so dear.

The bottom line is simple: As American journalists, we enjoy the kind of press freedom that some journalists may never have. Talking about journalism in a country where journalists are at risk is the very least we can do for Vasyl Klymentyev and others like him.

BY THE NUMBERS: FROM THE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS

• 26 journalists killed in 2010
• 827 journalists killed since 1992
• 454 journalists in exile worldwide

 

 

 

2 Stories from Sevastopol about Truth, Honor and a Good Newspaper

 

NOTE: This blog was written by David Messick, the consumer marketing director at The Daily Press Media Group.

For more than a week I visited and shared information about the newspaper business with the staff at the Sevastopol Gazette, a weekly publication in Sevastopol, Ukraine. I am the consumer marketing director for the Daily Press and have been honored to represent The Daily Press in an exchange program sponsored by IREX, a non-profit organization founded on the belief that a free press is critical to maintaining a free and open society.

I admit that I am not a journalist. It is my job to help our organization remain profitable so that a free and open press can continue to operate. I am traveling with Marisa Porto, the new media editor for the Daily Press. 

On our last official day we travel to Kiev to meet with U.S. Embassy officials to discuss our trip. The U.S. State Department gave IREX the grant money to fund the program. The flight from Simferopol is delayed by two hours so we sit on the sidewalk waiting. When we arrive in Kiev I learn that Hampton Roads has nothing on traffic backups. A 15-minute ride to the U.S. Embassy takes more than an hour.

Once we arrive, we are asked general questions about our trip, what we learned and what we shared. Finally, a question about the newspaper's publisher and the operation, how serious their staff is about what they do. The questioner hints at how influential the newspaper can be in the city. The Ukraine has been independent for 19 years, but still has strong ties to Moscow because it has been home to the Black Sea Fleet.

The Gazette's Publisher, Andrey Sobolev, is a jovial guy. When not acting as publisher, he is writing and singing folk song. As we travel around the city, people rush to speak with him or shake his hand wherever we go. This feels very “American” to me. Many of the small newspaper publishers I’ve met have great people skills. They are well connected and well liked, opening closed doors when need be, keeping their business alive. 

Andrey's top editor, Irina, is a no-nonsense manager who literally works day and night to ensure the paper satisfies its readers needs and makes deadline… no matter what. They are a good pairing.

I tell the embassy officials two stories to help them understand the challenges the paper must face and how well managed the organization is. When Marisa Porto and I were asked to visit Sevastopol, we were encouraged to prepare Powerpoint presentations to explain what we do. They would then be translated into Russian for our visit.

I am comfortable presenting in front of groups. I find it easy to do in my own language. I soon learn that it is more difficult when everything must go through a translator. After two days of presenting, Marisa and I break into separate groups, abandon the presentations and just talk. Tell me about your business. What can you share with me? How can I help you?

Suddenly, the young advertising representative who has been quiet for two days explodes with questions. My translator, Svitlana, retains her composure as she tries to keep up with the conversation. Now we are sharing, learning, helping each other. 

Later in the day, we join together for a larger conversation that gets more serious. We learn that it is very difficult for this paper to cover government meetings. Most officials serve four to five years and feel little need to be responsive through the independent press. There is a seven-day, state-run paper that will share the “official version” of the truth. 

Staff members of the Gazette are not always given permission to attend government meetings, and while they are supposed to be allowed by law, when they arrive at the appointed time, the meeting has often been canceled, already held or is being held at another place far away.

We share the story of Daily Press reporter Matt Sabo and the coverage of the Gloucester 40.  We share how official meetings in the states must be open to the public. We have very specific rules on when meetings can be behind closed doors and when they cannot.

I relate how government meetings were held behind closed doors, how our reporter pointed this out. How 40 people in Gloucester petitioned to have members of the council unseated. How their petition was dismissed by a judge but the 40 were fined. And how eventually the council was not reelected and how the 40 were vindicated when they received a community citizenship award.

It is not this way in Sevastopol. While Marisa and I explain strategies we think can help, they don’t understand. We would write editorials, our video presentations would show council chamber door closed and explain how this is a violation of our rights. Someone on the Gazette staff says: “Perhaps our readers would find that boring.” I am concerned. "The people of Sevastopol would not want to hear the truth?" I think.

My concerns are overcome not by talk, but by a sightseeing trip, which leads to my second story.

Part of every day we spend in Sevastopol is filled with cultural excursions. We visit museums, we visit monuments. We see the Black Sea by boat. Today, we visit an ancient Greek village on the water called Chersonesos, which was founded about 2,500 years ago in the sixth century B.C. It is nicknamed the "Ukrainian Pompei." The University of Texas at Austin  is working with the Ukrainian government on this archaeological dig.

We see a grand amphitheater made of stone. The open air location provides a setting for modern theater presentations, just as it did hundreds of years ago. We see columns by the beautiful and inviting sea… the perfect blue sky reflected in the clear waters. One could not paint a more serene spot.

Then we visit the cathedral of St Vladimir,which overlooks the archaeological site and beckons worshipers and tourists alike. Even admitted non-believers in our group seem to find peace as they light candles and absorb the sanctuary inside.

Now on to the Battery 35: an underground maze of barracks which service two mighty cannon locations meant to provide unbeatable defense against any intruder. Originally conceived and financed by the Czarist government in the teens, it is not completed until World War Two. By this time Adolph Hilter recognizes that Sevastopol must be overtaken in order to control all of Russia.

The site will open to the public next year. Because of Andrey’s community connections, we are given a tour. As we walk toward the battery, I notice a bunker dug into a hill in the sand that looks like the bunkers built into hills beside my former office in Oyster Point. “We have bunkers like this at home.” Andrey looks at me solemnly. “You don’t have bunkers like this where you live.” I can tell that what we will soon see is very serious to Andrey.

We enter the underground barracks. And while new lighting and ventilation have been provided, along with photos and artifacts, there is a musty smell that affects our breathing on this day and the days that follow. Our tour guide explains that this battery survived numerous attacks by Hitler’s army, but Hitler was relentless and defeat was inevitable.

Their general knew that he could not win and sought escape with some of his officers. He received permission to leave by submarine in July 1942. On the night of July 3, the general went down the 84 steps of the long and winding spiral staircase in the far west side of the battery. He then ran through the narrow, dark tunnel… leaving behind nurses, wounded, fighting men and officers. He escaped and went on to become a legendary Soviet hero. You see, the Soviet newspaper, Pravda (which ironically means “The Truth”), reported that the general had defended the city honorably and that all was well in Sevastopol.

But all was not well. Hitler’s army took over the city. Wounded and others followed the staircase taken by the general. They rushed down the narrow dark hall to the sea hoping to escape on the two ships that fought to navigate between the tunnel opening and the walls of the coast. Rocks jut out of the sea… waves splash against the walls and rise up as if to grab you and pull you into the waters below…

Now, our tour guide explains, imagine the rescue ship approaching as people in the tunnel try to jump on board. People appear to be crawling out of the rocks to seek refuge on the last boats to freedom. The boat overflows and risks sinking as the soldiers on board shoot over the heads of desperate escapees. They fall into the water and are minced by the ship’s propeller.

And as horrific as this scene is, hose who survive this horror find something far worse as Hitler’s men send them on a death march. They must walk along the street where many are crushed by tanks. If they walk on the sidewalks, they are shot immediately. Some drink sea water which destroys their kidneys as they die painfully on the journey.

It is now estimated more than 30,000 people died after the city was aabandoned by the general, their country and their newspaper, Pravda, which never reported any of it. The general is praised as a hero while many dead are still buried in the rubble of the battery.   

Until now.

Our tour guide tells us that Andrey, the publisher of the Gazette, has been instrumental in reopening this place to the public. He then speaks and looking in his eyes… I know that I have discovered his heart. “This place was reopened by the people of Sevastopol. This is a public endeavor. The people rented this land. The people paid for this museum. This is not a government monument. The dead that we found in the rubble here will be buried close by.  Their story will be told. Their families will find a place of solace.”

For more than 60 years the truth of the battery was buried and hidden. The story ignored by the government newspaper. But it has not been ignored by Andrey or his community newspaper. I tell this story to the eembassy representatives as explanation of what I know: The Sevastopol Gazette is run by an honorable man, and his newspaper and its staff report the truth.

Leaving Balaklava: a Memory of the Drive Back to Sevastopol

After a trip to Balaklava, we climbed into Sevastopol Gazette Publisher Andrey Sobolev's car and drove back to Sevastopol. This is video taken from the backseat of the view as we listen to a CD that Andrey put together. Aside from his work at the Gazette, Andrey is a singer.

Daily Press Media Group Marketing Director David Messick and I met Andrey as part of a media exchange sponsored by IREX, a non-profit organization that fosters media rights in developing countries like the Ukraine. The country recently celebrated its 19th year of independence but its newly elected president is renewing ties to Moscow.

Ukrainian Easter Eggs: About Art, Culture and a Beautiful Sentiment

 
Wooden Ukrainian Easter Eggs, also known as pysanka, are among the hand-crafted items sold to tourists at the market in Kiev. These particular eggs were part of park exhibit in Kiev. We saw them during a tour of the capitol city, which was part of the cultural program during our journalism exchange.

Daily Press Marketing Director David Messick and I spent more than a week in the Ukraine, most of it in Sevastopol, which is in The Crimean. During that time, we visited with the news staff at the Sevastopol Gazette and talked about all things journalistic. The program was sponsored by IREX, a non-profit organization that fosters independent media in developing countries.

As part of that exchange, we learned about pysanka. The art of pysanka has been part of Ukrainian culture since pre-Christian times. It became a symbol of rebirth during Christian times. Ukrainians took the art with them as they moved to other places around the world, which is what kept the art alive when the Soviet Union banned the practice as religious.

Today, the country is in its 19th year of independence and the art has returned to its rightful place in Ukrainian culture. The eggs are decorated using a "batik" method, which means the designs are painted on using beeswax using a stylus. 

According to one of our IREX guides, you can tell where a pysanka is from by the art that is drawn on it. Certain parts of the country are known for certain types of art. Her hometown, she explained, is known for its floral art.

Legend says that as long as the art continues, good will triumph over evil. What a lovely thought.