<I>The Day</I> in the Context of Globalization
Our English-language weekly The Day is Ukraine’s first attempt to present views of the Ukrainian intellectual public in the European and worldwide context. On the one hand, this is an attempt to rid Ukrainians of their inferiority complex, and on the other it is a thread linking Ukraine with the outside world, which knows very little about us. We often feel hurt when foreigners wrinkle their brows, trying to muster all their geographical knowledge to recollect what and where this is, and then cry out: “Oh yes, Chornobyl, Dynamo!” (the set of things recalled can vary with the interlocutor’s educational level). Our weekly is designed to tell the world what Ukraine really is and to put it into a certain worldwide context.
There once was a funny episode connected precisely with our digest. An Argentine reader sent a letter: “I found your newspaper in the Internet. I got interested, so my family and I went to a supermarket and bought a map to see where Ukraine is. I failed to find Ukraine, but I will still read the newspaper.” This episode reflects the very essence of our time, a time of globalization. An individual thirsts for information, he needs communication with people close to him spiritually and intellectually. A time will come when people will choose their place of residence not on the basis of living standards but proceeding from the fact where the habitat will allow them to realize their inner potential to the most. Even now we can see examples of close and mutually-penetrating ties between this country and the world. There are examples of this kind in our newspaper, too: we are expecting this month a Surrey University (Britain) student who spotted our newspaper through the Internet and chose it for his journalistic training. Simultaneously, digest editor Liudmyla Humeniuk, who won a Schevening Scholarship, is doing a one-year political science course at Britain’s Sheffield University. We have recently engaged a French cartoonist Stephanie Perret who contributes her drawings on international topics to a dozen of various newspapers throughout the world. This is what she wrote to us, “In my opinion, placing my cartoons on your pages, you thus remind the Ukrainian reader what is the chief news item of this day in other newspapers of the world.”
It seems to me the English-language digest is playing its intended role of exchanging ideas and allowing people to discuss what interests them irrespective of their place of residence. We always call on readers to send us their opinions, ask questions, and discuss with us what they deem important. We are grateful to all those who have duly appreciated our brainchild, consider it useful, and share their thoughts and ideas with us.
I congratulate all my colleagues who make Den/The Day and readers on an auspicious event the third anniversary of the first issue!
