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by Michael Sawkiw, Jr., President, Ukrainian Congress
Committee of America (UCCA), Washington, D.C., May 12, 2003
Dear Friends,
Recent events in the newspaper world have given the Ukrainian American
community another opportunity to tackle the issue of Ukrainian
famine-genocide denier Walter Duranty. As many of you remember, this past
fall the Washington, D.C. area was terrorized by a sniper who killed nearly
a dozen innocent civilians. The news reports about those incidents made
national headlines.
One reporter, in particular, decided to stretch the truth and write his own
scenario for events that transpired during the sniper incidents. His name -
Jayson Blair, a New York Times correspondent stationed in Washington, D.
C. that purportedly falsified stories regarding the sniper case. Blair has
now resigned in disgrace and the New York Times has apologized to those
Blair has misrepresented.
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Walter Duranty, 1945, University of Arizona
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And why is this of concern to the Ukrainian American community? Simply put,
this is not the only incident where New York Times correspondents have
falsified stories. In 1932, New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty
received the Pulitzer Prize for his glowing reports covering Stalin's
transformation of the Soviet Union. Furthermore his reports in the New York
Times denied that there ever was a famine-genocide in Ukraine.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Now is the Ukrainian American community's
chance to have the New York Times set the record straight.
The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) is continuing its
campaign to strip Walter Duranty of his Pulitzer Prize. The New York Times
is looking for information related to Jayson Blair's false reporting, while
egregiously disregarding their own history of whitewashing Walter Duranty's
calculated lies.
Please contact the New York Times and express our Ukrainian community's
outrage about famine-genocide denier Walter Duranty's continued place of
honor among Pulitzer Prize winners and the New York Times' complicity in
his deceit.
What started with the letter writing campaign and continued with the
postcard and e-mail campaign to the Pulitzer Committee, is now expanding to
the New York Times. Simple messages such as the following are appropriate
to express our community's concern about the integrity of reporting at the
New York Times:
1) "Duranty reported 'there is no famine,' New York Times, 31 March
1933. He claimed 'any report of a famine is today an exaggeration of
malignant propaganda' New York Times, 24 August 1933. First Duranty,
now Blair. Where's the integrity? Return Duranty's Pulitzer prize!"
2) "All the news that's fit to print...From Duranty to Blair?
Return Duranty's Pulitzer prize!"
3) "New York Times Chairman states "It's a huge black eye"
regarding Blair. What about Duranty? Return Duranty's Pulitzer prize!"
Please send your e-mail comments to retrace@nytimes.com as well as to the
'letter to the editor' at letters@nytimes.com. The more the New York Times
hears from the Ukrainian American community in connection with their latest
scandal, the greater the chances to strip Walter Duranty of his Pulitzer
Prize.
For a successful campaign, the UCCA requests that you pass this e-mail along
to your friends, colleagues, and family members. The greater the volume of
e-mails, postcards, and letters, the greater the chances of a successful
campaign.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!
Best Regards,
Michael Sawkiw, Jr., President
Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA)
New York, NY Office:
Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA)
203 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10003
tel: (212) 228-6840, fax: (212) 254-4721
e-mail: ucca@ucca.org
Washington, DC Office:
Ukrainian National Information Service (INIS)
311 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002
tel: (202) 547-0018, fax: (202) 543-5502
e-mail: unis@ucca.org
Kyiv, Ukraine Office:
Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA)
Kyiv, Ukraine 01001, Musejnij Provulok 8
tel/fax: (044) 228-45-80, e-mail: ucca@i.kiev.ua
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