FP AWARDED FOR HOLODOMOR ANNIVERSARY COVERAGE

By: Arielle Godbout

Published by the Winnipeg Free Press, Feb. 5, 2009

THE Winnipeg Free Press has been lauded for its coverage of the 75th anniversary of Holodomor, a devastating famine-genocide that wiped out millions in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko will award the newspaper with its John Syrnick Award for Journalism in early March.

Lesia Szwaluk, the foundation's executive director, said the national award is given every second year for exceptional coverage of issues important to the Ukrainian-Canadian community.

To mark the milestone anniversary of the famine last November, the 2009 award's selection committee -- made up of 14 academics and community leaders from across the country -- decided to focus on coverage of Holdomor Awareness Week.

"They felt very strongly that the Winnipeg Free Press did a fabulous job in doing the coverage of the 75th anniversary," said Szwaluk.

For example, she said, the Free Press featured stories on survivors of the famine, front-page coverage of a memorial held at the provincial legislature and an editorial calling for further recognition of the famine as genocide.

Free Press editor Margo Goodhand highlighted the efforts of reporters Carol Sanders, Meghan Hurley, Alexandra Paul and the paper's editorial board for their work covering Holdomor Awareness Week.

"We're really proud to be recognized by this prestigious organization," said Goodhand. "It was a great surprise to be honoured for our work on this subject, which touched so many of our readers' lives."

According to Szwaluk, Winnipeg is home to more than 100,000 people of Ukrainian descent.

Goodhand said the paper plans to give its $1,000 prize money back to the foundation to establish a Free Press scholarship for a local Ukrainian student pursuing journalism.

Previous winners of the John Syrnick Award are the Globe and Mail's Mark MacKinnon for his coverage of the Orange Revolution, and CTV reporter Victor Malarek for his work on a number of issues, including a documentary on the struggles of Ukrainian orphans.

The award's namesake, John Syrnick, was editor of the Winnipeg-based Ukrainian Voice from 1947 to 1970.