With the arrival of spring just around the corner (Europeans would of course hold that it's already here), readers are inevitably looking forward to the days when they can spend their free time hanging out in the great outdoors and reading the Post. OK, so maybe there are some more relevant reasons you are looking forward to spring. No matter, I'm going to share with you some of the changes we have in store for the next couple months anyway.
Those changes won't be particularly stark. Like a fine Crimean wine, the Post has aged and mellowed over the years into the refined product you are holding in your hands today. Expect the layout, the editorial policy and the general look of the paper to stay about the same. The changes – some of which are already taking place right under your noses – will be of a more subtle nature.
Close readers of our business section surely have noticed that in the last three weeks we've been focusing more on the Internet and how various Ukrainian businesses are using it. I'm not going to bother explaining the reason we've made such a shift – hopefully you already understand that the Internet is a big-time phenomenon with a colossal influence on business in the West. While Ukraine is still light-years behind in this realm, there has been marked growth in the sector over the last year. In response to that, we will continue to devote more of our energies to Web-based businesses, including the introduction next week of a regular column called Web Watch.
On page three of this week's paper you'll notice another new feature, The Reform Report Card. While we've expressed myriad – and sometimes varied – opinions in this space over the years, we've always been pretty consistent in advocating swift, radical economic reforms. The Ukrainian government's record on implementing such reforms has of course been woeful. But it's not for a lack of reform decrees. The following pattern is familiar to anybody who's been around here for a while: The government or president passes a radical decree to much fanfare; it stays in the headlines for about three days before being rubbed out by next big story; one year later it is clear the decree has either faded into oblivion or been bastardized to the point that it does more harm than good; two years later the government passes a nearly identical decree, again to much fanfare, and the process repeats.
Like its predecessors, today's government says it's serious about reform. President Kuchma has already passed two widely praised, 'landmark' decrees since he was reelected – one on administrative reform and another abolishing collective farms. The former echoes an early 1998 administrative-reform decree that was never implemented. The latter is an attempt to fix the drawbacks of a 1994 law that was also supposed to abolish collective farms. Unlike the IMF, we plan to make sure the government is putting its decrees into action. Look for reform report cards periodically.
A third change is our introduction of a local sports page, which debuts this week on page 9B. While many of you will surely be nonplussed by this novelty, we look at it as a noble contribution to helping local sports leagues build a fan base. That they need help is an understatement. Ukraine's hockey, basketball and soccer leagues are still managed and promoted by grossly under-funded, Soviet-era government boards. Besides being poor, these boards have no concept of public relations. The Ukrainian Basketball Federation, for instance, wanted to know 'what was in it for them' when we requested the standings and results of the virtually unknown Ukrainian Super League. That the promotion arm of a sports league – who should be begging us to publish this stuff – would pull such a stunt seemed startling. Then again, this is the former Soviet Union. The forces corrupting local sports development are really no different than the forces corrupting the agricultural and metallurgical sectors. It will take fundamental changes in attitude – which could take decades – before changes will occur. In the meantime, we'll do our best to help out. And by the way, there's some pretty good hockey, basketball and domestic league soccer to be seen out there.
In addition to the editorial changes, we are currently in the process of completely revamping and rebuilding our Web site. Besides being easier to navigate, the new site will contain all articles from the most recent issue of the Post, expanded archive access, easily navigable archives of Day and Night features like 'Tip of the Week' and 'Best of Kyiv,' and our full list of restaurant blurbs. In addition, the site will contain comprehensive daily updates of local Ukrainian news in English. That project goes hand in hand with our plan to launch a daily news bulletin in English. Our office is also working on building fully loaded Ukrainian- and Russian-language Web portals. All of the above projects should be up and ready by next month. Check out our Web site at www.kyivpost.com for updates on all the latest changes. Oh yeah, and enjoy the warm weather … in May.
