From now on, the Kyiv Post will be much more than just Ukraine’s best and oldest English-language newspaper.
On July 16, the 15-year-old independent news source is launching a version of its website in both Ukrainian and Russian languages.
With the change, the Kyiv Post is aiming to attract a much broader audience and to become one of the nation’s top news outlets.
The Kyiv Post runs an increasingly popular English-language website at www.kyivpost.com, with exclusive and investigative staff-written stories, as well as content from international news agencies such as Reuters and the Associated Press. The local-language website will be hosted on the same domain, so its URL will be www.kyivpost.ua.
Kyiv Post publisher Mohammad Zahoor
The decision to expand the Kyiv Post’s reach came soon after Mohammad Zahoor took over as owner and publisher a year ago. Zahoor thinks the newspaper’s special brand of journalism will find an audience among Russian and Ukrainian readers.
“The Kyiv Post offers more than a different style of journalism,” Zahoor, a British citizen who lives in Ukraine and who owns the ISTIL Group, said. “We follow Western standards of journalism. That makes our news product unique in the Ukrainian market.”
The journalism standards are encapsulated in the newspaper’s motto, “Independence. Community. Trust.” In practice, it means that the newspaper clearly separates news from advertising and does not accept money to slant coverage in “advertorials” – advertising or PR that is disguised as news stories, a practice still not eliminated in Ukraine.
The Kyiv Post also highly restricts the acceptance of “freebies” – gifts, trips and other favors that politicians, entrepreneurs and others in Ukraine frequently try to bestow on journalists to curry favor with them.
The newspaper has a long tradition of striving for critical, but fair coverage of political leaders.
In editorials – the unsigned opinions meant to represent the newspaper’s position on issues – journalists have promoted democracy, Ukraine’s development as an independent nation, and free economic markets. While the newspaper endorses political candidates during elections, the Kyiv Post has never aligned itself with any politician or political party.
Moreover, in keeping with Kyiv Post tradition, Zahoor has made it clear that while he determines the budget and overall direction of the newspaper, the journalists make the news and editorial decisions.
Zahoor said the local-language website is part of the Kyiv Post’s ongoing commitment to the nation and development of free and unfettered news media. “We firmly believe that a press free of government pressure or influence is essential to Ukraine’s development,” Zahoor said.
Jim Phillipoff, the Kyiv Post’s managing director, expects the enhanced website, “with its high-quality content in the Ukrainian and Russian languages, to be rapidly embraced by news consumers and online advertisers. The site will provide the best reporting available, regardless of language.”
Rather than purely translate much of the content from one language to another, Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner said the newspaper has recruited multilingual writers capable of retelling their own stories in different languages.
“Translations will still take place. But the newspaper and its two websites will be put out by the same team of news and business personnel.” Having a unified team is designed to give readers – no matter what language they prefer – the feel that the newspaper is produced by the same people who follow the same journalistic standards, Bonner said.
“The Kyiv Post is a Ukrainian newspaper that has been produced in English by an international staff of writers and editors for 15 years,” Bonner said. “We feel the time is right to widen our audience, and we are looking forward to the community’s reaction.”
Phillipoff said the Kyiv Post has, over the years, provided a training ground for journalists who went on to become some of the nation’s best in the profession.
“We are pleased that many former Kyiv Post journalists are now leaders in the profession,” Phillipoff said. “The Kyiv Post is a special blend of people – mostly Ukrainians, with deep knowledge of their nation, but also foreigners who bring a different perspective to the news. We learn a lot from each other. This synergy has created a top-quality English-language newspaper, and I am sure that it will make the new website successful as well.”
The Kyiv Post was started in 1995 by American Jed Sunden, who sold the newspaper to Zahoor in 2009.
Expanding the website requires substantial investment, and the launch is coming during a time when the advertising climate remains weak.
The Kyiv Post has nearly doubled the size of its editorial team, from 16 people at the time Zahoor bought the newspaper on July 28, 2009, to one that currently numbers 29 people. Additionally, another 15 people work in administration, advertising sales, web development, marketing and distribution.
More hiring is planned, including a half-dozen journalists and web specialists in design, advertising and marketing.
In June, the Kyiv Post moved to 22B Prorizna St. The new headquarters is in a renovated four-story flat in the heart of Kyiv near Zoloti Vorota that can fit up to 57 people.
All but eight employees are Ukrainian.
Kyiv Post staff writer Alexey Bondarev can be reached at [email protected].
