We will succeed in a difficult climate, though it seems the mountain we have to climb each year is a little higher, a bit steeper than the previous year.
But if I learned anything last year in my first full year as CEO, it was that this newspaper is bigger than the sum of its parts. It is a revered institution, and as such, it received widespread community support when that community was nudged ever-so-slightly. It will be nudged again.
Forgive my introspection, but the Kyiv Post is often that one voice crying in the wilderness. It says what people are thinking, but often don’t voice. It records what people of conscience do say, and as such, it represents a historical footnote that we were here, and that we tried to make a difference.
Without the Kyiv Post’s English-language record (and often times interpretation), the cacophony of dialogue on hundreds of diverse and debatable issues would represent so much fried air. Our leaders’ various foibles would go unreported to a global swath of interested, but ill-informed, people.
There is a wide appreciation for the Kyiv Post brand writ large; and, as such, it represents a near sacred obligation to keep on keeping on with incisive reporting of news and features. It is without question the only serious English-language publication of its kind in the country. This is not to degrade the several non-newspaper publications out there. The simple fact is that they don’t do what we do.
But once again, we have that mountain to climb. It is a perennial challenge which I doubt will fade away with the last clicks of 2013.
We will charge forth the only way I know how – by putting one foot in front of the other while trying to avoid the various doggie puddles along the way, whether they are represented by the boogeyman of devaluation or the haunting psychological impact caused by a fog of economic uncertainty.
With regard to the previous year, the Kyiv Post had a very successful 12 months. We grew revenue by nearly 50 percent and reined in expenses. We had a hugely successful Tiger Conference, published two profitable supplements and developed a popular corporate subscription plan.
For the most part, we jettisoned a Ukrainian-Russian website that was a good product but could never approach paying for itself. We developed a new and more colorful English-language website which continues to be a work in progress. We are aiming toward easy to navigate mobile versions.
Though action-packed, we still lost money in 2012 – but about one-third of the amount we lost the previous year. I am proud of this accomplishment by the team, but humbled by how much further we have to go to achieve a minimum break-even goal.
There are dozens upon dozens of publications out there where making money is secondary to political and other non-business objectives. In some cases, being a media mogul is merely another ornament on the wealth tree. In others it is purely about the exercise of power.
The Kyiv Post is owned by Mohammad Zahoor, who seems to have no pretensions to political influence. That’s my take after knowing him for 15 years, first as a client and then as boss. He apparently has no other reason to own the Kyiv Post other than as a community service.
However, no entrepreneur wants to lose money on a business, and to date Zahoor has invested quite a bit and has yet to see a kopek in return. Making a profit is what few news publications do these days. The trend is to shrink paper-size, close up shop or go entirely online, the last of which rarely ensures profitability.
In a recent publisher’s forum luncheon – held for business executives monthly by Zahoor – we (actually this column) were gently admonished by a participant not to be so open in writing about the Kyiv Post’s financial struggles. It was perceived to be unseemly, kind of like snoring in church.
After thinking about it for a moment, I decided my well-intentioned colleague was dead wrong. The Kyiv Post is the people’s newspaper. It might be owned by Zahoor, but thousands of people for nearly 20 years have made an investment in reading time and advertising dollars, and they do have a stake in its survival.
They deserve to know their newspaper will be here tomorrow.
It will.
But we do have another mountain to climb in 2013.
Kyiv Post CEO Michael Willard can be reached at [email protected].
