BRAMA, Oct 21, 2003, 9:00 am ET
Press Release
Campaign Targets The New York Times
An international campaign, "Do The Right Thing," directed to the
publisher of The New York Times, Arthur Sulzberger Jr, began on October 13, 2003.
Organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA), in
collaboration with Ukrainian organizations from around the world, it
hopes to persuade Mr Sulzberger to return the 1932 Pulitzer Prize
awarded to the late Walter Duranty. Duranty is now widely recognized
as having been a Soviet apologist who filed many misleading reports
about conditions in the USSR while writing for The New York Times
during the early 1930s. In particular, he has been condemned for
covering up the genocidal Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine.
Many millions of people perished during this politically engineered
famine. That Duranty knew the truth is evident from the fact that
he privately informed the British government, in September 1933, that
as many as 10 million people had died as a result of famine conditions
during the past year. In public, however, Duranty dismissed all such
reports, going even further by vilifying those journalists who
courageously reported the truth about this man-made famine.
The fourth Saturday of every November has been set aside as an
official day of national mourning in Ukraine to recall this Soviet
crime against humanity.
Commenting on this new campaign, UCCLA's direction of research, Dr
Lubomyr Luciuk, said:
"In May of this year we requested that the Pulitzer Prize Committee
revoke Walter Duranty's prize, given his indisputable role as Stalin's
apologist, before, during and after the genocidal Great Famine. We
understand that the Committee is considering doing so and will announce
its decision in November. Tens of thousands of people from around the
world supported our first campaign and millions of Ukrainians and friends
of Ukraine now await the Committee's decision, trusting they will do
what is right. Certainly revoking Duranty's distinction would ensure
that the Pulitzer Prize is not denigrated by being associated with the
name of a self-serving apologist for mass murder. We are now also
turning to Mr Sulzberger and asking him to return the Duranty award
to the Pulitzer Prize Committee, regardless of what the latter might
decide, ensuring that The New York Times, a newspaper with an international
reputation for the highest standards of reporting, is not befouled by
any continuing association with Walter Duranty or a prize that he did
not merit, given his betrayal of the most fundamental principles of
journalism."
UCCLA, October 13, 2003.
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