By all accounts, the last issue of The Ukrainian Observer was to be titled "The Case Against NATO". It wasn't. Jim Davis, the editor, perhaps being more circumspect than I, the publisher, came out with the pros and cons of Ukraine and NATO.
There is a case, though a flimsy one, to be made for Ukraine's entry into NATO. In geopolitical terms, I view it as unmitigated disaster. Jim has about eight years on me - we are both well into our yellow leaf stage - so is probably wiser, certainly more diplomatic.
These are the types of things we discuss at our Saturday editorial meetings each weekend at O'Brien's Pub, snarfing down artery clogging breakfasts that would, should and will kill mere mortals. Jim has opted for the "lighter fare", a rack of bacon, three fried eggs and butter-drenched toast. He fools no one, least of all his cardiac specialist.
Other charter members are two former editors, Scott Lewis and my brother, Glen, through my bro is currently ensconced in self-imposed exile in Western Ukraine. Glen usually skips breakfast but after our sometimes two-hour chat journeys directly down to Sunduk for lunch where he has a permanently reserved table.
All this is to suggest that the ingredients in The Ukrainian Observer, as in O'Brien's breakfasts, happen not so much by happenstance but through rather helter-skelter planning. Still, when the June issue came out, I was surprised to see an overkill of 12 pages devoted to NATO, even though I had glanced over it just prior to printing.
You see, I have work other than the UO. I am the titular head of an advertising and public relations agency that has spread to four countries and employs about 100 people. I travel a good bit, and am involved to some degree in all of our client activities.
My contribution to the magazine is this Random Notes column, which I have been writing for nearly eight years, and the "Work Place" column that is in its second year. I also concept the rather obscure cartoons, and have for these many years.
My view on the magazine will soon be Jim's view. I want a rather iconoclastic, somewhat eclectic rag that takes a stand. I don't want it to be another chamber of commerce type publication. I want it to have "sustained rage."
While "sustained rage" is a phrase coined by my late friend, Charleston (WVA) Gazette publisher Ned Chilton, I believe my brother, Glen, probably comes closest to my view in this regard. He the archconservative and me the soggy liberal seem to agree that a magazine that shrinks from controversy is a collection of just so many dead trees pressed together.
I admire magazines like The Economist which come out with front page headlines: "Berlusconi Must Go", whether I agreed with the proposition or not. Often I don't agree with this particular magazine, but I read it faithfully every week. This is what I yearn for with The Ukrainian Observer.
There is, of course, genetic conflict in owning a public relations and advertising agency and in publishing a magazine that takes on issues. There is a very good possibility that the folks who pay us money and keep us in business will disagree with those views.
Hence, when The Observer cartoon gently chides AmCham for its elitist "Captains of Industry"- a term that conjures up the Vanderbilt's, the Lord Beaverbrook's and the Rockefeller's--and is truly silly and Babbit-like, certain clients and would-be clients wince.
Many have the feeling that it is the work of Robert Reed, our external affairs vice president and go-to guy, as in go-to AmCham, go to EBA, go to the Danish Ambassador's reception. The Observer character bears a more than passing resemblance to Robert. However, it is not the good Mr. Reed, unless, of course, you want it to be.
Over the years, The Ukrainian Observer has not hesitated to take on established institutions. One was the U. S. Embassy which cries out "to give me your huddled masses" but then, in times past, has left them shivering in the cold and made them pay for visa applications when they had little chance of being chosen for the promise land.
On the other hand, the UO has praised the embassies, particularly the British Embassy and on occasion the US Embassy, when they have acted in truly admirable ways. The British Embassy received one of our First Class Service Awards, as I recall.
In any event, The Ukrainian Observer is evolving. It is now in full-color, and if the ad guy sells enough ads it will continue to be. It makes it onto various airlines, including Ukraine International, AeroSvit and the outside trolley of British Air. It can be found at major watering holes, hotels and restaurants.
The Observer is also chocked full of legitimate ads. By this I mean ads that were actually purchased, no barter agreements, no kickbacks to marketing directors. In nearly seven years, it has matured as a magazine and an institution in its own right.
Much of this evolution has to do with suggestions from our readers. Much has come from the Saturday Club gatherings, which on occasion has led to within a hair's width of knockdown, drag-out arguments. This is what has made it fun.
In fact, join us some Saturdays, 11 a.m. at O'Brien's. We'll pull up another chair or two.
Breakfast will be on Editor Davis.
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