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For many years they were involved in exact sciences, studying the basic laws of nature
and exploring the structure of matter. So formulas, laws and experiments are now a thing
of the past, but the newspaper has remained the work of their lives, their love and their
destiny, the newspaper, with its 60-year-old history and a big name, which is well known,
perhaps, to every Russian-speaking Australian. It is only today that Vladimir and Olga are
casually deciding which photos to put on the front page, or which one would look best as
a double page spread, incidentally discussing whether the interview will become obsolete
before the next one comes out, and what title would be more appropriate for the article.
Six years ago, being a physicist and a chemist by education, they were not at all confident
in the success of the enterprise, especially because of the huge responsibility to thousands
of readers who have subscribed to the newspaper for half a century and have considered it
their own. When I had to make a decision as a child , physics
overpowered and I became a physicist for a while. But now the time has come when I realized
that you can return to your favorite work. All we had left to do was to persuade Olya
- well, it was not so easy, because Olya wasn’t really a journalist either, but in May 2006,
we released the first issue of the newspaper. For me, in general it was very difficult when
we suddenly decided to have a newspaper, I just panicked. Because I did not know how
to do anything (in my opinion), to the point that I did not know how to turn a computer
on and Lena Skorokhodova taught me how to do it. In general, I am a timid person by
nature and I cannot make such important decisions quickly. And so time passed, and I was so
diligently and seriously working with her, and I realized that it was necessary to do
something and not to panic and not to worry. So we started working. At first they only
needed to copy the back issues, because they did not have enough experience or time for
innovations, over the years, however, the Kuzmin couple started bringing in something
new to the newspaper, all the while watching the reaction of their main critics – the
readers. If I may say so, any creation reflects its
creator. And this is what you see today - the “Unification” newspaper reflects our editors
and publishers - Volodya and Olga Kuzmin. As you can see, the paper is very balanced;
there you will find all sorts of topics of interest, mostly to the Russian people.
The " Unification " newspaper was created for the Russian people, who, living far from
home, remain faithful to Russian traditions, continue to be interested in Russian news,
do not want to forget their mother tongue. Then, in the 50's of the last century, it
was not only a source of information, but also a means of support and a connecting link
to hundreds of Russian immigrants. Somewhat politicized at first, later the periodical
edition has become distant from any kind of politics, becoming closer to ordinary readers.
Today the "Unification" is consistent with the idea embodied in the title: the newspaper
brings people together. People continue to take pleasure in reading it: both the experienced
subscribers, and the people of the so-called new wave of immigration.
Yes, I have been subscribing to the “Unification” newspaper for two years, I like it very much.
Firstly, the fact that it talks about our Diaspora and directly about our people living
here in Australia. There is a big variety of activities here – it is very interesting
to read about them. There are also a lot of interesting columns, such as this one here
– “Flipping through the pages of the old calendar” ... Also because from time to
time there are jokes on the last page. Marching in sync with the times, the Kuzmin
couple brought their publication into the global network. The internet website, however,
is not an exact copy of the newspaper; there is space for other interesting sections. After
all, the editorial staff tries not to miss a single significant event in the Russian
communities in Australia. And sometimes it is the newspaper and one of the organizers
of these events - for example, the children’s drawing competition "Sun", held for 10 years
already , has been a success. Last year, a literary portal was set up on the "Unification"
website. You probably imagine that in Australia, there
are people who write poetry, prose, but it was a little isolated. And I believe that
the this portal deserves credit for the fact that we have been reading literature over
the past 150 years, have been collecting works written by the most brilliant writers and
putting them on this portal. So if anyone is interested in what was written on this
earth by Russian authors, he can access the portal and see for himself.
Leonid Tsvetkov, a very talented layout designer, formerly known in the layout of the Russian
newspaper "Arguments and Facts", helps to implement new ideas.In general, there are
many talented people living in Australia, and beyond, who are working with the editors.
Readers themselves often become content authors. Our readers are the best people in the world.
We are very grateful to our readers, because there are people who have subscribed to our
paper for 40-50 years. And if they didn’t, the newspaper would never have come to exist.
These are the people of post-war immigration, of Chinese immigration from Harbin, Shanghai
– they are people, thanks to whom the newspaper was surviving, and they created it.
This love is mutual, and the readers also have warm feelings towards the Kuzmin couple.
After an issue with a particularly good material, people usually call to express their praise,
or give an idea for a good topic. Olga’s and Vladimir’s relationship contributes
to the atmosphere of kindness, prevailing in the "Unification" newspaper, their work
life and family life are both thriving. I think on a big scale, but I don’t like
to get into detail. And Olya is a very meticulous and neat person and it would be impossible
to work on the paper without this. I think that this combination is very fruitful.
I want to add that I am very pleased with my boss (I do not know who the boss is - well,
let's not get into that, (she laughs)). When I am asked, I am proud to say that my boss
is my husband. This is how without too much fuss, but with
a clear knowledge of their work, the Kuzmins write a new page in the history of the "Unification."
They cherish the legacy they inherited from the previous publishers – an archive of
issues, consisting of more than 3000 copies of original issues. The average number of
readers is approaching seven thousand, and the electronic version of the newspaper is
viewed in more than 20 countries around the world. Without receiving any grants or subsidies,
the "Unification" can stand firmly on his feet and face the future with confidence,
portraying on its pages the life of Russian immigrants as it is. For most readers, it
has become a part of their lives , and for its publishers- their main purpose in life.
For me, perhaps, it is a way of life, because since we started publishing the paper, our
whole life has revolved around the paper. That is why, the "Unification" for me - it's
my way of life. We start, we wake up, even when Olya goes to sleep, she is working on
some material in her head in her sleep, and when she wakes up, she immediately runs to
finish something. We don’t have another, separate life, our life is the “Unification”
newspaper. This is my job, this is my hobby, as strange
as it may sound, when asked what I like to do in my free time, I want to say how nice
it is to have a hobby (even our poor garden is still waiting to become my hobby) so yes,
I can say that the newspaper is everything , everything that occupies our lives at the
moment.