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The delegation from Kiev (the capital of the Ukraine) spent its last night in Chicago being feted at a restaurant in Ukrainian Village. We asked Marianne Liss, local correspondent for the national Ukrainian Weekly newspaper, how it went. She said, “Well, nobody was killing each other.”
“And I said, ‘You mean we haven’t felt it on the skin?’
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To an American journalist, the obvious measure of glasnost is Soviet journalism. Alexei Gubenko is far and away the best-known Soviet journalist in Chicago; that’s because for the past year he’s been a regular on Sondra Gair’s midday show on WBEZ. Gair periodically dials Kiev and Gubenko answers questions posed by her audience. Gair perceives Gubenko as astonishingly guileless, as speaking from his heart come what may.
As something a lot less important to the Soviet people than perestroika, Gubenko said. “Not to insult your process, but this is secondary . . .”
We asked him how long he had felt like a real journalist. He let the question go by.
“I hope you’re right,” said Tyner. “You can’t read about what’s happening in the Soviet Union and not be very excited and wish you were there. I sure wish I was there right now.”
