According to professor Alfred Eric Senn, Chicago Lithuanians played major roles in almost every stage of Lithuania's modern history as they struggled with the contradictions of assimilating into American culture. Currently few hundred thousand people of Lithuanian decent live in Chicagoland area.
On May 31st the largest weekly newspaper in the United States, published in the Lithuanian language, hit the stands. Fifty six page paper, named “Vakarai“ (“The West”) will be published weekly and available by subscription, in Lithuanian food shops and restaurants, and other ethnic fare stores.
“Vakarai” were developed after company NEWS LT L.L.C. purchased Lithuanian business weekly “Verslas.us” and decided to expand it and make available for broader audience. “Verslas.us” will continue to be a part of “Vakarai” as its business supplement.
According to Monika Bonckute, an editor-in-chief of the paper, there are quite a few Lithuanian publications in the US, most of them are printed and distributed in Chicago or its suburbs. Despite the fact, publishers of “Vakarai” decided that new wave of immigrants, Lithuania’s changed geopolitical status as an independent country and member of EU and NATO, paved the way for one more, entirely new kind of Lithuanian language publication.
Ms. Bonckute, 29, is fully confident about the future of the newspaper. “Vakarai’ is going to be the first Lithuanian newspaper in the US which will be a true bridge between Lithuanians, living in the States, their new adopted country and Lithuanians back in their homeland. I’ve been working hard for the past few years as a reporter and columnist for various other Lithuanian media, including as Chicago correspondent for “Lietuvos rytas”, the biggest national newspaper in Lithuania. While on the job, I learned there are lots of misconceptions out there. Some Lithuanians, especially the ones who never visited the US or came here recently, regard the country as a scary land of wild capitalism. On the other hand, still too many Americans think of Lithuanians as people from the Third World, laggards from the USSR”, said the editor-in-chief of the new Lithuanian paper.
Publishers of “Vakarai” are targeting wide audience. They say they understand there is no way to compete with local or national American media. ,”We don’t want to be an obscure paper for people who don’t speak English, although we are going to put all efforts to provide important information for Lithuanians, who may not be fluent in English, about changes and developments in US policies and events that affect every citizen and resident of the US“, said Ms. Bonckute. “But we also want to become a necessary publication for people of Lithuanian decent who are fully integrated in the American society but also care deeply about their homeland and still can speak their native language. In other words, for somebody we may be a primary news source, for others — a small, but dear addition to, let’s say, “Chicago Tribune”, “The New York Times”, TV news or the Internet”, expressed her goals Ms. Bonckute.