World Radio Day: What’s that for Radio Bulgaria?

„So stick around cause we might miss you“. This is how legendary rock band Queen praised the radio back in 1984. Their hit became sort of hymn for radio journalists, and has for 28 years now enjoyed widespread popularity in the music scene. Today we recall Radio Ga Ga, because we have a special feature lined up for you to mark the World Radio Day.

The holiday has come into existence quite recently. On the initiative of the Spanish Academy of Radio, in November 2011, UNESCO declared February 13 World Radio Day. On this date, the United Nations Radio was also launched back in 1946.

It comes as an interesting fact that some 10 years earlier, on 16 February 1936, „the voice of Bulgaria“ in foreign languages aired for the first time. In 1937, the programmes of what was then called Radio Sofia were broadcast in English, German, French and Italian. It was in 1947 that the broadcasts in Balkan languages were launched. Thus Radio Bulgaria has been for more than 70 years a trade mark on the ether, bringing listeners worldwide news from Bulgaria's economic, social and culture life. For decades on end, our listeners would find us in the shortwave bands. However, as of February 1 this year, Radio Bulgaria's shortwave transmitters shut down, and our programmes can now be heard online alone. In other words, from „veterans“ we became „novices“. Yet, our aspiration is to adjust quickly to the new Internet platform and remain „the voice of Bulgaria“ for you.

After the shortwave closure, we are facing the problem of how to remain primarily a radio, entering an online reality of numerous information channels. We asked Mr. Valeri Todorov, director general of the Bulgarian National Radio, about the prospects for Radio Bulgaria.

“We’ve recently ceased shortwave broadcasting. Our programmes are going to be oriented towards Internet. Some of the broadcasts will be live, while others on demand”, BNR director general explains.” I hope we’ll enrich the web pages of the language services and add more sound, image and illustration, including video. The style of the programmes will change, too. We need to offer enough information, since our site is visited by people wanting to know more about Bulgaria. The radio is huge media with big capabilities and it will manage to find new audiences via the Internet. I hope all those who listened to us on the shortwave will find a way to follow our programmes via the new platforms.”

To mark the World Radio Day, we’d like to invite you today, albeit virtually, to our foreign language services and introduce you to only a handful of the people who prepare Radio Bulgaria’s programmes. The editor-in-chief of the Spanish Service Raina Petcova, has worked at the radio for more than 30 years.
What’s most difficult and most fun?

“The most difficult is actually the most fun”, Ms. Petcova comments. “We put a lot of effort to be topical because the specific character of our programmes and the technology of making them is somewhat different. Also, we need to pick those topics and issues that are interesting to our listeners, and present them in a comprehensible way. We’re very descriptive in our emissions, but this is exactly what our listeners like, I believe”.

We found Tsvetan Nikolov, translator and editor at the French Service, in front of the computer. He joined Radio Bulgaria in late 2010. What do you like about the job?

“I like its diversity”, Tsvetan says categorically. “We get to meet different people and there are no two days on which we do the same job. We translate a wide range of texts and get updated on various developments in Bulgaria and abroad.”

How do you see Radio Bulgaria in 5 years?

“I see Radio Bulgaria as more modern media, which has included in its rich media arsenal both sound but image using all information channels, while Internet remains its spine”.

Next to the French Service, it is the team of Radio Bulgaria’s English Section. One of its young editors Alexander Markov talks about the work’s specifics.

“Our work requires not only professional grasp of the language, but also in-depth knowledge of the society, culture and even geography of a given country. In Radio Bulgaria, one should work with senses open to what’s happening around the world, be ready to learn something new every day and respond quickly to change. In fact, the dynamism of the work brings not only many unexpected challenges but also huge satisfaction, which, rest assured, all colleagues at BNR know quite well.”

“We must strengthen radio’s role in promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially freedom of expression”. This is the message of Ms. Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, on the occasion of the World Radio Day. The team of Radio Bulgaria would like to add: “We must preserve the radio as a unique means of communication!” In a world, saturated with digital images and sound that stimulate all senses, and where information is handed on a platter, perhaps we should listen more often to the radio’s voices: to connect to other parts of the world or simply to use our imagination more often. Freddie Mercury said it somewhat better:

Let's hope you never leave old friend
Like all good things on you we depend
So stick around 'cos we might miss you
When we grow tired of all this visual
You had your time - you had the power
You've yet to have your finest hour

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World Radio Day: What’s that for Radio Bulgaria?

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