Slovenian show returns to radio waves in Australia
Canberra, 2 March - Slovenians in Australia can now again tune in for a radio show broadcast partly in the Slovenian language after a minority-themed show was cancelled last year. The new show on a Sydney-based radio station might soon be joined by another aimed at the Slovenian minority in Melbourne.
Voice of Slovenian Australians, which is in English and Slovenian, airs every Saturday on the 89.3 2GLF radio station, whose signal covers areas of southwestern Sydney, where most Slovenians in the city live, said the Office for Slovenians Abroad. Listeners can tune in online as well.
The first programme was aired a week ago. The show runs for an hour, but the plan is to extend it to two hours per week from April.
It reports on important events in Slovenia, but mainly it is dedicated to the community's events and other developments. A part of the show is in English in a bid to attract second- and third- generation Slovenian immigrants who are not as fluent in Slovenian as their parents or grandparents.
Representatives of Slovenian organisations in Sydney decided to launch the programme after Slovenian Australians lost their weekly show on the national SBS radio station in April last year.
The cancelled show, which had been broadcast since 1975, was an important source of news for Slovenians in Australia, especially first-generation immigrants, reporting on events in Slovenia and within the community, the office said in a press release.
Meanwhile, another radio show aimed at the minority is in the works, as the Slovenian community in Melbourne would like to have its own programme. This one is expected to be launched on 3ZZZ, a local ethnic community radio station, this month. It will air every Sunday, reads the press release.