UNMIK/PR/60

PRESS RELEASE

1 October 1999

BLUE SKY Radio Goes on the Air Tonight

PRISTINA - "Blue Sky Radio," a public radio service produced by UNMIK with funding from the Swiss Government, goes on the air tonight at 7:30 p.m. on 96 FM.

BLUE SKY will transmit a non-stop daily mix of music, news and features.

News bulletins will be produced entirely by local journalists and broadcast in the Albanian language at 7:30 a.m .and p.m. and in the Serbian language at 8:30 a.m. and p.m.  UNMIK news and features in Albanian and Serbian will follow the news at a quarter to the hour.

Hirondelle Foundations, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and funded by the Swiss government, will manage the studios and transmitting facilities for "Blue Sky Radio," while UNMIK holds editorial responsibility.

Most of the radio staff are local journalists and translators, supervised by an international team of managers and journalists from Hirondelle and UNMIK.

The news program plans to expand from the current spots to include debates, press reviews, features, phone-in programs and special coverage of women’s issues, youth, culture and humanitarian topics.  Aid organizations are invited to contribute. Programs in various minority languages will be added as well as English lessons.

The 12-month donation from the Swiss government is intended to promote the development of independent, pluralistic and responsible media in Kosovo and to contribute to peace in the region as well as to reconstruction and institution-building. The radio station intends to emphasize human rights and the plight of the victims of war and violence in its editorial policy.

Cooperation with local radio stations will be sought through co-productions and correspondents. Several local stations will be equipped with satellite antennas in order to receive the UNMIK programming free of charge.

Temporary studios and a newsroom have been set up at the UNMIK hotel, where journalists are welcome to visit Blue Sky Radio and Station Manager Thrse Obrecht.