Tag Archives: RRI

Radio Romania International’s 2019 Person of the Year

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who writes:

I’m sending you the following Radio Romania International article about the designation of the Personality of the year 2019.

The chosen one was Greta Thunberg.

(Source: Radio Romania International)

Dear friends, Radio Romania International continued its traditional poling of listeners on short wave, the Internet and Social Media, asking you which person you think left their imprint on the world in a positive way in 2019. The political leaders proposed for the title of ‘Personality of the Year 2019’ included Pope Francis, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis, the Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelensky, the Chinese president Xi Jinping, the Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, the prime-ministers of India and Pakistan, Narendra Mody and Imran Khan respectively, the former Italian deputy prime-minister Matteo Salvini, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the Italian senator Liliana Segre, a Holocaust survivor.

The athletes nominated included the former world no. 1 Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, the Canadian tennis player of Romanian descent Bianca Andreescu and the former great Romanian footballer Gheorghe Hagi. The former president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, the entrepreneur Elon Musk and the Romanian-born German singer Peter Maffay were also nominated by our listeners.

Based on the proposals made by a majority of respondents to our poll, the personality of the year 2019 has been designated the young Swedish environmental activist on climate change, Greta Thunberg. Our listener Ralf Urbanczyk, from Germany, wrote about her: “No other person has polarized attention this year as Greta Thunberg has. Everybody has talked about her: regular people, scientists and researchers, the media. She’s been present in people’s lives more than any other person. I appreciate the fact that she can mobilize people and trigger discussions.”

Click here to read at the RRI website.

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RRI: Tiganesti shortwave transmitter back on the air

Photo: Radio Romania International

(Source: Radio Romania International)

Broadcasting of RRI short wave programs is back on track – Dear friends, the short wave transmitter in ?ig?ne?ti, BD 300-1 near Bucharest is up and running. It has been out of order for several months and it’s now broadcasting RRI’s programs again. The transmitter has been repaired by RADIOCOM. We are looking forward to receiving your feedback related to the quality of reception. Thank you!

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RRI’s Personality of the Year 2019

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the following announcement from Radio Romania International:

Dear friends, RRI continues its traditional polling of listeners on short wave, the Internet and social media, with a new challenge that, we hope, you will find interesting.

We would like to ask you which person you think left their imprint on the world in a positive way in 2019. We are preparing to designate, based on your options, “The Personality of the Year 2019 on RRI”. Will this person be a politician, an opinion leader, a businessman, an athlete, an artist, a scientist, or even a regular person with a special story? It’s up to you! We would also want to ask you why you picked that particular person.

You can send your answers, as usual, by commenting on our website, at rri.ro, by e-mail at [email protected], on our Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles, on WhatsApp at +40744312650, by fax at 00.40.21.319.05.62, or by post, at 60-64, General Berthelot Street, sector 1, Bucharest, area code 010165 (PO Box 111), Romania.

We recall that:

The “Personality of the year 2018 on RRI” was the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The “Personality of the year 2017 on RRI” was the Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, former no.1 in the WTA rankings and the “Personality of the year 2016 on RRI” was the American president Donald Trump.

The Personality of the year 2019 on RRI will be announced on January 1st, 2020.

Click here to read at the RRI website.

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Radio Romania celebrates 91 years

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the following article from Radio Romania International:

This Friday Radio Romania celebrates 91 years of existence. ‘Hello, hello, this is Radio Bucharest’ were the first words aired by this radio station on November 1st 1928, part of the first broadcast by the Radiotelephony Broadcasting Corporation in Romania.

The words were uttered by the then president of the aforementioned institution Dragomir Hurmuzescu, who was also the founding father of the Romanian radiophony. Along the years Radio Romania broadcast messages from leading figures who had their impact upon the country’s history.

Designed to be a means of information, education and entertainment, the Romanian public radio has been broadcasting for 91 years now adjusting its editorial policies and surviving the radical regime changes that took place during its existence, from the democratic system between the two world wars, to the right-wing dictatorship around WWll, or the communist dictatorship that followed.

Radio Romania celebrates 91st years of uninterrupted public service and broadcasts, 91 years of hard work and sacrifices but also of satisfactions in the sustained process of building the trust and confidence the station enjoys today, the institution’s president and director general Georgica Severin said on this occasion.

‘Either we speak about the accurate news on various daily events, the cultural broadcasts, the programmes devoted to theatre plays from national and world dramaturgy, or concerts and performances given by radio orchestras and choirs, this uninterrupted, relentless work has been always based on professionalism and respect for listeners’, Georgica Severin went on to say.

Besides its well-known channels, News and Current Affairs, Culture, Music and the Village Antenna, Radio Romania also boasts several regional and local stations, as well as the online channels devoted to children and young people.

The Romanian Public radio started to broadcast for listeners abroad as early as the 1930s and is currently broadcasting in 11 foreign languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, Hebrew, French, German, Italian, Serbian, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian as well as in the Aromanian dialect.

On its 91th anniversary, Radio Romania scheduled a concert given by the National Radio Orchestra as well as an exhibition on its premises, which can be visited until November 5th under the suggestive title ‘Afghanistan, Faces of War’. The exhibition has on display photos taken by Radio Romania’s correspondent in that country Ilie Pintea.

The exhibition was inaugurated in Los Angeles under the high patronage of the country’s General Consulate in Los Angeles and the Cultural Institute in Bucharest in 2018 when Romania celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Click here to read this article at Radio Romania International.

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RRI Listener’s Day 2019

(Source: Radio Romania International via David Iurescia)

Dear RRI friends, Sunday, November 3, 2019 will be Listeners’ Day on RRI, a day of celebration for which you are kindly invited to send us your opinion about the role of international radio broadcasting now, 30 years after the fall of many communist regimes in Eastern Europe. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and many states in the former Communist bloc got rid of Communism, such as the Democratic Republic of Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary. In Romania, the Communist regime was ousted on December 22, 1989.

Whereas until then international radio broadcasters in eastern countries would air propaganda against western states, and western stations would criticize the eastern states, after 1989, many of these broadcasters started promoting the countries from where they were transmitting.

International radio broadcasters have turned, in each of these states, into stations promoting their own countries and airing the views of the respective states on various issues. International broadcasters have also become a means of exporting democratic values.

In this year’s edition of Listeners’ Day on RRI, we ask you what is today, in your opinion, the role of an international broadcaster? What do you expect from an international broadcaster? Do you have any memories that you can share with us, regarding your international listening experience in general, and as listeners of RRI in particular?

We are looking forward to receiving your answers, which will be included in our shows on November 3rd! You can email them to us, at [email protected], post them on Facebook or send them as a comment to this article on RRI’s website at www.rri.ro. If you like, you can also send us pre-recorded answers via WhatsApp, at +40744312650, or you can send us your telephone number so we can call you from the studio and record your opinions. Thank you!

Click here to read the full article at RRI.

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Proposal to suspend Radio Romania International’s shortwave service has been rejected

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tudor Vedeanu, who shares the following update regarding the threat to RRI’s shortwave service.

Tudor writes:

I contacted MediaSind asking for more details about the suspension of the SW broadcasts at RRI. Liviu Grosu, the general secretary of MediaSind told me this:

“Following the reactions of MediaSind, the members of the Board of Directors rejected the proposal of the president-general director of the SRR, Georgica Severin, regarding the suspension of the shortwave broadcasts.”

Brilliant news, Tudor! Thank you for sharing this and also many thanks for obtaining Liviu Grosu’s approval to post his message here on the SWLing Post.

Readers, if you love RRI’s shortwave service, I believe this would still be a great time to let them know you’re happy they’re on the air! For the English language service, use the following email address: [email protected]


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Radio Romania International’s shortwave service under threat

RRI’s Tiganesti-based shortwave transmitter centre (Photo source: Radio Romania International)

Important: Click here to read our update.

Many thanks to a number of SWLing Post readers who have shared a link to this article on the AGERPRES website.

The article is in Romanian and many are interpreting it as stating that the shortwave services of Radio Romani International have already been cut.

I asked SWLing Post contributor, Tudor Vedeanu, for his interpretation. Tudor replied:

[I]t looks like Georgic? Severin, the President and Director General of Radio Romania, repeatedly announced his intention of ceasing shortwave transmissions, due to the recent budget cuts. I could’t find an official announcement about this, but the press release from MediaSind (the Romanian Journalists Trade Union) is worrisome enough.

Tudor will keep us informed as he learns more about this development.

RRI is one of my favorite broadcasters on shortwave. The Romanian service has amazing music programs and I also enjoy listening to their English and French news reports. If the budget cuts are severe, I suspect it may indeed mark the end of their shortwave service.

If you’d like to share your thoughts or express your concerns, consider dropping the English language service of RRI a note via this email address: [email protected]

Click here to read the AGEPRES article.

Tudor, thank you so much for your help and clarification!


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