by brian pozun, december 2003

Consider the examples of Slovenec, Republika and Jutranjik and the picture looks even bleaker. Slovenec began publication in June 1991 but folded in November 1996 and the company was declared bankrupt by January 1997. Republika premiered in November 1992, and folded in 1996. Even worse is the story of Jutranjik, which debuted in June 1998 and ceased publication before the end of the month.

However, all three were political projects, rather than serious journalistic endeavors, and as such were doomed to fail. A strong product can indeed have wide success, even in the small Slovene market. The success of the most popular daily in the country today, the tabloid Slovenske novice, together with the sports daily Ekipa and the business daily Finance prove that new projects can be successful, if they find their niche.

These projects’ success have clearly encouraged many others, and lately there has been a flurry of new media projects in the country. Delo is leading the charge, with its plan to unify several local newspapers (which currently publish once to three times per week) such as Primorske novice and Gorenjski glas into a network of regional dailies. The idea is not to create a single daily newspaper, but to enable all five to publish daily by pooling resources among themselves and Delo in such areas as technology, content, organization and business.

At least two other dailies are on the horizon, a tabloid tentatively called Jasno planned by the Dnevnik and Salomon publishing houses, and another planned by journalist Marko Crnkovič is expected to launch in the spring of 2004. Though it does not seem likely that Jasno will actually materialize, the media world is waiting with bated breath for Crnkovic’s effort.

One other project in the pipes is a new weekly news magazine called Kolektiv (Collective). Its website should premier sometime in December, but investors have not yet been secured to publish a print edition.

The local media has also jumped on the free newspaper wagon, with the September 2002 premier of the free 48-page bi-weekly newspaper called Dobro jutro in Maribor, Slovenske Bistrice and Ptuj. Though the publisher hoped to expand into Ljubljana and Celje in Spring 2003, this did not happen until 22 November – just after the competition launched. The free weekly newspaper Žurnal premiered on 7 November 2003 in Ljubljana and Maribor. The free newspaper trend began some years ago and is best represented by the various Metro newspapers. The trend has been gaining steam around the world in recent years.

It is no secret that the country suffers from an enormous lack of recognition on the world stage. It is one of Europe’s smallest countries, with just under two million inhabitants and just over 20,000 square kilometers of territory. Its history, submerged in that of Austria and then Yugoslavia for the past millennium or more, is virtually unknown to the uninitiated. Its flag is easily confused with those of several others in the region. Seventy-three years spent as part of Yugoslavia conjure up nightmares of Balkan bloodlust to those who can even make the association. And perhaps most painful is the fact that the very name of this country, which was once part of Yugoslavia, differs from that of another country in the region—once part of another Slavic federation, Czechoslovakia—by just two letters.

This lack of recognition has been blamed for everything from low tourism numbers to failure to secure NATO membership in 1997 along with the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, to its regularly ranking low on Eurobarometer polls of the most desirable candidate states for European Union membership.

The domestic media is virtually useless in helping to raise awareness of the country outside its borders. All of the country’s daily newspapers, as well as many smaller media outlets, have extensive websites – but every single one is available exclusively in Slovene. None of the major domestic print media outlets do anything significant in any language other than Slovene. Given that the language is spoken by less than two million people world wide, the country’s current events remain obscure to non-Slovene speakers.

Of the six daily newspapers produced in the country, only one has made any attempt at English-language publishing: from time to time, Finance does publish bilingual Slovene and English supplements to its daily Slovene-language edition. Its website features English-language content more regularly, thanks to its policy of publishing press releases and similar materials in the language in which they are received.

Though English-language publications did not appear in Slovenia until 1994, the benefits of English-language media were recognized as early as the first stirrings of Slovene independence. Slovene journalists working for the federal press agency Tanjug started to set up an independent Slovene press agency, Slovenska Tiskovna Agencija (STA), and STA was eventually founded in 1991 to get the Slovene side of independence and the following Ten-Day War out to the world. From day one, an English-language service has been an integral part of STA, since journalists realized the importance of using English to address the world.

Today the English-language media is split into two groups: one produced by or with the help of the government, and another which is at least nominally independent. The first group includes press releases, backgrounders and other materials produced by the Government Public Relations and Media Office (UVI); the weekly news magazine Slovenia News published by UVI, STA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Slovenia Business Week, published by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The second group includes Ljubljana Life; Slovenia Bulletin; The Slovenia Times; Slovenia Business Report; and Slovenija Quarterly (see below).

Clearly, Slovenia is currently enjoying a very dynamic media scene, and the local English-language media is no different. Significant recent English-language projects include the re-launching of Slovenia Weekly as Slovenia News in September 2002, and the appearance of The Slovenia Times in March 2003.

The Slovenia Times publisher Rok Petrič has said that market research found about 3200 possible consumers of English-language media in Slovenia, though this figure does not take into account English-speaking (or reading) Slovenes, of which there are considerably more. Coupled with ever-increasing numbers of tourists, businessmen, diplomats and others visiting Slovenia, the market for English-language media is still improving.

Major Independent English-Language Media Sources in Slovenia

Ljubljana Life

http://www.ljubljanalife.com

The oldest “independent” English-language source of information is Ljubljana Life, which appears four or five times per year and is distributed free of charge around the capital. Content is generally aimed at tourists, and includes event listings, bar and restaurant reviews and other useful information for visitors to Ljubljana, including some news and current events. The magazine is available free of charge at various sites throughout Ljubljana, including the Tourist Information Centers and most hotels.

Slovenia Bulletin

http://geocities.com/ljubljanalife/News.htm

While the Ljubljana Life website includes much of the same tourist-oriented information as the print edition, it is also augmented with message boards aimed at the expat community, as well as Slovenia Bulletin, a weekly English-language review of the top stories in the Slovene-language press. Slovenia Bulletin was added to the website in September 2001 and sets itself apart from the glossier English-language sources of information about Slovenia by presenting the news as reported by the Slovene-language media, rather than the Slovene government version.

Slovenia Business Report

http://www.gvrevija.com/

Slovenia Business Report is a quarterly magazine published by Gospodarski vestnik, which also publishes leading Slovene-language business publications. The magazine unfortunately only appears in print and the cost per issue is prohibitive at SIT 2600 (USD 13), but the roughly 70-page magazine is packed with articles on business and the economy. It is available at Konzorcij and other bookstores in Ljubljana.

Slovenija Quarterly

http://sim.kivi-com.si/default3.asp?type=3&MenuID=1512

Published by the immigrants’ association Slovenska izseljenska matica, Slovenija Quarterly is geared towards ethnic Slovenes living outside of Slovenia. The magazine is heavy on news, culture, and current events. Each issue has about 60 pages that are glossy and fully illustrated. It is available at Konzorcij and other bookstores in Ljubljana.

Slovenia Times

http://www.sloveniatimes.com/

The latest addition to the English-language media scene is Slovenia Times, which debuted on 27 March 2003. Though launched as a bi-weekly, the newspaper is now published once every three weeks. It has set for itself the goal of unifying the expatriate community in Slovenia. Though the newspaper bills itself as “the first independent English-language newspaper in Slovenia,” its content is mainly conservative and not all that different from the government-sponsored Slovenia News or Slovenia Business Week. The newspaper is available free of charge at various sites throughout Ljubljana, and on Adria Airways flights to and from Ljubljana’s Brnik airport.

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