Archive of articles - January 2011, page 12
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Interior Ministry beefs up policing
THE INTERIOR Ministry has introduced a new system for protecting public order in areas suffering from elevated crime levels. The SITA newswire reported that the system, begun on January 1, is “directed primarily at Roma settlements that have had a high number of criminal offences and infringements of peaceful coexistence”.
Final deficit for 2010 announced
THE STATE budget ended last year with a deficit of €4.436 billion. This means it grew by €925 million month-on-month in December and by €1.645 billion when compared to the deficit posted in 2009, the Finance Ministry announced on Monday, January 3, as reported by the TASR newswire.
TV in Slovakia to go fully digital by 2012
SLOVAKIA is switching from analogue broadcasting of TV signals to digital. The process is expected to be completed over the course of 2011 with the analogue format to be discontinued completely by the end of 2012. Moving to the new technology brings better picture and sound quality and it also offers multiple programming choices and interactive capabilities.
Media in Slovakia
The Market & Media & Lifestyle – Target Group Index (MML-TGI) survey, conducted by the Median SK agency in licensed cooperation with the British Kantar Media Group, was administered between March 29 and September 12, 2010, among a sample of 4,137 respondents aged 14 to 79. The survey results below are combined for the second and third quarters of 2010.
Institutions and organisations of media, advertising and PR
Ministry of Culture
RTVS arrives; Nižňanský leaves
THE CONTOURS of Slovakia’s huge new public broadcaster are now emerging from the remains of its predecessors, Slovak Radio (SRo) and Slovak Television (STV), as part of what the country’s culture minister has called a substantial reform of the public media in Slovakia. The legislation to create Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) came into force on January 1, 2011. President Ivan Gašparovič vetoed it twice, but parliament overrode his objections.
Ministry addresses EC over e-toll
THE TRANSPORT Ministry has sent a response to the European Commission, addressing objections it raised regarding the method Slovakia used to pick the supplier of its electronic highway toll system. Slovakia’s response was not published.
A muted New Year in some cities
THE TRADITION of celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next in the company of crowds in the street has become more popular in Slovakia over recent years and continued in 2010 too. In the capital, Bratislava, Mayor Milan Ftáčnik praised the fireworks but expressed regret at the poor visibility caused by heavy fog. The head of communications for the city council, Milan Vajda, explained to the SITA newswire that this was caused by significant humidity. The numbers celebrating in the streets were similar to previous years, with several thousands attending, including foreign visitors.
Learning languages makes us global citizens
THE CHOCOLATE bar, the electron microscope, the light bulb, insulin and the Java programming language as well as the zipper, the baseball and the kayak were all invented by Canadians. And the plentiful list of well-known contemporary Canadian personalities includes, among others, poet and singer Leonard Cohen, jazz pianist Diana Krall (of Slovak ancestry) and movie director James Cameron. But these facts were not the most important message that students of the Ľudovít Štúr secondary school in Zvolen absorbed during their discussion with Georges Lemieux, chargé d’affaires of the Canadian Embassy.
Gučík appointed new head of TA3
MICHAL Gučík replaced Matej Ribanský as director general of the TV news channel TA3 as of January 1, the TASR newswire reported.
Hidden cakes and stolen violins: New Year in Zemplín
THE FIRST day of the New Year in the Zemplín region in the easternmost part of Slovakia had many folklore traditions. People, of course, wished each other everything good in the coming year, but they also observed many customs which they believed would bring a prosperous farm as well as family health and cohesion.
Benefit for prisoners
THE OLD School Brothers dance group held a charity performance on January 6 in the town of Námestovo to support the work of the Orava Youth Centre (Oravské centrum mládeže) in helping youths with drug problems, homeless people, as well as those in prison. The fundraising programme is traditionally organised for January 6 as Epiphany, a Slovak national holiday, means for most people a definite end of the holiday season and a large-scale return of employees to work and students back to school and the replacement of the festive atmosphere of previous weeks by everyday normality. But the organisers of the traditional Orava event see things a little bit differently.
Ahead: a year of 'everyday politics'
IN CONTRAST with last year, 2011 is not expected to be studded with particular events that have the potential to become political or media spectacles – or at least that is what political observers are forecasting based on what they see on the horizon of the dawning new year. This does not mean, however, that some significant political changes are not in the pipeline.
The dog does his duty – but to whom?
WHENEVER the public begins to forget about Ján Slota, the chairman of Slovak National Party (SNS), he reaffirms his dismal political presence by making one or two scandalous statements which, apart from appalling everyone with any sense of decency, tend to add fuel to nationalist fires.
Internet advertising records uptick
ONLINE advertising is showing an upward trend after falling for more than a year. Online advertising on the web pages of members of the Association of Internet Media (AIM) amounted to €5.41 million for the third quarter of 2010. Though this was a 7.1-percent drop compared with the second quarter of 2010 it represented an increase of 6.6 percent compared with the third quarter of 2009.
Calendar note: next total solar eclipse due in Bratislava on May 16... 2227
DOZENS of Bratislavans arrived at the Danube embankment on January 4 to watch the partial eclipse of the sun in a programme organised by the Slovak National Museum (SNM). “In the morning the weather looked ideal; the sky was clear and Venus was shining very clearly in it. But later when the sun started to rise, the air became warmer and fog started to form,” Katarína Maštenová of the Natural History Museum of the SNM told the TASR newswire.
PR agencies compete for awards
SLOVAKIA’S Association of Public Relations (APRSR), in cooperation with the monthly Stratégie, has announced the second year of the Prokop PR projects competition, Stratégie wrote in its December issue. The main aim of the contest is to acknowledge the best original PR projects carried out in Slovakia in 2010. The criteria for the contest are innovation, creativity and flexibility of each PR project when documented results are taken into account.
According to the MML-TGI survey, 40 percent of the Slovak population had read one of the national daily newspapers when asked about the most recent issue of the dailies. Nový Čas dominated the ranking with 23 percent readership, far ahead of other daily papers. The next three papers, Plus Jeden Deň, Sme and Pravda each had 7 percent readership.
Opakovaný vtip
“A JOKE repeated, is not a joke,” (opakovaný vtip nie je vtipom) says a Slovak proverb. Still, local police ended 2010 in very much the same style as they started it – by allowing an unsuspecting civilian to carry dangerous cargo around Europe.
Ringier Axel Springer buys Azet.sk
EUROPEAN media giant Ringier Axel Springer Media AG has purchased a majority stake in the most visited web portal in Slovakia, buying 70 percent of Azet.sk via its Slovak publishing subsidiary in mid December. The price of the transaction was not disclosed, the SITA newswire wrote.
- Slovakia’s secret weapon is living abroad
- Neo-Nazi gang in Bratislava plotted armed attack and called their leader ‘Mr Führer’, court documents reveal
- Irish outlet hails Slovak spa town as top European holiday spot
- After years of straddling two worlds, this American is now reconnecting with his Slovak roots
- News digest: Parties push for constitutional changes as President urges focus on real issues Photo
- The hidden costs of Slovakia’s complicated tax system
- Bratislava Region simplifies transport zones, raises fares
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Last Week: Central bank governor found guilty, but Fico accuses the judge
- Irish outlet hails Slovak spa town as top European holiday spot
- After years of straddling two worlds, this American is now reconnecting with his Slovak roots
- Slovakia’s secret weapon is living abroad
- Slovak brewers win hearts in Porto with beer inspired by a childhood favourite
- Employers outline €6.5 billion in spending cuts, but Fico fires back
- Neo-Nazi gang in Bratislava plotted armed attack and called their leader ‘Mr Führer’, court documents reveal
- Why a British teacher chose Slovakia as home Audio
- Irish outlet hails Slovak spa town as top European holiday spot
- After years of straddling two worlds, this American is now reconnecting with his Slovak roots
- Last Week: Central bank governor found guilty, but Fico accuses the judge
- Why a British teacher chose Slovakia as home Audio
- Slovakia’s secret weapon is living abroad
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- A bus now runs through it: Slovakia and Poland’s Tatras finally connect
- Where can vegetarians and gluten-free diners eat out in Bratislava?
- After years of straddling two worlds, this American is now reconnecting with his Slovak roots
- Irish outlet hails Slovak spa town as top European holiday spot
- Why a British teacher chose Slovakia as home Audio
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Slovakia’s secret weapon is living abroad
- Where can vegetarians and gluten-free diners eat out in Bratislava?
- Bratislava unveils its first 3D-printed bus stop Photo
- Slovak physicist: I do not employ doctoral students; I make them go abroad. I expect them to push us forward
- Iconic Slovenský Raj chairlift shuts down a week after opening Photo
- News digest: Parties push for constitutional changes as President urges focus on real issues Photo
- Bratislava Region simplifies transport zones, raises fares
- Neo-Nazi gang in Bratislava plotted armed attack and called their leader ‘Mr Führer’, court documents reveal
- The hidden costs of Slovakia’s complicated tax system
- Last Week: Central bank governor found guilty, but Fico accuses the judge
- News digest: Ex-judge Harabin cleared of charges over pro-Russian war comments
- Slovak universities, SAV, local governments top 2025 trust rankings More articles ›
