News Archive
20/06/20"Twin towns on air"
Corona station delivers global reports on the pandemic situation - Gmunder Tagespost 14.6.2020
Over the last few weeks the radio station "Radio Skadar" in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, has been broadcasting a special programme on the Corona virus. Every night from 7.30 CET the radio station offered musical items, a good atmosphere and contributions from various places, amongst them Schwäbisch Gmünd and its twin towns who contributed a higher than average number of items to the programme. People online around the world could find out authentic information about the situation in Italy, Hungary and England. In over 40 broadcasts, contributions from more than 100 people who had been invited to share their daily thoughts in the times of Corona as audio files were transmitted. Some made live contributions.
Broadcasts dealt with the daily news situation in the respective countries, others were inspired by music or literature.
Themes varied widely, from cooking and cleaning, fears and anxieties, conspiracy theories, violence at home, enforced idleness – some were funny, others serious. The thing all these people had in common was that they were self-isolating or under lockdown. The programme brought voices from Germany, France, Great Britain, Norway, USA, Brazil, South Korea, Iran, Georgia, Russia, Australia, Sweden, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Ireland, China, Greece, UAE and the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
Facilitated by Dragana Damjanovic-Schachner from Gmünd Twin Town Society, one of five contributors who prepared items for broadcast on a daily basis, Verein Städtepartnerschaft and representatives from the twin towns got a lot of attention.
Appeal in Gmünder Tagespost
It all started with an appeal in the Tagespost by the Gmünd Society, which resulted in almost daily broadcasts from Faenza and Székesfehérvár but mainly Barnsley. The Barnsley contributions were striking, especially concerning the tight restrictions people found themselves under and what staying at home meant for individuals. There was comment about online lessons for school, how to occupy children and how to learn dance online! A lot of information on the allowed daily outdoor exercise, such as how far and how long people were allowed to go for walks.
A most impressive report came from a nurse in Barnsley who spoke about her work on the front line. Contributions from Faenza concentrated on the situation of young people there and the schools and also reflected the long very gloomy time in the town, luckily it wasn't hit too hard by the virus.
Report from Gmünd
A former Italian intern at the Gmünd Council and his friends talked about student life during the Corona lockdown but also about his time working in Gmünd. Székesfehérvár mainly reported on the measures the council was taking to combat the disease. Antibes and Bethlehem had been approached but did not take part.
Overall, friends in the twin towns of Gmünd contributed over a third of the broadcasts.
