Radio and Television Programs for National Minorities of the Border Multicultural Region (on the example of Transcarpathia, 1930-1991)

Nataliia Tolochko

doi:10.47577/tssj.v8i1.748

Abstract

The article deals with the acute problems of the origin and development of radio and television programs for national minorities within the border region of Ukraine – Transcarpathia (in pre-Soviet and Soviet periods). The problem under consideration is relevant because of the fact that since the nineteenth century seven states and state entities have changed the territory of Transcarpathia. As representatives of different nationalities, most numerous being Hungarians, Romanians, Russians, Roma, Slovaks, Germans have long lived at this territory, attention has been paid to changing the ethnic picture over the years. The emergence and development of media for national minorities in the pre-Soviet and Soviet periods depended on the political order, ideology of the states including Transcarpathia. Therefore, some ethnic communities did not have radio and television programs in their mother tongue during the USSR period and were granted the right to information only after Ukraine gained independence.

Highlights

Print media, radio and television programs for national minorities have been an integral part of the Transcarpathian media space since the beginning of the development of regional journalism
Representatives of the states comprising the far western region of Ukraine took into account the ethnic aspect, approaches to the organization and ideological basis of such media differed
The largest Hungarian community in Ukraine (12.1% of the population of the region) lives here, the only one in Ukraine is Slovak (0.5%), one of the largest is Romanian (2.6%), Roma community (1.1%) is numerous

Summary

Introduction

Radio and television programs for national minorities have been an integral part of the Transcarpathian media space since the beginning of the development of regional journalism. Representatives of the states comprising the far western region of Ukraine took into account the ethnic aspect, approaches to the organization and ideological basis of such media differed. The residents of modern Transcarpathia have been receiving information from Czechs, Slovaks, Russians, Hungarians and even propaganda groups for many years. Despite the close interconnection of local media with the Ukrainian and European media processes, Transcarpathia's radio and television have lacked sufficient attention for many years. Researchers of the domestic audiovisual media only briefly mentioned the far western region in their writings (Bidzilia (2016), Mashchenko (2005; 2006), Sydorenko (2001), Ulyhanets (2012), Rosul (2016) etc.), the role of the television studio in the multi-ethnic region still remains strategically important

Objectives

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Conclusion