Czech Radio creates online broadcasts about children's homes
Lukáš Kotlár, the Editor-in-Chief of the children’s magazine Zámeček ("Mansion"), and his colleague Albín Augustin Balát have created an online radio station called DD Rádio – Rádio dětských domovů (DD Radio – Children’s Homes Radio). "Annually around 1 000 young people leave children’s homes and a similar number enter them. We will broadcast for the children and employees of these homes, but we also want to bring news from their world to the public," Kotlár said; news server Romea.cz conducted the following interview with him.
Q: How did DD Rádio basically come about?
A: It was the idea of Albín Augustin Balát, with whom I work at the magazine for children from children’s homes, Zámeček. At the end of May we were together at Czech Radio in Prague, where the editor “MaryC” from Radio Wave was recording an interview with us. We talked about the idea of establishing a radio station with her, agreed to collaborate, and threw ourselves into preparations during the summer. Our partners are aiding us with implementing this, from creating the graphics to recording jingles to creating websites and producing the first broadcast.
Q: What will the radio broadcast about?
A: We want to bring the public closer to the world of children’s homes. We will produce interviews with interesting figures, news coverage, reportage – we are seeking, for example, the stories of successful children from these homes. We will do surveys and report on the work of nonprofits, as well as on various current topics.
Q: The magazine Zámeček has been dedicated to the children’s homes for almost 20 years. How will DD Rádio differ from it?
A: We frequently have a great amount of material left over at our editorial offices that does not make it into the magazine. We can use some of that for the radio and develop it, so it will basically augment the magazine a bit. Our print edition is intended for the children’s homes, the public can access the magazine only in its electronic version on the web. The radio broadcasts will be for all who are interested.
Q: What kind of listeners will you be targeting?
A: We will naturally be glad if they will listen to us in the children’s homes – not just the children, but also the directors and educators, and the public who take an interest in subject matter related to children’s homes and foster care. We believe these topics have their place in society and we would like to contribute to raising awareness of them. However, we will also target the media that we want to collaborate with in jointly developing news reporting from the children’s homes.
Q: The first broadcast is already available online. What can listeners hear there?
A: For example, there is a discussion of the project called "Roadshow with Veronika", which is about a finalist for Miss Czech Republic 2014, the model Veronika Kašáková, who grew up in the Vysoká pec children’s home. We also present a talented rapper from the Vysoká pec children’s home and the nonprofit organization Yourchance and their project "Začni správně" ("Start Right").
Q: Where can listeners "tune in"?
A: We are an Internet radio station. Listeners can find us on our Facebook profile for DD Rádio and on our YouTube channel, where our first broadcast is also accessible. We will soon launch our news server online, www.ddradio.cz, where it will be possible to find an archive of all broadcasts, current news reporting and other information.
