Hungary's First Gypsy Radio Hits the Airwaves

B U D A P E S T, Hungary, Feb. 12 -- A new sound has joined the Hungarian airwaves with the launch of Radio C, a station run by and directed at the city's large Gypsy population.

At the stroke of midnight, the haunting sound of the Gypsy hymn went out on the air Sunday, followed by Gypsy poet Jozsef Daroczi Choli telling listeners in both Hungarian and Romany they were tuned to radio C at 88.8 on their FM dial.

The station, on the air for a trial period but in the running for a permanent frequency, represents the second place in Europe for Gypsies, or Roma, to have their own full-time radio broadcasts. Several such stations already operate in Macedonia.

Broadcasting currently is limited to the 30-day license granted by the National Radio and Television Supervisory Body. Radio C — the C for copyright, emphasizing the originality of having a Roma station — is competing with two Christian evangelist stations for a frequency and a seven-year license.

Hungary has more than half a million Roma, most of themmarginalized and poor. Though known worldwide as Gypsies, the United Nations, other international organizations and the ethnic group themselves prefer the name Roma, which means "the people" in the Romany language they speak.

A Station With a Mission

Although they are Hungary's largest ethnic minority, state-run radio and television currently run only a 30-minute weekly magazine program on issues affecting them.

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"We are going to have news, music, talk-back programs,interviews, but our focus will be the Roma. If there are new developments in any social welfare area, that will be our leading item, not some national news," said assistant editor Maria Bogdan, 25, a Roma from the southern town of Pecs.

Bogdan sees Radio C as fulfilling a vital education function.

She also says it's a station with a mission. "So many of my friends have left the country, mostly for Canada, to start a new life," she said. "We think the Roma should stay and feel they have a chance to have a decent life here."