STA, 6 January 2020 - Radio Študent, a small independent radio station, is at risk of losing funding as the 2021 budget of its founder - the University of Ljubljana's Student Organisation (ŠOU) - no longer earmarks any funds for it, according to a press release from the radio station.
Radio Študent's management and editorial board say that the EUR 3 million budget passed first reading in ŠOU's newly-elected assembly on 30 December.
Even before that, the assembly changed the rules on ŠOU funding, which now say that ŠOU members get no money from the concession fee from student work.
The release also says that funds for the radio station, which was launched in 1969, has been falling for almost a decade.
In 2012 it received EUR 230,000, but only EUR 120,000 last year, during the Covid epidemic when the radio station intensified its reporting and programmes.
Radio Študent urged ŠOU, which represents some 60,000 University of Ljubljana students, to allocate at least EUR 120,000 for the radio station.
The radio station understands the budget is lower than in 2020 due to the epidemic, but believes that at least minimum shares of funds for institutions under the ŠOU wing should be preserved. It also wants to be included in all talks on its "uncertain future".
"The challenge of surviving faced by Radio Študent today is unprecedented in its entire 50-year history," the release says.
The radio station has more than 200 young contributors, who make 17 hours of live radio shows a day.
