Iaco Rigo: ‘We have overcome the obstacles of globalisation’

Iaco Rigo: We were delighted. It is a pleasure to become part of a family that shares our values and objectives. Working alongside others who are committed to local journalism creates new opportunities for greater visibility and for exchanging ideas and experiences.

Rigo: Yes. We have an excellent relationship with Dolomiten, the German-language daily newspaper published in Bulsan/Bozen/Bolzano, South Tyrol. We are also very familiar with the Romansh media landscape in Switzerland. Romansh belongs to the same Rhaeto-Romance language family as Ladin, so we have always felt close to one another.

Rigo: Ladin is a Romance language. It belongs to the Rhaeto-Romance family, alongside Romansh and Friulian.

Rigo: Ladin is spoken in the central Dolomites: in Val Badia, Gherdëina, Fascia, Fodom and Anpezo. It is a culturally and linguistically homogeneous area, but unfortunately it is divided between three provinces and two Italian regions.

Rigo: La Usc di Ladins means ‘The Voice of the Ladins’. We publish a print edition every week, while the most important news is updated daily on our website and across our social media channels.

Rigo: The print edition has a potential readership of around 15,000 people. Our online news stories attract about 1,100 readers.

Rigo: There is a daily television news bulletin in Ladin, and the Italian public broadcaster RAI also produces radio programmes in the language. Unfortunately, the main television bulletin lasts only four and a half minutes, although there is a second edition of around ten minutes. In addition, there are cultural and economic programmes on both radio and television. Altogether, around 300 minutes of Ladin-language broadcasting are aired every week.

Rigo: Our work has been crucial. We have succeeded in overcoming many of the challenges brought about by globalisation. One encouraging sign is that many people now write their Facebook posts in their mother tongue – Ladin. That is a very positive development. It is equally important that Ladin speakers have access to news about their own communities as well as international events. Having this information available in Ladin is essential for discussion in public life and within families. It also helps preserve specialist vocabulary in the language.

Rigo: Fortunately, we have three main sources of public funding. Every year we receive €230,000 from the Italian government, €60,000 from the Autonomous Province of Bulsan/Bozen/Bolzano and a further €50,000 from the Autonomous Province of Trent/Trento.

Rigo: We are living through a period of transition, both socially and between generations. We hope that middle-aged readers and families will continue to renew their subscriptions to our weekly edition. I also hope that people will remain interested in reading local news from our valleys. We are the only publication dedicated to reporting local events across the Ladin valleys, and that gives us every reason to believe in the importance of our role in the years ahead.

Rigo: I certainly hope it will. The value of joining MIDAS will depend on how actively we participate in the association, exchange news with other members and make use of the opportunities created by multilingual cooperation and translation.

Rigo: Olache al é la usc, él la notizia. It means: ‘Where there is a voice, there is news.’