After some short media debate on the topic of Estonian news written in English this February, the Estonian National Broadcasting (Eesti Rahvusringhääling – ERR) has now replied with a plan to begin publishing news written in English on its website by this summer. As to the new development plan 2011-2014, ERR wants to launch a new website - news.err.ee - which shall be one of the most important web portals on Estonian news in English. The deadline shall be June/July 2010.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet has previously moaned at the absence of constant flow of Estonian news in English. The Minister did not rule out the possibility of state support to a project similar to the one now proposed by ERR. According to the development plan, the national broadcaster also aims to grow the number of visits to its websites by one third, and increase the citation of its news in other online media. The aim is to be among top 10 most cited websites in Estonia.
ERR currently owns 15 Internet sites, visited by approximately 150,000 people a week. All shows, news clips and audio files are accessible online and can be followed directly which makes ERR the biggest multimedia provider in Estonia.
In the future, ERR also plans to re-launch news broadcasting 24 hours a day, and despite current financial situation, increase the number of foreign correspondents – in Helsinki, and in case of available funds, in Berlin.
On the local level, ERR wishes to contribute to intercultural understanding in Estonia by introducing local shows in its studio in Narva, the border city to Russia, by 2012. The broadcaster also plans to increase the number of reporters writing about the eastern problematic region, Ida-Virumaa.
In general, ERR seeks to remain a trusted source of information for the Estonian population. As to a recent study, by the end of the year 2009, 72% of Estonians had trust in the news by the national broadcaster.
(Source: Estonian Free Press/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)