Thinking outside the box
Catalonia Today extends its operation to offer television and digital content
From November 10, El Punt Avui will offer its readers two pages of news and comment in English every day. However, this collaboration between El Punt Avui and Catalonia Today will also extend to the El Punt Avui television channel, which started broadcasting in April. Every day, from Monday to Friday, between 6pm and 7pm, El Punt Avui Televisió will have programmes in English for viewers of all ages and interests.
Among the highlights of the schedule is a weekly current affairs panel show hosted by journalist and writer Matthew Tree. Meanwhile, Barney Griffiths and his guests will have all the football covered every Monday. Each week will also include interviews with relevant Catalan personalities (in English), interviews with high-profile foreigners with strong links to Catalonia, and chats with everyday residents who have made their home here. The week's schedule is topped off with The Class, which follows the progress of a group of Catalan schoolchildren and their efforts to learn English.
El Punt Avui's decision to offer content in English, both in print and on television, is a major step forward in the desire to serve the needs of a multi-lingual, multi-cultural society. Catalonia Today is proud to be part of this noble aim and we hope our readers – and viewers – will agree.
Two pages of daily news in El Punt Avui
First it was every month, then every week and now – from November 10 – Catalonia Today will offer readers daily content with two full pages of news and comment in English in El Punt Avui newspaper.
Providing a summary of the day's major stories, as well as opinion and interesting facts, readers of El Punt Avui will now have the option of a daily dose of local and national information, all in English.
Produced by Catalonia Today journalists, the handpicked daily content will aim to encourage readers of El Punt Avui newspaper to engage further with the English language, while providing those readers who are more dependent on English with an overview of what is happening today in Catalonia.
Along with Catalonia Today's foray into TV and the internet, this new project is a major expansion of the magazine's operation and a pioneering step forward for El Punt Avui, and a response to the growing demand for original content in English that is also relevant to readers and viewers in Catalonia.
With the experience of El Punt Avui, the enthusiasm for English among its readership, and the loyalty of our readers, we hope that this new project will become a milestone in the publication's history.
New website and ECClub
In today's digital world, access to information is essential, and no new project would be complete without a strong Internet presence. Catalonia Today is no different and the new projects with El Punt Avui in print and on television will be accompanied by a new website.
From November 10, readers and viewers will be able to access all our new content at www.cataloniatoday.cat, which will include information from the monthly magazine, Presència, the daily pages in El Punt Avui newspaper and our new TV programmes.
There will also be the latest on the reading groups and the other activities offered by our English Culture Club.
An hour of English on TV
April saw El Punt Avui Televisió launched from its studios in Sant Just Desvern. Since an agreement was reached with the former Canal Català, El Punt Avui have so far only produced programmes in Catalan.
However, that is about to change. From November 10, every day from 6-7pm, El Punt Avui TV will broadcast a wide range of programmes produced in English.
Staffed by members of Catalonia Today, and with the help of organisations such as the British Council, Pompeu Fabra University and the Departament d'Ensenyament, viewers will be able to enjoy original content, all in English. See below for more details.