21/02/2007

What is believed to be the first bilingual newspaper in Scotland for the Polish community is being launched next week.

The 16-page full-colour tabloid newspaper - Gazeta z Highland - is being published by the Northern Times weekly in Golspie and will be a free with an initial distribution of 20,000.

All the articles will be written in Polish with an English translation alongside. The first three editions will be quarterly and then it is hoped to make it a monthly publication.

There is an estimated  8000-10,000 Polish immigrants now living in the Highlands.

Gazeta z Highland will be edited by Alison Cameron, deputy editor and advertising manager of the Northern Times, who conceived the idea and has been working on the dummy  for 18 months.

The editorial will be written by Inverness-based Joanna Napiorowska, who studied  journalism in Poland before moving to Scotland.

The Northern Times is part of the Scottish Provincial Press Group.