Public radio discourse and management must be disassociated from political control and internal regulation; to help benefits from the important role of information, education and entertainment the radio spectrum can offer for national development.
The Executive Director for Platform for Peace and Security Africa Abass Osabutey said this on Adekyee Mu Nsem morning show on Ahotor 92.3 FM hosted by Citizen Kofi Owusu in Accra. He expressed this opinion to mark the World Radio Day.
The theme for the World Radio Day, celebrated on February 13, 2024 is “Radio: A century informing, entertaining and educating”.
The United Nations states, “The 2024 observance highlights the history of radio and its powerful impact on news, drama, music and sports.
It also recognises the ongoing practical value as a portable public safety net during emergencies and power outages, caused by natural and human-made disasters, such as storms, earthquakes, floods, heat, wildfires, accidents and warfare.
According to the United Nations, the objective of World Radio Day is to raise greater awareness among the public and media regarding the importance of radio.
The day also aims to encourage radio stations to provide access to information through their medium and enhance networking and international cooperation among broadcasters.
He reiterated that, there is a need for radio station owners in the country to invest in the human development of their staff to deliver their best in the industry that is struggling with huge capital investment.
Furthermore, the continuing democratic value of radio is to serve as a grassroots catalyst for connectedness within underserved groups, including immigrant, religious, minority, and poverty-stricken populations.”
Historically it is generally believed that the first radio transmission was made by Guglielmo Marconi in 1895 and radio broadcasting of music and talk that was aimed towards a wider audience came into existence, albeit experimentally, sometimes around 1905-1906.
In Ghana, Radio made its debut in the Gold Coast back in 1935 when the colonial governor established ZOY, a small wired relay station transmitting BBC programs to about three hundred colonial residents and privileged native elites.
This broadcast service was later extended to Kumasi, Sekondi, Koforidua, and Cape Coast. Beyond offering information and entertainment, British radio served as a means to counter the nationalist press’s anti-colonial campaigns. Following independence in 1957, the Gold Coast Broadcasting System was formed, eventually transforming into the Ghana Broadcast Corporation (GBC).
However, radio came into existence commercially in the early 1920s. Radio stations came into existence almost three decades later and the radio and broadcasting system became a common commodity around the world by the 1950s.
Almost 60 years later, in 2011, Member States of UNESCO proclaimed February 13 as being World Radio Day. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013 as an International event.
Radio for development is the strategic use of this medium to effect social changes beneficial to a community, nation, or region. Within the study and practice of communication for national development and social change, radio has claimed a prominent place for a variety of reasons.
More than 850 million people in developing countries are excluded from a wide range of information and knowledge, with the rural poor in particular remaining isolated from both
traditional media and new information and communication technologies, which would improve their livelihoods and development pattern.
AYM Kukah.E:mail:kukahalexander7@gmail.com
