World Radio Day: Helping millions worldwide through the power of radio Wednesday 13 Feb 2013 <http://metro.co.uk/2013/02/13/> 6:00 am World<http://metro.co.uk/news/world/> Share <http://metro.co.uk/2013/02/13/3445638-3445638/#>127 [image: worldradioday]A child in the Republic of Congo with a radio (Picture: SOAS Radio)
Radio, what’s new? Radio… someone still loves you. Make that about 6bn people. Freddie Mercury and the rest of Queen went Ga Ga for radio back in 1984, but today there is still plenty to shout about when it comes to the medium. While technological advances and people’s listening habits might have changed, there is still a place for the humble radio. And it continues to make a difference. Today is the second World Radio Day <http://www.worldradioday.org/>, a celebration of the positive impact it can have on millions of people. We’re not talking about Nick Grimshaw’s Radio 1 Breakfast Show but how the humble wireless is an increasingly useful tool in improving health and education among some of the most disadvantaged and isolated communities in the world today. Community radio projects are on the rise throughout the developing and developed world because of radio’s ubiquity, accessibility and ability to share vital knowledge and practical information with hyperlocal communities and provide a voice for marginalised groups. Tonight, the School of Oriental and African Studies <http://www.soas.ac.uk/>(SOAS) at the University of London hosts a World Radio Day event, New Perspectives on Radio, sharing the insights of people on the frontline of using radio in international development. Speakers include Dr Mary Myers, a specialist in radio in Africa, and there will also be a trade fair showcasing the latest advances in radio technology, including a portable radio studio and solar powered radio sets. The People’s Power Collective <http://www.peoplespower-co.org/> (PPC), which took part in last year’s World Radio Day event, is in the midst of establishing a community radio station in a remote village in North India. ‘We stand for participatory, empowering radio and our mission is to enable less privileged rural and urban communities in India to set up and run their own, sustainable community radio stations,’ said PPC founder and director, Saritha Thomas. ‘We’re working in Bhanaj village in Uttarakhand with a local grassroots organisation Mandakani Ki Awaaz, who had already applied for a community radio station licence because they realised there’s a real need. ‘Bhanaj is extremely isolated – it’s a seven hour drive from the nearest city and people live in tough conditions. In the summer there are forest fires and during monsoon there are landslides.’ Radio practitioners, health experts, development specialists and communities realise radio is a relatively low-cost medium that bypasses barriers such as inaccessible terrains, lack of infrastructure and literacy. ‘As long as you can speak and listen you can take part, illiteracy is no bar, which is huge in places such as India and Africa,’ said Ms Thomas, who has more than a decade’s experience in radio, including working for Radio 4 and BBC World Service. [image: AY_103678110.jpg] The beauty of hyperlocal radio is it can serve and address a specific community – perhaps without access to electricity or running water, let alone Internet – in its own language or dialect. Which is why you’ll find community radio stations raising awareness of deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest; reintegrating paramilitaries into mainstream society in Colombia; keeping Native American languages and culture alive in the US and the dangers of HIV in Malawi. Simon Cousens, professor of epidemiology and medical statistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine <http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/> (LSHTM), is working on a project in Burkina Faso evaluating local radio’s impact in reducing child mortality. ‘Burkina Faso has relatively high levels of child mortality that haven’t shown much sign of coming down and it also has a lively and relatively deregulated broadcast industry,’ he said. ‘So, although there is a national radio station broadcasting in French, the former colonial language, there are many local radio stations broadcasting to an area of 40 to 50 kilometres in local languages. ‘The messages being broadcast over two and a half years are focused on things that families can do to reduce the risk of children dying from the most common causes of death, which are pneumonia, malaria, diarrheal diseases – so how to reduce these diseases through hygiene, improved feeding, using insecticide-treated bed nets, how to recognise illnesses and begin appropriate treatment.’ International development and radio expert Carlos Chirinos, the director of SOAS Radio, is excited by LSHTM’s research in Burkina Faso. It could provide the data to back up what he’s observed over the years with community radio projects in the Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Mozambique, Tunisia, Uganda and Japan. He said: ‘Hopefully, this project will provide evidence of the impact of radio on improving health indicators and reducing child mortality in a low-income country, highlighting the value of communication in international development. ‘This evidence will be very useful at a time when international funders and aid agencies expect research and interventions to have a direct impact on the population.’ However, one of radio’s most powerful functions as a catalyst in transforming attitudes and aspirations is harder to quantify, as Ms Thomas explained. ‘In India, I met a woman who didn’t know how to write,’ she said. ‘She would sign documents with a thumbprint, which she found embarrassing. She discovered the value of literacy via community radio and learnt to write her name. She was so proud and insisted that no matter what, her daughter and son would go to school – note she said daughter. It’s these little things that over time can add up to a lot.’ DID YOU KNOW THAT: The Archers, the longest running radio drama and soap opera in the world, was developed in 1950 to help introduce new practices to farmers in rural Britain. * * * Radio China International broadcasts more than 1,500 hours of radio in 61 languages (including English, Russian, Spanish, Hindi and Bengali) every day. * * * Canadian Reginal Fessenden was the first person to broadcast voice and speech over radio waves on Christ Eve, 1906. * * * There are more than 220 community radio stations in Britain. * * * July 27, 1895, the date of the first public wireless transmission of Morse code by Italian Guglielmo Marconi, which took place in London. * * * The BBC World Service broadcasts in 28 languages. * * * <http://metro.co.uk/2013/02/13/3445638-3445638/#> http://metro.co.uk/2013/02/13/3445638-3445638/ -- FN Land +91-832-240-9490 Cell +91-982-212-2436 [email protected] Goa,1556 titles: http://bit.ly/Goa1556Books2 Links to my books: http://fredericknoronha1.wix.com/fngoaindia
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