World Radio Day

World Radio Day has been celebrated since 2012. The theme chosen by UNESCO this year is “youth and innovation in Radio broadcasting.

Daniel Onea, 13.02.2015, 14:22

Here at Radio Romania International, we have received many messages from listeners about the role and importance of radio broadcasting and today we are going to read excerpts from some of these messages.

We start with Andreas Mucklich, from Germany, who wrote: “For me, radio is first and foremost a medium that allows me to listen to foreign stations, such as Radio Romania International. This provides me with more detailed news than I find in the German media”.

“Radio has no borders, radio creates bridges”, writes Michael Lindner, also from Germany. Another German listener, Andreas Paelczyk, spoke about the accessibility and educational role of radio broadcasting: “As a means of communication, today radio can easily reach a young audience, whether at home, at school, at work or while driving. Radio is also the best means of informing young people about new products and services on the market.”

Adriano Micallef, from Malta, believes radio is an ever-changing medium, always relevant and much loved by the younger generation: “If you want to express yourself or are looking for a professional experience, radio becomes a purpose. Many young people want to work as radio DJs and journalists.

Radio is also a source of information, a point of reference and good company. I prefer to listen to radio on a radio set, and I have a whole collection of them. Many of my friends are surprised at how I can listen to a programme coming from Romania or America.”

Volodimir Satnikov, of Ukraine, deplores the lack of an active promotion campaign and the shortage of new voices in amateur radio broadcasting, which explains in his opinion why there are so few young voices on the radio. “Young people are much more active and would rather use the means of communication that do not require a licence. Sometimes you do hear young voices on the short waves. FM radio stations, especially music channels, mainly work with young people. It would be nice if that also happened in amateur radio broadcasting, on the short waves.”

Luminita Taranu, from Italy, underlines the interactive aspect of radio as a means of communication. “We could not imagine the world without these wonderful ‘boxes’, which stimulate our imagination through the wealth of information they provide. An idea takes shape, which the mind then builds on, generating a number of personal and subjective images.” As a man who works in radio himself, Roman Lausberg does not agree with the experts who are pessimistic about the future of radio broadcasting: “Television may die sometime, but not radio! Of all mainstream media, I think radio is worth fighting for, but I’m sure it won’t die. In many countries, radio is still the no. 1 means of information and this is why radio broadcasting is part of the UNESCO cultural heritage.”

Luis Valderas, of Chile, the editor of one of the most important radio broadcasting publications also wishes us happy world radio day, as does Mohamed Elsayed from Egypt. Thank you all for your contributions and Happy World Radio Day!