The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO has marked
World Radio Day by calling for more freedom of expression
and wider access to information in times of emergencies and
disasters.
While digital technology dominates the modern means of
transmitting information, UNESCO said on Saturday that
radio remains the primary source of information for most
people in the world.
"Radio still remains the medium that reaches the widest
audience worldwide, in the quickest possible time," the
UNESCO statement said.
According to the UN, an estimated 44,000 radio stations
broadcast to at least five billion people, representing 70
percent of the population worldwide.
"Radio is a platform that allows people to interact, despite
different educational levels, so somebody may be illiterate
but still be able to call in a show to give a testimony and
participate in radio, Mirta Lourenco, a UNESCO spokesman,
told Al Jazeera.
"This is not the same if the person wants to read a
newspaper."
For almost 100 years, the radio has been available in homes
and workplaces around the world. The invention of portable
radio in 1947 made it even more popular.
In developing countries, an estimated 75 percent of
households have access to a radio, making it an essential
and reliable part of disaster and emergency response,
UNESCO said.
In India, the biggest advantage of radio is that it is cheap,
making it accessible to 99 percent of the population, Dilip
Cherian, radio commentator at Radio One India, told Al
Jazeera's Jane Dutton.
"It's a lifeline for many people," he said.
The arrival of mobile phones has changed the consumption
habits of millions, but many come with built-in radio chips
and this has helped keep the radio industry effective, more
than 120 years after the first radio broadcast.
In countries like Zambia, a third of the people listen to the
radio on their phone handset every week.
Needing only a few towers to broadcast a signal over wide
areas, radio has remained popular especially in areas where
mobile networks are patchy or absent.
"It's very local, very community-driven, so people feel that
they can really relate to presenters and the conversations on
the radio," Amy O'Donnell, a spokesman for the aid
organisation Oxfam, told Al Jazeera.
"It's actually a very participatory mechanism in local
communities for people to have their say and have their
voices heard."
Source: Al Jazeera
