Radio has played a large part of the media movement and still is for that matter. Although I myself don’t utilize the radio much it still greatly impacts the lives of others throughout the globe. The closest that I come to utilizing radio in my daily life is when I am driving in my car and oftentimes even then I am using a music streaming service through my phone. We tend to take for granted or undervalue things once we find new things that meet our needs, nonetheless the value of the radio industry is still prominent and relevant in many parts of the world. Even just from the perspective of the United States alone, people for years gathered together to listen to presidential addresses, sporting events, and other forms of information. Radio has been around for over a century and is still a prevalent means of communication for those in rural and underdeveloped places all over the world. Granted in some countries the radio industry is controlled by the government to limit the types of things that the citizens have access to, especially anything that would go against governmental power.
In 2017 there was a study done on the radio broadcasting landscape of Zimbabwe to analyze the progress made within the industry. The study is entitled “Radio Landscape in Zimbabwe: A report by Media Monitors on the typology of radio in Zimbabwe” and was published by Media Monitors. Media Monitors is an organization with a goal of encouraging the expression and factual journalism in Zimbabwe. The study found that almost sixty percent of the time the radio broadcasts it is for music. With the majority of the air time being dedicated to music that leaves little to no time for current events or news bulletins content for the listeners to gain knowledge from. This trend seemed to be consistent across all the various stations. About less than ten percent of their air time was dedicated to advertisements and sponsored programs. The study also spoke on how Zimbabwe has a total of sixteen official languages, but the majority of broadcasts were only in a select languages such as: English, Shona, and Ndebele. Zimbabwe also has radio broadcasting systems that are controlled by the government, independently owned and privately owned radio stations. When it came to the advertising being done, the stations that did the most of advertising were the radio stations controlled by the government of Zimbabwe.
It is not uncommon for some of the most rural areas across the world to still depend on radio as a medium of media for them, granted it cannot compare to all of the new technology that we have today but it serves its purpose in the very rural areas. In an article written by a journalist by the name of “Indian Fellow” who experienced living in rural India and has now returned working with a non-profit organization by the name of Manta looking to set up a community radio station in the area. He talked about how recent government studies that suggest that radio could reach ninety-eight percent of the population in India. There was a point made about the radio that I had not thought of before now, radio broadcasts are easy to comprehend in order to reach people of all walks of life. The access to education can differ based on how rural the environment they are living in, so radio is aware of that and makes it easy for all people to understand. The price factor for radio systems is much more than that of a television or smartphone which only furthers its accessibility. Much like Zimbabwe India has eighteen official languages and over one thousand mother tongues off of all their occupants in the country. In both of these countries that are appreciative of radio still being a media medium for its people and are looking for ways to help reach even the most rural of areas throughout the two countries.
WORKS CITED
https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/report-reveals-zimbabwes-challenging-radio-scene
There was a point made about the radio that I had not thought of before now, radio broadcasts are easy to comprehend in order to reach people of all walks of life. The access to education can differ based on how rural the environment they are living in, so radio is aware of that and makes it easy for all people to understand. The price factor for radio systems is much more than that of a television or smartphone which only furthers its accessibility. Much like Zimbabwe India has eighteen official languages and over one thousand mother tongues off of all their occupants in the country. In both of these countries that are appreciative of radio still being a media medium for its people and are looking for ways to help reach even the most rural of areas throughout the two countries.
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