Radio has revolutionised communication

Freedom Mutanda
LAST Friday, 13 February 2015, was World Radio Day. It was a time to reflect on the work of those who work in broadcasting and the consumers of radio products the world over. It was a time to think about the role of radio in a world where there are continuous advances in the media sector. Orality was the major form of communication in years gone by. In a community, those powerful speakers had special honours bestowed upon them. A village crier occupied a lofty position in the society, but soon there were leaves that would be burnt and the smoke would convey a message to the surrounding community as a form of communication.

Humans continued to evolve and brought forth new inventions for messages to be spread until we reached the information society that we have today. Crucially, Johannes Gutenberg’s moveable type made the reading of books much easier than reading papyrus scrolls.

Importantly, radio, which itself is an example of electronic media, abolished both space and time according to Marshall McLuhan who is best known for his ‘the medium is the message’ thesis.

James Clark Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz pioneered the notion that a radiation system could send signals using electro magnetism. Eduardo Branly and Oliver Lodge developed a receiver and transmitter respectively that could be tuned.

Knowledge does not have an end; you can’t say you have invented everything that has to be invented.
A young Italian, Gugliemo Marconi, a radio enthusiast, combined all inventions related to the radio made by others such as Bell, Hertz and Morse to report on the America’s Cup Race in 1899 on a wireless platform and the radio as we know it today appealed to many people such that many wealthy people decided to invest $10 million towards the development of the radio.

We are blessed to have radio stations beaming live updates of current affairs.
Portability is one of the characteristics of radio. One can do other chores and at the same time listen to the radio. I have done that countless times as I studied for crucial examinations.

Today, one can simply use the mobile phone to access a frequency that one likes. There is a difference between owning a big radio and not having a radio if you use a mobile phone to get a radio frequency. At times, the person has to know that one can practise primary and secondary listening.

Last Friday, the 13th, the world celebrated our disc jockeys, announcers and all other people behind the scenes who make radio broadcasting the unique experience it is.
During the war of liberation, the propaganda machinery of Ian Smith made use of radio to lie about presumed successes of the Rhodesian army against Zanla and Zipra combatants. That was a clear manifestation of the hypodermic needle theory which states that the mass reacts in a similar way when news is spread by a medium such as the radio. However, ZANU and ZAPU reacted similarly through broadcasting messages to the people of Zimbabwe. They used the radio effectively.

Radio will remain relevant today as it did many years ago when Marconi sent the whole world into cries of joy.
Zimbabwe is a country that values communication; thus, an enabling legislation to the effect that community radio stations would be established throughout the country and people would hear news in their own language such as Ndau and Nambya to mention just a few was passed and BAZ (Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe) became the institutional body that saw to it that new radio and TV stations were established.

Star FM and Zi-FM are the pioneers of independent radio stations in Zimbabwe and that is refreshing. The power of radio can never be wished away inasfar as development is concerned. A fatal accident between Tanganda and Kondo occurred last Thursday; a community radio station would have invited participants to a Talk Show which would interrogate the probable causes of accidents in the area and how the community can help arrest the problem. Thus, radio, when people use it well, can powerfully change a country or community.

Last Friday the 13th, we did not think about the spooky characters we meet in TV films on the evil that visit people on a Friday that falls on the 13th. We celebrated a phenomenon that revolutionised communication in the modern world — radio.

Friday the 13th is a day to remember all radio- related activities that have made our lives to be what they are today; it is a day to remember radio icons such as Joseph Panganayi, Itai Godfrey Muchada, Hosiah Sengende, Peter Johns, Fungai Marange and many others that we haven’t mentioned.

The radio will always be there even when new media technologies come on board. Communication is the life blood of any human endeavour; thus, the radio will be there for a long time as it is complemented by these other new media technologies.

Viva the radio!!