President Jacob Zuma and the Presidency today, 13 February 2015, join the entire international community to mark and celebrate the annual World Radio Day.
The day was declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2011 to raise awareness about the importance of the radio as a means of communication, particularly its accessibility and unique ability to bridge the communication divide in all parts of the world.
The theme for this year, 2015 is: "Youth and Radio” whose goal is to encourage greater participation of the youth in radio, not only as listeners but also participants in various other roles such as producers, broadcasters and all other functions in the radio, including technical. This theme seeks to highlight the importance of youth involvement in radio to enhance greater social inclusion through this particular medium.
"In South Africa, radio still plays a prominent role as an affordable means of communication for all the people in the country, including even the underprivileged communities in remoter parts of the country,” said President Zuma. According to the available information, Community Radio audiences have grown to 8.6 million listeners in July 2014, which constitutes close to 30% of the total radio audience market share in the country. Radio is a dependable medium of information, education and entertainment, both for old and young people, which also advances the constitutional provisions of freedom of speech and expression.
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Mac Maharaj
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E-mail: macmaharaj@icloud.com
