As we are heading for the third Millenium, radio finds itself in a state of `healthy unrest' - healthy because the changes taking place around us are forcing us to re-examine our concepts and to question our strategies and structures. For decades. we have taken things for granted: the monopoly of pubic or state-owned radio stations. the assurance of funds. the loyalty of audiences - all this seemed to be there forever. But with growing deregulation and diversification of media markets. radio organizations are going through dramatic. if not traumatic changes. All of a sudden. we have to fight for audiences and money. for market shares and commercial viability. And this is probably the best that could happen to us. For it is mostly in times of conflict and crisis that we are mobilising our creativity and re-wakening our innovative spirit.
Radio, no doubt, is at the crossroads and much will depend on the direction it will take. Where we are standing now. we won't be able to go back to old habitual beliefs and attitudes-much as some of us would like to. Neither can we allow ourselves to stand and wait. Broadcasting is comparable to riding a bicycle: if you stand still, you fall. This is the dilemma we are facing: if we don't want to fall. we have to move forward and develop new strategies for survival, new approaches to programming and to broadcast management.
Never before has the future of radio been discussed and questioned as intensively and heatedly as now. New technologies are flooding the media landscape; commercialization and competition are about to fundamentally change our traditional concepts and terminologies: broadcasting is turning into an industry, programmes are increasingly referred to as products, listeners are becoming customers and clients - developments which may fill some of us with fear and others with hope - but whatever feelings we may harbour, the race into the future has begun and we will have to cope with it. The question is: do we want to watch helplessly or take an active part in determining the direction of future developments?
Discovering radio's true potential
In an era of change, an institution as dynamic as radio cannot afford complacency. Nor can it afford defeatism. We live in exciting times offering us new and fascinating options and challenges. To be able to respond to them, one of the first and most important steps will be for radio to redefine and re-discover its true potential and uniqueness in the media landscape. For much too long, radio has been oblivious of its multifacetted strengths and potentials, often resulting in a feeling of lethargy among many radio professionals. For much too long, radio allowed itself to get sandwiched between TV and Print Press, trying to compete with them through imitation rather than through innovation. What we need to see is a rebirth of radio, a re-awakening of radio similar to what we have seen in the West where radio has re-established itself and prospered despite the glamour of TV. In many parts of the world, today, radio is still leading a Cinderella existence underutilized and undervalued not only by the pubic but also by managements and ministries. What radio needs to do is to assess its own merit and worth and to develop its own success-strategies in those areas where it has distinct advantages over other competitors. And there are many such areas: radio is cheap and flexible, it is immediate and intimate, it is spontaneous and omni-present. These are the qualities that we need to capitalize on in re-modelling our position in the market.
Local Radio
If immediacy and intimacy are among the unique advantages of radio, it follows automatically that local radio will have to acquire growing attention in future strategies. While new technologies have spurred globalization. we are witnessing at the same time an increasing demand for decentralization and community-based radio services. Flooded by information about national or international events which they can hardly influence or understand, people are beginning to rediscover their interest in their own microcosm: their town, their community, their immediate surroundings - things they can relate to and identify with. Human nature is such that people will be interested first and foremost in what is close to them and of immediate relevance to their own life and environment. The boom of local radio in the West and the mushrooming of community stations in parts of Africa and Asia is a clear indication of the growing demand for regional and local programmes.
"Narrowcasting", therefore, will be one of the areas to be explored and strengthened in the years to come. Radio can no longer cling to the assumption that it is dealing with homogeneous, large-scale audiences which can be served with national programmes from the capital. In broadcasting, we are talking to individual human beings with different cultures and traditions, different beliefs and codes of behavior. As a result radio will have to move away from the centre and become aware of its potential as unique tool of community development. By projecting local culture, local interests and local aspirations, it cannot only give people a sense of belonging and pride, but at the same time help them stand on their own feet and deal with their own problems. As the famous communication researcher W. Schramm puts it: "Local media are of great importance in social and economic development not only because they are in a better position to know and serve the particular needs of local areas but also because they make it easier for more people to have access to the media and therefore to take part in public affairs."
Access Radio
Access and participation are two more catchwords that will have to be given much greater attention in broadcasting than up to now. As it is, radio in most cases still relies on a one-way flow of information from top to bottom, from the elite to the masses, from the presumably informed source to the presumably uninformed receivers. This concept is based on three assumptions:
1. The top knows all - the bottom knows nothing.
2. The top knows what the bottom needs to know.
3. The bottom is willing to receive and absorb whatever comes from the top.
It is this concept and these assumptions which have contributed largely to the widening gap between decision makers and citizens and the declining confidence in the medium of broadcasting. In many countries, radio is losing contact with its public - the very opposite of what it wants to achieve. An audience which finds itself excluded from communication will find it difficult to trust the messages of radio. We cannot force people to listen; we have to motivate them every minute; and one of the best ways to do that is to create an active involvement of audiences in what they can rightly claim as "their radio station". Radio is an ideal medium of dialogue and interaction. By giving a voice to the voiceless, it can create a new dimension in broadcasting, make it more attractive to its audience and bridge the gap between those at the top and those at the bottom.
De-mystification of radio
This, of course. Would also imply that we adopt a more humble and modest approach in dealing with our audiences. What is needed and what we are in fact seeing already is a `de-mystification of radio', a new image of radio as a visible, touchable, accessible and transparent medium. For a long time, radio has been an `aloof' institution, a territory reserved to the professionals, to the voices of broadcasters and politicians, of experts and celebrities. Radio has to step down from this pedestal, come closer to the ordinary people, talk to them and allow them to talk back. Show them that this is their medium, their friend and companion.
In this context, we should perhaps also remember the meaning of the word "Public Service Radio". It means nothing more and nothing less than just this: we in the broadcasting business are servants of the public. This is our mandate and our most noble aim. But: are we really SERVING the public? Are we really serving the interest of our listeners? How much do we really know about the interest of our listeners? How much do we really care
to know? It is true that people only want to hear about state visits, parliament debates, trade tariffs and genetic research? Do they only want to hear about the powerful and the prominent, about the seemingly important topics and seemingly extraordinary personalities? No doubt, they all have a place in radio programming. But: where does this leave room for the day - to day life of the ordinary listeners? Where does this relate to their experiences, thoughts and feelings?
What is clearly missing in most radio programmes today is the `human interest approach' - programmes focusing on the seemingly small and simple things in life, the every day concerns of people which are normally ignored by broadcasters as being too `unimportant' and `boring'. Yet, it is these subjects which sometimes capture the interest of the listener more than anything else. Emotions, spontaneity, the laughter or anger of ordinary human beings - all this could make exciting and fascinating listening. But radio is still primarily geared to serve the mind and not the heart. Too much emphasis on the intellectual, too little on the emotional - this is where radio still fails to exploit its potential.
Radio has a future
Unprecedented challenges and unforeseen developments have come upon us, calling for new and sometimes unconventional solutions. New visions and values will be needed as a new self-confidence. But the good news is that radio is able to change - and it will change dramatically in the years to come. After decades of peaceful cruising in untroubled and sometimes stagnant waters, the ships of radio organizations today find themselves blown out into the open sea, and those who don't want to sink will have to adapt to the winds of change and explore new territories in broadcasting. Never before has radio been faced with so many chances and challenges, with so many options and opportunities as today. It is for us to see the writings on the wall, to be willing to seize the opportunities and meet the challenges ahead of us. If we don't, we will face an uncertain future.