Celebrating World Radio Day
In 2012, February 13th was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly as World Radio Day. The Assembly’s desire was to heighten our awareness of the importance of radio communication. I have been given permission by Farm Radio International’s Executive Director, Kevin Perkins, to cite information from its fall newsletter, Tuning In.
In the publication, I learned how modern technology is helping Farm Radio better target their programming to where their listeners live and ensure that their programs remain relevant. Thus, they efficiently determine who is listening by using information such as the location, height and power of a station’s transmitter to gauge a station’s broadcast area.
The information gained on the station’s geographic reach is overlaid on population maps to determine the number of listeners within the station’s broadcast zone. With this information, Farm Radio states that on average, 40-60 percent of potential listeners in a broadcast zone typically tune in to Farm Radio programs regularly. In addition, these statistics on location and numbers of listeners facilitates better marketing to potential sponsors as well as increased revenue for the station’s operation.
One specific example of Farm Radio’s success is highlighted by its impact during COVID. It was instrumental in changing minds and reaping positive results by ensuring that millions of people across Africa have access to information about life saving vaccines.
Achata Traore, a regular listener to Farm Radio broadcasts shares how radio programming changed her mind about being vaccinated against COVID. She explained, “When they came to vaccinate us, I was really worried. But I remembered the advice on the radio programs. I got vaccinated. I passed the information on to them in the fields when we were there for work, saying they wouldn’t lie to us.”
Let us applaud the 58-year success of Farm Radio International, the wonderful brainchild of Canadian broadcaster, George Atkins.
To learn more about the important work of Farm Radio International visit https://farmradio.org/
Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ