Radio Communities

The radio has long been a major auditory media source that has allowed the basic transmission of information, news and music to people living in a given area. In a way, it has made the world a smaller and more familiar place. Prior to this technology, direct information was typically limited in scope and rate of exchange. Information spread through local communities via word of mouth, or otherwise through written text, which was absorbed at a much slower pace and was typically unequally accessible to the masses. Today, individuals have the ability to tune into different radio stations worldwide and experience a diverse range of news reports, as well as opinions, ideas and music. Most of these individuals will come to favor certain stations or broadcasts that they enjoy or associate with on some level. The radio also provides an interactive venue, often allowing listeners to step out of their audience member role, and voice their own opinions on air. It engages the interests or concerns of its listeners and allows them to play a role in its functioning, thereby promoting the existence of an unseen community.

In her lecture, Tal Nitsan spoke about the women’s radio programming in Guatemala and its success in connecting women and making them more politically aware. In a country where violence against women is longstanding and prevalent, this radio show, controlled and led by women, has helped to bring Guatemalan women into the public sphere. As these women share many of the same ongoing issues, they are able to connect to one another to create a sense of belonging and community. The power of the radio as a media form has allowed them to become more conscious of the challenges they face as women, and understand them as more than just a private issue that is to be dealt with alone. The women exposed to this radio show have been given an opportunity to learn more in regards to their own rights and how to deal with the issues they face. By targeting a specific group of people, the radio show has led these women to coalesce and form a community joined together by their shared experiences and intentions to speak out against violence.

The radio has the ability to quickly connect people throughout their daily lives by targeting a certain audience. It has the capability to not only create a sense of community, as seen in the previous example, but also cater towards a community that already exists. In his article, Daniele Fisher describes the way in which the Indigenous radio broadcasting stations in Australia have helped to create a stronger link between “families, communities, and dispersed members of Australia’s Stolen Generations” (Fisher, 282) together. Through radio request programs, they have promoted a sense of kinship between indigenous individuals whom have been dispersed throughout the continent. The radio reflects the interests of these individuals and has facilitated the creation and recognition of an identity that is separate from the mainstream settled society of Australia. Within a culture that strongly values the kinship network, Fisher focuses on the importance of these shows in their ability to connect family members that have been separated, often as a result of incarceration. Via the radio, individuals are able to address others and create a momentary connection within this shared space. So, although these communities are already in existence apart from the radio, the medium aids in keeping a day-to-day connection between peoples while “eliciting and broadcasting the declarations of solidarity, hope, longing, and loss” (Fisher, 289).