The word “Radiocracy” was coined by John Hartley after being inspired by South African President Thabo Mbeki’s speech in October 1996 at the Commonwealth Press Union conference in Cape Town. The first international conference took place in November 1999 in Cardiff, Wales in the United Kingdom. Robin Sewlal presented a paper titled The role of radio in the developing South African broadcast industry.
Enraptured by the deliberations, and firmly of the belief that radio, democracy and development are key pillars in a developing country, Robin made it his mission to host the next international conference from September 20 to 24 (Heritage Day), 2001 in the port city of Durban. The theme was Predicting Pathways and Pulling Together, and attracted notable speakers from places such as Australia, Britain, Germany, India, Mozambique, Namibia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, United States, Wales, and Zimbabwe.
The event was sponsored by a range of entities, and strong statements of support were received from across the spectrum in Minister of Education Professor Kader Asmal. Minister of Environmental Affairs & Tourism Mr Mohammed Valli Moosa, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Mr Lionel Mtshali, eThekwini Municipality Mayor Councillor Obed Mlaba, and provincial Member of the Executive Council for Agriculture & Environmental Affairs Mr Narend Singh. The conference generated endorsements from His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini, Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), National Community Radio Forum (NCRF), Southern African Broadcasting Association (SABA), South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), and South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef).
Due to the overwhelming success of the conference, Radiocracy became an essential component of the communications industry in South Africa. Moreover, the concept made inroads into the academic sector by being incorporated into the curriculum. A powerful innovation has been the “Radiocracy Roundtable” whereby sessions, underpinned by the three strands, are held.
The ”Radiocracy Roundtable” will be used as the vehicle to steer the Radiocracy Community Outreach Programme (RCOP) that would give citizens an enhanced understanding and appreciation of the business of radio. It aims to target individuals at three levels:
♦ talented individuals/those who display the potential to enter the world of radio be it, for instance, as a presenter, producer, journalist, programmer, music supervisor, manager, salesperson, marketeer, public relations practitioner, digital media officer, technician, engineer or accountant.
♦ Business entities which have an interest in utilising radio as an advertising medium. They may further want to learn about sponsoring shows on a station.
♦ Public at large: This refers to the listener who is merely keen to know about the workings of radio, but may not necessarily be interested to get involved in the medium itself ie the ‘nice-to-know’ group.
You can obtain more details about the RCOP from RCOP@radiocracy.co.za
Even though the medium of radio is pivotal, the trajectory of Radiocracy is not to exclude the other media platforms as development and democracy dictate and demand a collective effort.
Radio is still the most pervasive, accessible, affordable, and flexible mass medium available, especially in the developing world – Bruce Girard