The occasion of UNESCO's second World Radio Day (February 13, 2013) encourages us to reflect on radio as a medium which is celebrated for reaching the widest audience worldwide and is often a primary source of information, even for the most marginalised communities. I'm sure the Airtime community does not need convincing about the power of radio as a low-cost, accessible medium which brings groups together who are united by song tastes, interest in certain issues or simply by virtue of their location. Whatever reason people have for tuning in, the radio community are recognising that radio is changing in nature and the medium no longer serves as just a one way broadcast. Instead, radio is an interactive platform for communities to share ideas.
Working with both the Airtime and FrontlineSMS communities in the radio space, I've seen the number of channels through which that interaction happens. Both of these tools are widening the spectrum of options available to presenters to make radio the truly interactive, multi-platform conversation that it can be. In this post, I explore how digital communications – not just social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter but particularly the use of mobile phones, including SMS and voice - are changing how interactive radio can be, allowing audiences to increasingly control and influence radio content.
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