Radio should be promoted to broadcast educational programmes, job opportunities
As suddenly as it went off the airwaves, locally-generated programmes of the AIR Rainbow FM are back on the radio. It could take some time for audiences to learn of this development, and fall back into their old patterns of listening. But this invisible – though very audible, if you know where to find it – development is important. It means much to the cultural life of Goa, and the listening pleasure people get from a once ubiquitous media called the radio.
Not long ago, the radio was a popular medium across Goa. Everyone took newspapers seriously. But radio also complemented and supplemented the entertainment and information needs of the people of those times. Entertainment options were few and far between in the 1960s, 1970s and even part of the 1980s. Radio was the dominant means of sharing culture and making music popular. The only choice then was between one radio station and another. Vividh Bharati came with its more desi flavours, while the main AIR channel in Goa had a mix of Konkani-Marathi-English programming. If one wanted more, then there was the occasional Konkani news relayed from Bombay, or the popular Radio Ceylon/SLBC, or even stations like Radio Australia or Radio Kuwait, not to mention the Beeb (or BBC), coming in faint over the shortwave bands. For long, radio has played the role of the nurturer of music tastes, a community builder, the route through which agricultural information and development stories were spread. Sometimes it was seen as being partisan in political terms. But it also broke news in times when television and cyberspace did not exist. It is also said that radio created tastes and preferences among singers amidst Goa’s popular and pulsating Konkani music scene.
FM radio changed the dynamics of radio in Goa, with its thrust on entertainment and music. It came at a time when television was on its ascendant. Somehow, the belief grew that television was king, and radio was outdated. Or, at best the poor cousin of television and cyberspace. But this is not true. In affluent societies of Europe, radio still plays its role, especially during busy morning hours and in auto rides to work. Radio can serve local communities much better than larger television networks.
But Goa, once the home of the popular Emissora de Goa has tripped up on some fronts. The useful Community Radio project found no successful takers in Goa. This despite Xavier’s College almost launching, and Goa University applying at one stage. Even the Gyan Vani, which at one stage had an interesting educational station in Goa, quit operations here, though some private players are present, and have their fan following too.
Radio can play a crucial role in shaping the cultural, social and informational landscape of Goa. It promises to blend entertainment and information in ways that resonate with the local community. Radio is accessible; many in rural Goa have depended on the radio for entertainment and information. Sadly, today it is hard to buy a decent radio set. Also, the national push towards DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) broadcasting has come in for some questioning over how beneficial it would be to most audiences. Radio allows people to tune in while engaged in daily activities, making it an integral part of their routines. It accepts the multilingual and multi-cultural nature of Goa. Like newspapers, if well handled, radio too has a positive role to play in the Goa of today and tomorrow.
