The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
THE coming on board of 14 community radio stations across the country has increased information sharing opportunities at the grassroots level, while adding platforms for new talent to showcase their skills, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa has said.
Minister Mutsvangwa said this while delivering her statement recently during commemorations of the World Radio Day Press.
She said the fact that the Second Republic has licensed 14 community radio stations during the last four years is a milestone that is worth celebrating.
World Radio Day is celebrated on February 13 annually the world over.
“We believe this milestone is worth celebrating and we will do that with stakeholders in Beitbridge as we officially open the Beitbridge-Shasha Community Radio Station,” she said.
In Manicaland, Chimanimani FM, Nyangani FM, Vemuganga FM and Ndau FM community radio stations were licenced over the past four years and they have been broadcasting since last year.
These community radio stations serve diverse communities, offering a wide variety of programmes, viewpoints and content.
“The Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services and its stakeholders will on February 13 join the rest of the world in commemorating World Radio Day.
“The day is set aside every year to celebrate radio and how it shapes people’s lives. On every World Radio Day, humanity takes time to recognise the uniqueness of radio as a medium of information sharing and its magic power to simultaneously reach millions of listeners worldwide,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
She said radio is no longer limited to being an audio streaming platform as all radio channels now have a presence on social media and have digitalised.
“Radio, just like other forms of media, is undergoing a digital evolution. Podcasts, digitalised IPs and social media platforms have made radio accessible to a wider audience in and outside Zimbabwe,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
She said radio does not leave anyone or any place behind. This year’s theme for World Radio Day is ‘Radio and Peace’.
“This theme is a perfect fit for Zimbabwe as we go into the harmonised elections later this year. His Excellency, President Mnangagwa, is calling upon everyone to remain peaceful as we build the economy brick by brick and go to the forthcoming harmonised elections. Churches are also calling for peace as we enter into the election season,” she said.
According to various international reports, radio continues to be one of the most trusted and used media in the world.
Radio is a powerful medium for celebrating humanity in all its diversity and is a platform for democratic discourse.
February 13 became World Radio Day after being proclaimed in 2011 by the Member States of UNESCO.
It was then adopted by the United Nations General Assembly as an International Day in 2012.
