1                 Perpetuity or Apocalipsis in the radio?

By Lázaro David Najarro Pujol,

Translated by Daysi Olano Fernandez

 Excerpts from "Contemporary tendencies of the radio: Community radio, its potentials"
(From the book Radio Journalism for second year students)

Since KDKA radio station from Pittsburg began its transmissions, the potential and reach of the community radio had been proved. For such a reason our mass media has a new challenge in order to develop new technologies.

In the majority of Latin American countries the radio is fixed according to the community. In our country we have a great tradition as the pioneer country of broadcasting sound signals in Latin American context. In 1948 Felix B Caignet premiered his famous radio serial "El Derecho de Nacer" (The Right to born).

Nowdays, there are also 69 generating electric plants in the municipalities that represents 74 %, including a newly radio station in Cocodrilo to the southern part of Isle of Youth, in which live 500 settlers who are descended from the Carribbean, especially Great Cayman.

This staff consolidates the link between the audience and makes easier knowledge and human being interaction. I support the hypothesis that community radio in general is a mass population media and fortunately is able to keep in touch with a lot of people around the world.

Theoreticians of many countries have denominated the media in different alternatives; participative, popular, marginal, radical, local and others. According to José Manuel Ramos in his article: "Community radio in Mexico: keys and lessons for the future". Not only for the nominal ones but also to reply different theorical and practical approaches assumed trough the time.

The current tendency is going beyond the dichotomies that for a long time deprive theory and practice in this media. When its important objective is the opposition to the hegemony media for give continuity to their convictions, in order to favor the construction of citizenship, as a group of rights and duties of the people. Likewise to exercise a daily politics.

In our country, the radio which is not exent to new tendencies, has to carry out the mission of informing, educating and entertaining and the most important aspect is being the reflection of the society. The carrier of the truth, to stimulate the reflection of the radio listeners, the consolidation of our idiosyncrasy and the preservation of our traditions and the knowledge of the local and national history.

Commander in Chief Fidel Castro in a conversation with Ignacio Ramonet expressed: The role of the Cuban Radio is create values in people’s souls, and in human being’s hearts.

In Latin American countries, community radio came up with the objective of favoring the access to information and to communication services, to the population who had been traditionally excluded and disabled people, for stimulating cultural changes to general population and also favoring a vision in some sectors that are integral and constant part of the educational, economical and social in the region.

The community must direct its efforts to satisfy the interests and needs of the community in general, broadcast news and information in its coverage objective with a higher participation of inhabitants. The radio listeners must became the main characters and developers of the social, cultural, political and economical development in their municipality and country.

Latin American countries such as: Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua, its governments are in charge of supporting the introduction of new technologies to make easier the access to the information and communication of handicapped or marginal people. Its purpose is to promote Latin American and social integration. Therefore, the boom of the radio stations which are linked to indigenous organizations in Mexico and other countries. Particularly in Oaxaca and Chiapas there are many radio stations, some of these ones keep a profile emphasizing in the linguistic and cultural revitalizing while other radio stations have a radical profiles.

José Manuel Ramos R stated in Mexico in accordance with the legislature currently there is an only central distinction. Commercial sector has had a lot of privileges and exclusively to universities and governmental organizations. The prestigious journalist also expressed that in accordance with the legislation currently which accommodates this model and make concessions to the private sector. Commercial sector has had some privileges while the concessionaire is made up of almost exclusively universities and governmental organizations radio stations that represent a 20% from the total of radio stations.

My work experience in Santa Cruz radio station, created on May 1st, 1986 (whose former names were Radio Primero de Mayo and Radio Brisas del Mar). It was a relevant event in Santa Cruz del Norte, and the collaboration of the settlers was essential. People gave and produce equipments and other material resources. At that time we did not know anything about Internet. The objective was broadcasting information.

Nevertheless, community radio has traveled by different obstacles like the emergence of neoliberal politics, the indulgence of some governments in their eagerness of increasing poverty, the democratic changes that have affected Latin American countries and it also allows to revert stagnation or backward movement of the media and the emergence of new social tendencies. Teachers, communicators and technologists have the responsibility of defending this effective and useful project must make good use and face the challenge from the possibilities that offers the new technologies and put it into service to the great mass, taking into consideration new tendencies and new audiences( Fortunately, hundreds and hundreds of intellectuals do not belong to the upper class).

New technologies favor new tendencies for such a reason I reaffirm the phrase of Orson Welles" the radio is the biggest screen of the world". I agree with Mexican writer José Manuel Ramos R that when a new communication technology appears, does not supersede the previous ones but also its potential, provided that ... The challenge is to give a clear intention to potential profits into technological convergence.

Dr Raúl Garcés listed five starting points in the global radio broadcasting:

- An economy associated to drastic budget cuts and the financing of the programs according advertisements.

- No doubt, the use computers in the production and transmission of radio messages has allowed obviously to improve the quality of the signal and to extend potentials of the radio enterprises in tune with the current evolution of the media.

- In an international context marked by the the boom of the info entertaining will be very difficult find in our mass media an exceptional behavior.

- Subjects, such as the professional training of journalists, the composition of new mediatic scenes in the social environment of the current digital Revolution under certain audiences are usually developed in Latin American communication magazines instead of matters concerning to the development of the radio.

- Although every year there are hundreds of journalists and social communicators graduated from Communication Faculty of Havana University and other educational centers, actually the majority of them do not work at the radio stations.

Spanish journalist Angel Faus Belau expressed:"The radio, the radio workers and the radio listeners suffers from letal boredom or a total lack of interest for the programs, content or audience. We are facing the crisis of our mass media".

In order to achieve the inmortality of such an important and historical media, it is essential to incorporate the potential of new technologies. Finally, journalist Raúl Garcés stated: "The radio will emerge if we are able to become news in art through the sound signals".

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