We’re celebrating World Radio Day today, focussing on how the medium makes a meaningful difference to people’s lives in the UK.
World Radio Day is an annual UNESCO initiative to highlight the unique power of radio to touch lives and bring people together across every corner of the globe. It provides an opportunity to increase awareness of the value of high quality, distinctive broadcasting from both public and commercial radio, as well as its economic and cultural contribution.
As well as being the most trusted medium in Europe and most trusted medium for news, huge charity initiatives and local charity fund-raising projects help radio make a positive impact in the UK every day.
With community radio stations, like Maritime Radio, there is the added benefit of everyone having access to the airwaves from with in the area we serve.
The industry’s focus on mental health has seen over 500 stations from commercial, community and the BBC come together for The Mental Health Minute when celebrities from the world of sport, music and screens join royalty to voice a minute-long message to be broadcast simultaneously.
For World Radio Day 2020, UNESCO is calling on radio stations to uphold diversity, both in the studio and on the airwaves. Diversity in UK radio was explored by Radiocentre in a special Tuning In to Diversity report which revealed commercial radio performs better than the radio industry as a whole. The sector reaches 59% of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) listeners, it also reaches 64% of listeners considered to be in a lower socio-economic classification (C2DE).
The report also found that some of the smallest stations have some of the highest levels of workforce diversity within the industry, with several reporting ethnic diversity well above 90%. The industry also proactively undertakes a number of initiatives in order to boost diversity, such as radio masterclasses and the Young Audio Awards.
At Maritime Radio, our local news team is made up entirely of women and we have a diverse team of broadcasters, producers and administrative staff involved with the day-to-day running of the service.
Duncan Martin, Managing Director, Greenwich Media which runs Maritime Radio said: “we serve a very diverse community, so it is fitting that the people involved in our activities are themselves from all walks of life, backgrounds and bring a number of different experiences into our organisation.”
Siobhan Kenny, Radiocentre CEO, said: “World Radio Day is a good opportunity to celebrate all the good radio does and how lucky we all are to have it on tap, every day, for free. We also know that the future of radio relies on it being inclusive so while we have been actively involved with initiatives such as the Creative Access radio masterclasses, the Mental Health Minute and Young Audio Awards, we also know that there is more to be done so this work will continue.”
