By Eva Chipa
Day One of Radio Days Africa 2019 kicks off with an exciting performance by the Classic 1027 String Quartet playing soulful classic African songs welcoming gest to the 10th edition of Radio Days Africa.
Nadia Bulbulia who is the executive director of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), expressed her excitement as the year 2019 marks 25 years of independent broadcasting.
She reflected on what broadcasting was like in 2009, taking the audience on a nostalgic journey of where radio was 10 years ago. She spoke on how many people had access to radio at the time, the number of hopeful 18 year olds who were knocking on various radio station doors seeking on air opportunities and her final point being how unpopular internet radio and podcasting was during that era.
According to Bulbulia there is a need to realise what our responsibility is as radio practitioners. She said, “We own the spectrum to provide good work. The onus is on us to make an impact and to think of our constitution”. Bulbulia added that the world is fast changing and that people have the choice to choose, which makes a radio practitioners job a little more difficult.
Gazing at what the future looks like in the space, she explained that it does not question good intentions and fortunately has no cyber bulling which is a good thing. However as far as content is concerned she added that in African Radio “we need to embrace who we are”, saying people in the industry need to make a place for young people and allow them in the decision making processes and open more doors for them.
In conclusion she challenged the audience to think carefully on what it means being African and more so South African on a platform that has a huge impact on building the younger generation.
Edited by: Bridget Lepere