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World Radio Day 2023

World Radio Day

World Radio Day 2022 (WRD 2023) celebrations are on Sunday, 13 February 2023 to commemorate the importance of radio in the lives of people. On the occasion of this special day, Radio stations will celebrate the 11th anniversary of this event, both in their newsroom and on the airwaves on the call of UNESCO.

Theme of World Radio Day 2023

Theme of World Radio Day 2022 (WRD 2022) is

“Radio and Trust”

  • Trust in radio journalism: Produce independent and high-quality content;
  • Trust and accessibility: Take care of your audience;
  • Trust and viability of radio stations: Ensure competitiveness.

World Radio Day 2023 theme is divided into three sub-themes, so all the celebrations of this day revolve around these themes to promote Radio.
The first sub-theme refers to the resilience of the radio, to its sustainability. The second sub-theme indicates the new challenges of the modern world and technologies that radio is facing to be accessible everywhere and to everyone. The third sub-theme reveals the services of radio stations, in every situation and crisis.

Importance of World Radio Day (WRD)

Radio is considered one of the powerful mediums that helps humanity to celebrate diversity and it offers an ideal platform for democratic discourse. It is still the most widely consumed medium globally as the UNESCO website reveals on the Statistics on Radio reveals that radio counts for 86% of the total time adults aged 25-54 spend listening to three main audio platforms. Adults are more prone to listen to AM/FM according to the website. The United Nations website insists that radio stations should serve diverse communities and they should offer a wide variety of programs, viewpoints and content reflecting the diversity of audiences in their organizations. As we know that radio targets not only people living in metropolitan areas but also in remote areas so they should offer a kind of content that gives representation to those isolated communities as well. World Radio Day appreciates radio’s services to a variety of communities and representing them in its programs.

Background

According to the UN resolution# UNESCO 36 C/Resolution 63; A/RES/67/124 which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 14 February 2014 during its 67th Session, 13 February will be celebrated as World Radio Day (WRD) every year. The tradition of celebrating this day is still in effect and the world community observes this day including the world leaders. Interestingly, the United Nations Radio was established on 13 February 1946, and the same date was designated by the international organization to observe this day.

History of  World Radio Day

Radio is an electronic machine that was invented by Guglielmo Marconi during the 1890s to offer audio news and music to audiences prior to the invention of television. It was the age of newspapers when people were accustomed to get news from unattractive newspapers. Radio appeared as an attractive invention because one or two persons were able to spread their voice to a wide range of audiences. Later on, TV was invented by a 21 years old American boy Philo Taylor Farnsworth in 1927 and it was assumed that radio would lose a large segment of its audiences because most people would prefer visuals over auditory talks and music. On contrary, the official website of UNESCO reveals that around 44000 radio stations are active throughout the world and around 70% of the world population is using radio whereas only around 28,000 TV channels are active globally even after a century of competition between these two modes of information and entertainment. Radio appears in vehicles, households, cell phones, and on work-places. Moreover, it is comparatively a cheaper mode of information and easily accessible so a large number of poor people also have this cheaper luxury in their life. People enjoy getting news updates, weather updates, route updates for everyday traveling, informative programs, and entertainment programs while working in their daily routine. Most consumers of the contemporary world are short of time, therefore, they cannot offer their full time and attention to the entertainment devices and they expect from such devices to offer their services to people while they are busy in their daily routine. Radio is an ideal option for such a kind of consumer.
For the described importance of radio, The Spanish Academy of Radio Arts and Sciences (Academia Española de la Radio) which was established to promote radio in Spain successfully promoted the establishment of World Radio Day (WRD) by UNESCO. This institution under the chairmanship of Jorge Álvarez approached UNESCO in 2008 to convince them to observe a day in the recognition of the services of radio in spreading peace, entertainment, and information throughout the world. The 36th Conference General of UNESCO has the credit to unanimously approving the Spanish proposal of designating a day in the recognition of radio services on November 3, 2011. 13 February was observed as World Radio Day (WRD) until 2014 when the UN formally endorsed this day.

World Radio Day Purpose

The purpose of this day is to acknowledge the services of radio and to spread awareness about the importance of radio offering people services regarding entertainment, news updates, and information. This day also insists the world leaders to support this medium to spread awareness and the values of democracy throughout the world.

World Radio Day Quotes

“When radio keeps silent, our ears shall never hear the real details!” — (Ernest Agyemang Yeboah)

“Radio is the most intimate and socially personal medium in the world”. — Harry Von Zell

Hash-Tags for World Radio Day

#WorldRadioDay
#WRD
#FM
#AM

World Radio Day Observance Dates

EVENTYEARDATEDAYTYPE
World Radio Day201613 FebruarySaturdayUnited Nations (UN) Observance
World Radio Day201713 FebruaryMondayUnited Nations (UN) Observance
World Radio Day201813 FebruaryTuesdayUnited Nations (UN) Observance
World Radio Day201913 FebruaryWednesdayUnited Nations (UN) Observance
World Radio Day202013 FebruaryThursdayUnited Nations (UN) Observance
World Radio Day202113 FebruarySaturdayUnited Nations (UN) Observance
World Radio Day202213 FebruarySundayUnited Nations (UN) Observance
World Radio Day202313 FebruaryMondayUnited Nations (UN) Observance
World Radio Day202413 FebruaryTuesdayUnited Nations (UN) Observance
World Radio Day202513 FebruaryThursdayUnited Nations (UN) Observance