VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Yesterday, February 13, 2022 was observed as the eleventh World Radio Day. The World Radio Day was introduced on 3 November 2011, at the 36th General Conference of the United Nations organization for Education, Science and Culture -UNESCO. The first Radio Day commemoration was proposed by Spain on September 20, 2010. Then,  in 2011, UNESCO conducted extensive consultations with various stakeholders, related to the observance of the World Radio Day. As a result, 91 percent support World Radio Day. February 13 was chosen as the anniversary date, because it was on that date in 1946, UN Radio was founded.

On its website, UNESCO says, radio continues to be one of the most trusted and accessible media in the world; UNESCO also states, radio is a powerful medium for celebrating humanity in all its diversity and is a platform for democratic discourse. At the global level, radio remains the most consumed medium. Its unique ability to reach the widest possible audience enables radio to shape the experience of people's diversity. On the one hand, it can stand as an arena for all voices to be spoken, represented and heard. On the other hand, radio stations are required to be able to serve diverse communities, offer a variety of programs, viewpoints and content, and reflect the diversity of audiences within their organizations and operations.

The theme for this year's Radio Day is ‘Radio and Trust’. The theme has 3 sub-themes.  First, Trust in Radio Journalism: Produce independent and high-quality content. Second, Trust and Accessibility: Take care of the audience or listeners. Third, Radio Station Trust and Survival: Ensure competitiveness.

The 3 sub-themes seem appropriate to see the current radio situation. Amid the development of social media, the internet and various information and communication platforms, radio is required to maintain its strength as a trustworthy medium. The number of hoaxes on various information and communication platforms makes people still need mainstream print media, such as newspapers or magazines, and electronics media, such as television and radio to find true and factual information.

In accordance with the times, today's radio stations, including Voice of Indonesia, continue to try to reach a wider audience through various platforms, including short wave, websites, live streaming, and social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and others. Thereby, it can be said that radio is still the medium with the widest reach.