Radio, a vehicle for communication

                  In this week’s blog, I will discusses a short documentary about the CBQM radio station in Fort McPherson that is located in Inuvik, the Northwest Territories and the women’s radio program in Guatemala discussed by Tal Nitsan in class. The blog discussion illustrates how radio both reflects the nature of the community it serves yet also creates a community. Some of the features of these radio services oscillate between serving and creating.

                  Fort McPherson is a small community where radio is used as a reliable system to communicate and keep everyone informed of daily and ongoing issues. The CBQM radio station has becomes a practical device to assist the community. For example, the station holds daily gospel sessions where they read biblical passages to its community members to provide a religious outlook to everyday common lives. The radio station addresses the concerns and issues that a typical community confronts and serves to raise awareness of the problems that need to be identified to keep the public informed. The community water supply and an egging incident are apt examples of news reports seen via the documentary on the radio station and what it features. Like many radio stations around the world, CBQM also plays daily doses of music for its public audience.

Radio functions as a means of mediation between people at home and acts as a vehicle of communication to provide awareness, yet also to create a distinct society in which everyone is familiar and on the same level of information. Radio maintains its close community by having a great number of listeners and maintaining a foundation of devoted citizens. Discussing problems such as the egging or drinking incident in the community creates a social awareness for the community in which everyone is influenced, due to the size of the community. The Bingo games offered via radio has people call in if they win, which creates a unifying act from home-to-home. The participation of the general community via radio provides a united front for their community and social relations and creates a space in which everyone is connected.

                  Tal goes on to discuss a radio station specifically directed towards women, the ‘Voces para mujeres’ in Guatemala which has created an alternate venue in which women can command a voice in their issues while simultaneously being provided with pertinent information. It is a public yet private space in which women can listen from their homes, street or elsewhere and know that they will be heard.  This radio station with a rather specific mission creates a space in which women can be educated about their history, rights and legislation. Raising awareness through the radio serves as a teaching tool to inform the women of Guatemala about concerns that they may deal, such as domestic abuse or the dangers specific to street life. The radio station reveals how in today’s world women no longer have to be in their houses, they can live amongst men, and are able to work and share the same responsibilities that they were constrained from in the past. Radio, here becomes a public forum in where issues are discussed and expressed to ultimately establish a more equal and educated community among women. An understanding of their rights and developing awareness of the issues that concern women provides them with an equal platform on par with men. It serves to engage the public (women) with what is transpiring at local and even global levels, and acts as a secure social network for women. “Voces para mujeres” effectively bridges the gap between the unknown and the scared, and manifests a public yet, private social group where people can interact, free from outside imposition.