Brilliant article from Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Hat tip to SWLing Post reader Mike Taniwha!

(Source: RNW)

On World Radio Day, 13 February 2012, UNESCO will remind the world that there is a medium which reaches parts that other media can’t reach.

Radio is still a vital form of communication because a radio station can be set up much faster, and at much lower cost, than a terrestrial or satellite TV station. Radio is especially useful for reaching remote communities and vulnerable people such as the illiterate, the disabled and the poor. It also provides a platform for such groups to take part in the wider public debate.

Radio also plays a vital role in emergency communication and disaster relief, which was illustrated following the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in December 2004. RNW was able to help several partner stations in Indonesia by sending out “radio stations in a box” – self-contained mobile FM stations providing a temporary studio and transmitter ready to be used by broadcasters whose own facilities had been destroyed.[continue reading…]