Some may recall back in May when I briefly wrote about El Mes de la Radio (Radio Month) in Puerto Rico. I also noted some dates that could cause some confusion if not clarified, like World Radio Day on February 13 and National Radio Day (today’s date) in the United States. Instead of regurgitating what others say about National Radio Day (that it is a time to remember the creator of the radio Guglielmo Marconi—even though researchers like Allison Marsh find that part of history debatable), I want to take things in a different direction. Over the past few years, radio has gained importance due to the necessity for its historical preservation. The Library of Congress founded the Radio Preservation Task Force (RPTF) in 2014 as an extension of the National Recording Preservation Plan. This task force follows an approach akin to ethnographic field recording preservation through finding, collecting, archiving, and researching radio recordings (specifically rare or endangered ones) for academic purposes.
Cultural preservation in radio equally deserves attention: both in terms of broadcasting and applying forms of technology through podcasts and Internet accessibility. I discuss this point in my upcoming musicological work on the Gullah/Geechee people in the coastal regions from North Florida to North Carolina. I not only look at how this community of descendants from West Africa have used radio stations (like Gullah/Geechee Riddim Radio and WKWQ 100.7 FM) and podcast interviews (like this episode of The Stoop) to educate audiences about their history, language, music, and social customs. They also preserve their heritage by accurately representing themselves to prevent mainstream radio corporations (like the ubiquitous iHeartRadio) from interfering with and exploiting their identities.
Cultural preservation in radio equally deserves attention: both in terms of broadcasting and applying forms of technology through podcasts and Internet accessibility. I discuss this point in my upcoming musicological work on the Gullah/Geechee people in the coastal regions from North Florida to North Carolina. I not only look at how this community of descendants from West Africa have used radio stations (like Gullah/Geechee Riddim Radio and WKWQ 100.7 FM) and podcast interviews (like this episode of The Stoop) to educate audiences about their history, language, music, and social customs. They also preserve their heritage by accurately representing themselves to prevent mainstream radio corporations (like the ubiquitous iHeartRadio) from interfering with and exploiting their identities.
Photo by Rod Flores on Unsplash
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