Radio Univers launches 30th anniversary
Radio univers has launched its 30th anniversary with a rebranding campaign to reposition the University of Ghana campus-based station into a youth-focused, urban lifestyle, music driven and socially responsible institutional radio platform.
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The Station Manager, Dr Abubakari Sidick Ahmed, better known simply as Alhaji, who announced this at the anniversary launch at the UG’s law faculty auditorium, said this would gel the station deliver top-notch content that empowers, educates, entertains and resonates with local and international audience.
In addition, he said the move would also contribute to research and innovation across varying fields; initiates and influences development conversations and serves as a go-to institution when it comes to nurturing and developing world-class talents in broadcasting and media arts in West Africa and beyond.
The formation of the station with the frequency 105.7 Megahertz, commenced in the early part of 1993 when the then Vice Chancellor of UG, Professor George Benneh, mooted the idea.
Anniversary
Volunteers who were nurtured while they were on campus and had moved on to practice as professional journalists took turns to share the impact of the radio station on their lives at the anniversary launch.
In the same length, accomplished members of society such as Prof. Kwesi Yankah, shared their fond memories of their time with radio universe.
Strategies
Dr Ahmed explained that leadership of the station would embark on various initiatives to pursue the transformational agenda. In line with that, he said the station would strategically integrate semi-commercial practices while preserving its core campus-community-oriented values, to ensure that the station remained connected with its roots while embracing growth.
In order to ensure sustainability and growth, he said the Radio Univers would transition from a typical campus-community radio platform to a semi-commercial business model which strategic shift will be achieved through various revenue generation initiatives, partnerships with businesses/brands, local and international NGOs, development and donor organisations, and organising engaging events that appeal to both various segments of the station’s target audience.
“We intend to initiate discussions with NCA to enable a smooth transition and alignment with all the necessary legal and regulatory requirements as we gear up towards this new model,” he said.
In order to ensure that the station was in sync with digital media, he stressed the need for the station to undergo an equipment upgrade to enable live video production and streaming via digital channels and its websites.
Independent
A former Director of Newspapers with the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL), Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, in his keynote address, charged Radio Univers to be independent, assertive, free, fair, balanced, courageous and responsible.
He said the radio must lead in national discourse and promote diversity and pluralism to demonstrate that it cares. “And because we know that to avoid ripping at the seams, our country needs people who know how to accommodate different points of views, Radio Univers must work for common solutions.
“This is how to resolve our differences and live together peacefully, productively and successfully,” he said. The Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC) stressed the need for journalists not to allow themselves to be used by politically intersted persons to undermine the profession.
He urged the radio station to take to the academics, notably constitutional experts, sociologists and psychologists to enable them proffer intellectual and critical perspectives on national issues.
Solidarity
Describing the station as a “universe” for producing great talents, the President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Albert Kwabena Dwumfour commended radio univers for producing several talents for the Ghanaian media space.
He urged the station and its volunteers to make professional and ethical standards their guiding principles as they discharge their duties as the fourth estate of the realm. Ahead of the elections, he urged journalists to be alert and insist on only decent messages on their platforms adding that the GJA on its part would resolve to fight for the welfare of journalists.
For his part, the President of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), Cecil Sunkwa-Mills, advised the station to continue to uphold the principles of freedom of speech and press freedom as his associate worked together to create a safe and conducive environment for the media to strive.