Doha, February 12 (QNA) - Qatar Radio will mark Tuesday the World Radio Day (WRD), an occasion that celebrates the 100-year milestone of the radio as an affordable platform, specifically designed for remote communities and vulnerable groups.

Themed 'Radio: A century informing, entertaining and educating', the 2024 observance highlights the rich history of radio and its powerful impact on news, drama, music, and sports as well as its challenging present and future.

First proclaimed by Spain in 2011, the WRD was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 to be celebrated annually on Feb. 13 - the day when the UN Radio was created in 1946.

Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Director of Qatar Radio, Mohamed Nasser Al Mohannadi said that Qatar Radio has served as a key media platform for covering local, Arab and international news and events since its inception in 1968.

He added that it has experienced tremendous technical developments, starting from analogue to digital broadcasting, and leveraged the latest radio broadcasting technologies such as stereo (holographic sound) and FM broadcasting as well as a website and smartphone application to provide news and radio programs online.

Over the years, Qatar Radio expanded its news content to include politics, economics, sports, and culture, and launched many diverse news programs such as news bulletins, talk shows, and news analyses, Al Mohannadi added.

It also cooperated with many Arab and international radio stations to exchange news and programs, participated and organized many Arab and international conferences and media events, and sought to hold joint Arab meetings with the radio stations of sisterly and friendly countries, with all Gulf countries and the Arab world as a whole, to discuss many issues, he added.

Commenting on its contribution to music and radio drama, Al Mohannadi added that Qatar Radio played an important role in spreading awareness and education among members of society, and has contributed to strengthening national unity and social cohesion.

He added that Qatar Radio's music programs and folk stories contributed to preserving and reviving popular heritage.

Director of Qatar Radio, Mohammed Nasser Al Muhannadi emphasized that through its successful career, Qatar Radio has been committed to forging robust relationships with listeners stemming from its role as a bridge of communication with them and participating in their joys and sorrows.

He highlighted that since its inception, the Radio has been keen to broadcast diverse contents that meet the needs of all listeners, in terms of news, cultural and sports, recreational and religious programs using the standard Arabic language with a clear emphasis on the Qatari accent.

Qatar Radio prioritizes interaction with listeners through a wide range of programs and maintains its credibility when broadcasting objective news and information independently, Al Muhannadi highlighted, adding that the Radio has never been oblivious to its role in serving the community and continued to constantly upgrade its programs to meet the needs of the public which are evidently in a state of flux by utilizing the cutting-edge technology to optimize the quality of broadcasting and provide premium services.

To mark the World Radio Day each year, Qatar Radio has prepared a package of programs this year to keep up with this cherished global occasion, including two episodes of the Arab meeting which addresses the Radio centenary between education, entertainment and media that brings together Qatar, Baghdad and Jordan radios, in addition to an episode titled: Radio between education and entertainment, along with a documentary program that highlights the critical role played by the radio in disseminating education, entertainment and media by hosting the guest of the episode Dr Rabia bin Sabah Al Kuwari, professor of media at Qatar University.

Al Muhannadi indicated that Qatar Radio brings listeners back to 1946 through a program dubbed happened on this time, concurrently with the emergence of the UN Radio and explore how the idea of marking this day came from the Spanish Academy of Radio Arts and Sciences through the UNESCO to commemorate the critical role performed by the Radio in alignment with this year mantra.

He added that Qatar Radio devotes a special episode on this occasion under the theme of the pioneers’ conversation, a forum dedicated to Qatar Radio pioneers from the first and second generations during which they highlight their careers and delve into the operation of radio since 1968 and until this day.

The episode hosts the first Qatari female announcer Aisha Hassan to have in-depth- conversation about her career in radio. In conclusion, Al Muhannadi affirmed that Qatar Radio is akin to many traditional radio stations that encounter an overwhelming challenge given the profound impact of social media platforms, notwithstanding, he said, Qatar Radio is committed to broadcasting unique contents to listeners, along with a variety of programs that meet the community needs.

He emphasized that the radio copes with cutting-edge technology through broadcasting programs on the internet and providing smart phones applications. The milestones of Qatar Radio have been strengthened over its more than fifty-year history through policies, visions, and ideas, in addition to the efforts of the first generation of those who upheld the responsibility for the early beginnings of the launch of the first national radio.

Qatar News Agency (QNA) interviewed two of the first-generation announcers of Qatar Radio, who underlined that patriotism, love of radio work, and the sense of responsibility were the key factors behind the success of the first generation of radio male and female announcers and those who came later to take on the mantle of this mission.

In remarks to QNA, the first radio announcer to pronounce the words in Qatar Radio, Dr. Hassan Rasheed, said the emergence of Qatar Radio converged wide spectrums of creativity nationwide, adding that the broadcast took place for a period of time that was not long at that time which was in standard Arabic language when he was dispatched to Cairo to study and enroll in a six-month training program, where he studied at the Egyptian Radio under the tutelage of leading scholars and mentors of the Arabic language and literature, which dramatically contributed to shaping his personality and language during his career that spanned many stations. Dr. Rasheed added that he got many benefits from the legends of Qatari Arabic literature at Qatar Radio like the late Ihsan Ramzi and Haider Mahmoud, who took on the mantle of the mission in the Ministry of Culture in Jordan. Thereafter, he enrolled in the Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts in Egypt and met a host of broadcasters and writers.

The great success of the first generation of broadcasters in Qatar Radio stemmed from their love of media career, along with giving, dedication and sense of responsibility which primarily catalyzed the Radio to be part of them as they are part of it as well, though the first challenges required recording the sounds of sea and the daily traffic in markets, as well as wield heavy radio equipment to record those sounds to be further utilized in drama.

The stellar announcer Ghazi Hussein told QNA that he took upon himself the mission of media and culture to communicate the messages of the state institutions through the synergistic efforts between his Qatari fellows and Arab media professionals who had a profound impact on media. When debuted, Qatar Radio was supreme, robust and leading, in terms of many ideas and programs that concern the Qatari and Arab listeners, because curators in the state have been keen to support this inveterate radio who are also well-versed in its mission, Hussein outlined, emphasizing that the first generation of announcers catalyzed the mission of broadcasting the voice of Qatar, along with its culture, tradition and customs culminating in the operationalization of the innovative radio activities.

He pointed out that it was imperative for first generation announcers to primary internalize numerous expertise who were assigned with the task of preparing and presenting political, cultural, economic, sport and cocktail of programs offering the generation a range of culture as opposed to the current generation. (QNA)