FEATURE:
Turn Up the Radio
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Bringing Us Together, Keeping Us Strong: The Continuing Lifeline of Radio
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I realise…
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that I have written quite a bit about radio and how it is uniting us all. I apologise for repeating myself but, as we are still in lockdown and many of us are home for the time being, the additional passing of time is putting pressure on people; not just in terms of missing their families and friends, but not being able to integrate, work or experience life how they used to. I don’t think any of us are used to this situation, and the boredom factor is something that is hard to combat – even if we do have podcasts and streaming to keep us occupied. I think things will only start to return to near-normal in a couple of months and, in the meantime, we are all looking for something to keep us connected and upbeat. Music itself is able to do that, but radio provides something very different. I think it (radio) is more like being in the room with someone and having a conversation, whereas music and television seems to be less direct and more passive. Radio is interactive and involved. Even if you are on your own, radio provides a community spirit and warmth that makes you feel involved and united. I read an article on The Observer’s website that highlighted the ongoing popularity and necessity of radio. The article brought in various broadcasters, and I love the interview conducted with Lauren Laverne (BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio 4), where she talked about her role and how she brings the listeners into her world:
“Nothing, except radio. Radio gives us, as it always has, a constantly live event, familiar but ever changing. Whether you’re a news junkie, a music fiend, or you just like silly chat, there are stations for you. There are phone-ins if you want to vent, pop quizzes for distraction, sing-alongs, help with schoolwork. Plus, if you find a show you like, a DJ can become a replacement friend – a warm presence chuntering in the kitchen corner, cracking quips over your headphones, blasting tunes out of speakers you’ve put on the window ledge.
Listener interaction is a big part of the show – Laverne alternates between asking her listeners “big emotional questions” and having “daft, fun moments”. She mentions a recent “lockdown hair” slot, and a picture she’d been sent of a father who’d given both sides of his hair for different children to cut (“I was in stitches”). She also gets sent pictures every day from a listener of his elderly mum. “She’s 89, she’s self-isolating, called Annelise, and there she is on a Tuesday, waving to me in an amazing hat!” Laverne doesn’t seem to think this is peculiar at all: quite the contrary. “That’s the really nice thing about the job. You’re a part of people’s everyday lives.”
She has also heard from listeners who have come to the show for the first time, and more families listening. Does she think people want an escape from the news? “I don’t think they necessarily want an alternative – they want a counterpoint. We don’t ignore what is happening. We just try to provide the right emotional cushion.”
IN THIS PHOTO: Lauren Laverne
Nothing illustrates this better than the slot every Thursday that the show dedicates to different key workers. These have included groups rarely celebrated in the media: charity fundraisers; delivery drivers; shop workers. Many have got in touch to thank her for remembering them, which has moved her profoundly. “When you’re sitting there in your little studio you’re quite sequestered from the world, but your voice is reaching out to places you can’t even imagine. And to think of those people wiping the trolleys, putting the bread on the shelves, messaging you to say thank you for thanking them… it reminds you what public service broadcasting is here for.”
Laverne knows live radio can do this like nothing else can. “It’s one person broadcasting to one another person, and that intimacy, but it’s also community. And to be doing it at breakfast time, and getting people up to face the day…” She laughs. “Well, above all, you’ve got to make sure you’re playing the right tunes”.
I do think that it is the community spirit that makes radio so necessary and valuable. No matter what station you listen to – I tune in to BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio 2 -, there is something for everyone. Whether it is a powerful playlist, a listener feature or a station reacting to what is happening in the news – such as the unlawful killing of George Floyd in the U.S. -, radio reacts speaks to us in so many different ways. I tend to find T.V. and streaming can get a bit boring, and one finds themselves flicking through channels, trying to find something good to watch. Your favourite radio station is that reliable home and source of consistency. Even if you do return the dial to a different station, I do think there is more to keep you hooked and involved compared to television. When we are out of the other side of the pandemic, I know radio will be seen in a different light; even more loved and appreciated than it was several months ago. Just having a warm and friendly voice in the ears every day has provided so much to so many of us. Now, more than at any other time in recent memory, the brilliance of radio is a…
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LIFELINE for many of us.