This year not only marks Unisa’s celebration of 140 years of excellence and shaping futures, it is also the fifth birthday of one of its pioneering projects… the Unisa Radio Station.
Unisa Radio, brain child of Prof Danie du Plessis from the Department of Communication Science, began in 2008 when it was known as ‘Unisa FM 98.9’ together with COMSA students. It was re-branded to ‘Unisa Radio’ in April 2012 becoming what it is now known as – an online audio streaming based radio station to cater for students living outside South Africa. Unisa Radio’s mission is to become the African voice, as it is a campus community radio station operated by students for students of the University of South Africa.
Being a dynamic and vibrant radio station, Unisa Radio has grown and is home to an energetic bunch of eight staff members and over 50 volunteering students. With a management structure, consisting of Station Manager Francois van Heerden, Deputy Station Manger Talifhani Munzhedzi, and Head of News Kgaugelo Pule, the station has employed four Unisa students to help with the operational needs and 12 months working experience. These students are Edgar Rathelele, who was one of the student co-founders of Unisa Radio, he is currently the Unisa Radio Media Liaison Officer. Masego ‘Chresh’ Tlhakanye, final year student of a National Diploma in IT, is the Social Media Promoter. Masenya Fisha, a third year Multimedia student, is the Technical Production assistant and Jennifer Mulder, a Bcom Law student, is the Production Assistant.
Unisa Radio’s strong point is that it is a training platform for students who want to be in the media and broadcasting sector. Munzhedzi and Pule mainly train a team of over 30 students on producing content and news. The team goes under rigorous training processes to produce quality productions. With the newly acquired Radio Computer Software (RCS) is going to further enhance training. The software, consisting of GSelector4, Music Scheduling Reinvented, NexGen Digital, Linker, promo scheduling, is used by thousands of radio stations, TV music channels, cable companies, satellite radio networks and internet stations worldwide.
The news team are trained by Kgaugelo Pule to use the RCS news software to prepare news for the hourly bulletin, the team also creates five minute mini-documentaries, also known as packages, which are played weekly. Van Heerden, expresses his excitement about the development of the station. “Knowing how to use the programme will give Unisa Radio volunteers the edge when applying for jobs in the broadcast industry. It will most certainly, along with our interesting and engaging talk programmes, give Unisa Radio a huge advantage over all other campus radio stations,” he said. Currently, Unisa Radio is the only online audio steaming campus radio station to have with the RCS software, making the volunteering students marketable in the radio industry.
In 2012 Unisa Radio introduced outside broadcasts (OB) where various conferences, seminars and major events at Unisa were broadcasted live worldwide through audio streaming. OBs have covered issues around law, politics, environment, humanities, teacher education as well as captured Unisa’s opening and closing ceremonies. “Our aim is to make sure that we are able to go out there where events are happening to report on the issues that affect students, inform the community and also to market Unisa Radio as the station of choice amongst the Unisa community,” said Munzhedzi.
Unisa Radio has accomplished a lot since its inception in 2008, producing a string of household names in South African television, radio and print journalism. Amongst many we spoke to Gaone Dixon, who was the Sales and Marketing Manager for Unisa Radio back in 2009. “It was a really a fun to be at Unisa Radio. I managed to grow my skills in terms of brand development, marketing, public relations and promotions.” Currently Dixon is a Communications Officer at the International Organization for Migration. He states that the knowledge he acquired during his time at Unisa Radio contributed to his success today. Listen to him talk about the station
Mulder who recently joined the station shares her experience: “My journey with Unisa Radio began in 2012 as an anxious yet excited Junior Newsreader. I remember the very first time I had to compile a complete news bulletin and read it live on air- I was a nervous wreck! But with time the invaluable support of a dedicated management team, an amazing group of volunteer staff and lots of hard work, I am proud to be a part of the Unisa Radio family. The knowledge I have gained and the bonds I have formed from this experience are things I will treasure for the rest of my life. So in the words of a fellow Unisa Radio staff member… dankie Unisa!”
Happy birthday Unisa Radio, here’s to many more years of bridging the divide between students and the university, between theory and practice, being the African voice and shaping futures!
Listen to Unisa radio go to http://radio.unisa.ac.za/live choose the preferred player and follow the tweets on twitter and check out the discussions on facebook.
Hyperlinks twitter – www.twitter.com/unisaradio facebook-www.facebook.com/Unisaradio
