THE University of Guyana’s first radio station, 95.5 Intelligent Radio, is set to hit the airwaves soon.

The station, which is managed by the Centre for Communication Studies at the Turkeyen Campus, was launched in July of this year.

Now that a new academic year has started, Director of the Centre, Nelsonia Budhram, said that a number of proposals have been received by the unit and very soon Intelligent Radio will go on air.

The initiative was said to have been in the making over a decade ago, and is a dream come through for the centre. Since the opening, the centre has been accepting proposals for programmes from students and staff of the institution, given that the investment was made for them to enhance their practical skillsets.

According to Budhram, the station is a not-for-profit, non-commercial community radio, and as such, is not in competition with existing stations. The content produced is for the benefit of the students and the development of broadcasting media personnel.
The radio station is open to all students of the university and not confined to the CCS.
Notwithstanding the opportunity for other students, the station will also aid in the training aspect of students directly from the centre.

Lecturer for the CCS radio course, radio personality Michella Abraham-Ali, told the Guyana Chronicle that the station will enhance the delivery of content immensely.
She noted that thus far in the semester, the 55 students in her class have been critiquing radio stations in Guyana, from a listener’s point of view and matching them with the theoretical content they have been taught.

This, she said, will give them a better understanding of what is required of radio, so that when they are ready to broadcast on the university’s radio station, they will deliver quality content.

Abraham-Ali also shared that students are eager for the hands-on experience. This, she said, will improve greatly the quality of broadcasters from the centre.
Public Telecommunications Minister, Catherine Hughes had said at July’s launching, that the radio station at UG was long overdue.

“We were blessed with so many broadcasting and written talent, unfortunately, we came to realise, because of the absence of a training facility, we may have had problems producing the level of broadcasters that we wanted to produce. But today UG’s Communication Centre is bridging that gap, and this station will provide the practical, on-the-job experience every good journalist needs,” the minister said.

She added, “This is an intelligent radio… It is my hope that on these airwaves we will find balance in reporting, the sharing of both sides of the story, the understanding and acceptance of varying perspectives of an issue, and that objectivity and fairness would be the mantra – that facts are checked and double checked before they are aired and that fake news that dominates today might be reduced because at the end of the day, giving citizens accurate information supersedes anything else.”

Hughes had urged that broadcasters stay true to their profession, do not lose sight of their focus, and help bring solutions to the many national problems facing Guyana.