This isn't an anniversary jingle, but a story about continuity
Dr Joanna Bachura-Wojtasik begins with a seemingly simple matter. Days like World Radio Day are necessary because they organise memories. They remind us of the continuity of culture and the people who created media, as well as how media has changed. But above all, they allow us to see radio not as a channel, but as a fragment of our cultural history and, in a sense, our identity.
When radio was born in Poland, it marked a turning point. Bachura-Wojtasik recalls that in its early days, radio eagerly entered into a dialogue with high culture. This perspective makes it clear that radio is not merely a broadcasting technology. It is a way of telling the world and, at the same time, a field in which new genres, relationships and listening practices are constantly evolving.
"Radio is losing its power"? On the contrary, it is changing its form
The modern reflex is that if the internet, platforms, video and social media are all there, then radio must be losing. Dr Bachura-Wojtasik responds with a comparison that exposes the simplicity of this narrative: when the press emerged, did people wonder if books would disappear? They didn't. They changed their place in the ecosystem.
And here an important distinction emerges. We don't live in a sound culture, nor an oral culture. We live in an audiovisual culture, where images are dominant. And yet, as Bachura-Wojtasik says, the 21st century is witnessing what could be called an audiocentric shift. The researcher tempers the enthusiasm, however, and reminds us that this isn't a dominant trend, but rather a niche. But a necessary niche.
Why? Because audiences have begun to recognise the shortcomings of visual culture and are looking for something that will at least partially fill them. Sound offers something different from visuals. It allows you to act and listen simultaneously, opens a different path of focus, and evokes emotions more powerfully, especially when we're talking about forms that require mindfulness.
And here comes our second interviewee, Dr Natalia Kowalska-Elkader, who offers a definition crucial to understanding this survival: Radio is not just sound. Radio 鈥� often reduced to mere audio 鈥� is an ecosystem of relationships, a connection between the voices "out there" and "here".
Renaissance or refreshment? Breaking with linearity changed everything
A common picture emerges from both conversations. Radio isn't so much fighting podcasts as entering a new relationship with them. Bachura-Wojtasik speaks of digitisation as something that has given radio a breath of fresh air 鈥� primarily by breaking with linearity. There's no longer a need to "sit and wait." You can listen whenever you want 鈥� whenever you're have time and are ready.
The researcher points out that institutional radio (especially public radio) is inherently slower to adapt, as the institution must undergo procedures. However, public radio has begun to do things that are truly changing the flow of sound. Radio stations are opening archives, making broadcasts and genres available in podcast form, publishing radio plays, seeking collaborations with young creators and exploring new ideas. This is what she calls a refreshment of the medium.
Kowalska-Elkader adds 鈥� Radio is changing because listeners and their habits are changing. And this new environment can be almost completely different. In such a world, a one-time celebration isn't enough. It requires reflection, time and attentive listening.
A voice that can be more intimate than an image
In an interview with Dr Joanna Bachura-Wojtasik, the question of emotions arises: can a voice evoke them more powerfully than an image? The researcher describes the voice as an intimate element of communication: the sounds of people, the character's audiosphere and the sounds of the world focus attention as if through a lens. When there is no image, sound compels co-creation, and the listener adds, imagines the scene, enters the rhythm of speech, and captures pauses.
At the same time, Bachura-Wojtasik is very precise 鈥� this doesn't apply to every form of radio. In news, in short informational broadcasts, we don't expect an aesthetically pleasing experience. What matters there are facts, pace, and brevity. But in reportage, audio documentaries, radio plays and longer forms, sound has room to make an impact.
The most important thesis: listening must be learned
Here comes a thread that resonates particularly strongly in the conversation with Bachura-Wojtasik, and which could actually be the slogan for World Radio Day: attentive listening is not self-evident. It requires education. And 鈥� importantly 鈥� education from an early age.
The researcher notes that public awareness of audio forms is still too low. We associate creators with documentaries, rarely with audio reportage. Yet this medium can produce things that are untranslatable into other media, but viewers untrained in the reception of longer audio forms may have difficulty with them.
The analogy is brilliant in its simplicity: a child won't learn to read without practicing letter formation. Similarly, we won't learn to listen without practicing it.
A conference instead of fireworks
Dr Natalia Kowalska-Elkader underlines that radio today doesn't need a one-time celebration, but rather reflection, time and attentive listening, as it operates in a fragmented world of platforms and listening practices. This need led to a conference organised by the Faculty of Philology, 91滴滴, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of radio, in an international setting and in cooperation, among others, with Radio 艁贸d藕 and the Lodz Museum of Art.
The programme will feature discussions about the history of the medium, research methods, regional stations and how radio art has evolved from tape cutting to distribution platforms. The event is open to all radio enthusiasts. It will be held on 11-12 May 2026 in 艁贸d藕 (Faculty of Philology, Biedermann鈥檚 Palace, Museum of Art), and attendance is free for listeners. The programme is scheduled for release in early April.
World Radio Day: How to truly celebrate?
You can celebrate radio not with loud declarations, but with a gesture of mindfulness. Choose a longer audio format today 鈥� a report, a documentary, a radio play. Listen without rewinding. Without a parallel screen.
Source: Dr Joanna Bachura-Wojtasik, Dr Natalia Kowalska-Elkader
Edit: Kacper Szczepaniak, Centre for Brand communications, 91滴滴