THE highly anticipated Desert Radio has finally become a reality after the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia approved an application by The Namibian to operate a radio station in Windhoek.
The newspaper’s editor, Tangeni Amupadhi, says the media house is venturing into becoming a comprehensive multimedia company to cover all areas of news and information.
“We want to offer public service and serve our readers as much as possible, with documentaries, news and current affairs on all platforms,” he says.
Amupadhi says ‘s independent journalistic voice is an addition to Namibia’s airwaves.
“The Namibian provides quite a lot of information. We are very independent, very robust and not driven by political or business interests,” he says.
The name of the station is a combination of many suggestions, including Desert Airwaves, Radio Free, Free Namibia, and Desert FM.
“We combined all these names and named it Desert Radio, because it provides an oasis of information in the desert. It’s like saying we want to quench people’s thirst for information and news,” Amupadhi says.
Desert Radio is currently in its testing phase, and those who want tune in can request an online link to the station.
The radio station will be fully operational before the end of this month, and will provide news, current affairs, documentaries, and interaction with listeners.
“The listeners can expect us to remain the bold voice we are and challenge stereotypes. We will appreciate feedback from them, because that’s the only way to know what they need and want, so that we can serve them a buffet of news and information,” Amupadhi says.
Tirie Masawi, associate editor of Desert Radio, says the introduction of the radio station at The Namibian is part of the media house’s strategy to be all-encompassing, and to provide readers, listeners and viewers on social media with diverse content.
“We are not just introducing a radio station, we are also making sure our content competes with the best worldwide, and creates a platform for interaction and debating on topical issues in Namibia,” he says.
Masawi says it is an exciting journey that will unleash new talent and create robust debate.
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