702 still has vital "struggle" role to play

Keeping 702 using archaic, unreliable medium wave transmissions all these years was like modern day parents giving their kids a wind-up gramophone while all their mates were getting I-pods.

Iconic brand

Given the important role 702 played in terms of providing reliable information to South Africa during the last decade of apartheid, there is no doubt that in broadcast terms the numbers 7-0-2 have become iconic and very much a part of the country's socio-political history.

One hopes that the station's management bear this in mind when, in six months time, they finally switch off their medium wave transmitter, they won't be tempted to re-name the station just because they are no longer broadcasting on MW702. In spite of the name then becoming a complete technical misnomer, it nonetheless still has remarkable intrinsic brand value and will continue to do so for a long time to come.

New challenges

But, there are some other very interesting challenges that now face the new, improved, FM-powered 702.

And the first is to determine is the balance between talk and music. Clearly the only reason why 702 became a talk radio station in the first place was because broadcasting music on medium wave was out of the question, given that it would be scratchy monotone versus the hi-fi stereo FM broadcasts of its competitors.

Frankly, at the time this suited 702 because it recognised very quickly in the 1980's that what South Africans desperately needed was a radio station on which they could receive reliable, unbiased information. And 702 certainly gave them that.

Vital role

But, I reckon there is still a vital role for an independent, unbiased politically neutral radio station to play in this country. And that is not simply to air opinions willy-nilly but to help counter a scourge that is sweeping this country and destroying the fabric of society almost as surely as apartheid did.

And that scourge is intolerance. South Africans have become very intolerant this past decade. The security guard strike is a classic case in point. Strikers were so intolerant to the right of their comrades to opt not to strike that they simply killed them.

Political intolerance is rife at grass roots level with politicians seemingly disinterested in doing anything about it and fuelling rather than dousing the fires.

Road rage is a chronic form of intolerance but it goes further and a lot more petty than that. Callers phoning in to talk radio stations such as 702 often ask presenters not allow certain people to have their say, simply because they cannot tolerate their point of view.

Politically correct

The country is becoming a nanny state - something that is always born out of intolerance. It has become ridiculously politically correct with contrived waitrons, peoplehole covers and chairpersons.

And some that affect 702 directly - advertising - has become lame and ineffectual because of public intolerance forcing the spineless Advertising Standards Authority to ban ads right, left and centre, just because one intolerant old fart in Pofadder has got nothing better to do than write letters to the ASA bitching about things that offend his sensitivities but with which his fellow 39.9 million South Africans have no problem at all.

Promote debate

It will not be an easy challenge for 702. Because it never has and never wants to become judgmental. But, perhaps it can guide discussions and issues not only from the point of view of bringing things out into the open but to promote debate on whether those discussions and issues are raised out of intolerance or whether they have genuine merit. Maybe they should get callers to apply an "intolerance rating" score to other callers?

Right now South Africa, like it or not, is stuck with hosting World Cup 2010. Broadcasters such as 702 that have so much credibility can play an enormously important role in separating genuine concerns from the public and those that are simply petty intolerance.

Going from medium wave to FM is more than just a technical leap for 702. It is something it has waited on for decades and now that it has arrived, it has presented it with a bucketload of new challenges.

And knowing 702, it's my guess it will rise to the challenge as admirably as always.