From our name change and rebrand, to our award-winning podcast and our weekly broadcasts that reach over 7 million listeners a week: 2023 has been a banner year for Radio Workshop.
Here are some of the highlights….
This Coal Life was featured on NPR
In September, the Radio Workshop podcast episode This Coal Life was featured on National Public Radio’s daily news podcast Up First, which has almost a million weekly listeners. Since 2017, youth reporters at Emalahleni FM, in the heart of South Africa’s coal belt region, have been broadcasting shows about climate change that feature voices and perspectives from their community. Who better to help tell the story of South Africa’s transition away from fossil fuels than young reporters living in a coal mining community? The podcast episode on NPR was an incredible opportunity for youth-produced local stories to reach international audiences.
Radio to the rescue
Since 2021, we've been using radio as a tool to stop the spread of zoonotic diseases across West Africa. These diseases are transferred from animals to humans, usually through bush meat from infected animals. In partnership with the World Organization for Animal Health, our youth reporters produced over 2,400 public service announcements for broadcast on local radio stations to combat the spread of these diseases. In DRC, our campaign reached more than 3 million people in Kinshasa, Mbandaka, and Kisangani, with 73% of listeners tuning in to the show several times a week.
Our podcast is winning awards
In June 2023, we won Best Documentary at the One World Media Awards in London. Prior to that, in March 2023, our podcast series I Will Not Grow Old Here was nominated for an Ambies Award for Best Documentary Podcast. Adding to the accolades, we were finalists at the Third Coast International Audio Festival, we were in the running for Podcast of the Year at the African Podcasters and Voiceover Artists Awards, and This Coal Life was highly commended at the AIBS and a finalist for Best Human Interest Story. The success of our podcast has been overwhelming, but if anything, it just goes to show that the world wants to hear African youth telling their own stories.
Broadcasting about mental health in Greece
A team of Radio Workshop staff and ten young reporters from South Africa and Nigeria attended the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s conference in Athens which focused on child and adolescent mental health. The reporters hosted live shows at a pop-up radio station and debuted an episode they produced for the conference called Listen to Me. They interviewed the event’s many speakers, including actress Glenn Close. Radio Workshop superstar Mary-Ann Nobele even had a chance to meet former US President Barack Obama.
We would like to pause during this busy season to recognize you, our friends and donors, without whom none of this would be possible.
Sending much gratitude for your support of our work.
Yumna Martin, Radio Workshop Board Chair
Linda Barnett, US Radio Workshop Friends Chair
Emmanuelle Parr, UK Radio Workshop Friends Chair