The Importance of National Radio Day in Indonesia
Not many people know that September 11 is celebrated as National Radio Day in Indonesia . This is because some people think that the role of radio is considered to be left behind due to the rapid information that is being spread through the internet. In fact, the role of radio was so great when Indonesia became independent and during the physical revolution. Apart from being entertainment, radio acts as an important source of information. Now, the radio era has become more modern. The technology needed for radio access is more advanced. Radio can be accessed using an internet data network via smartphone.
Commemoration of National Radio Day was associated with the establishment of Radio Republik Indonesia on September 11, 1945. Reporting from the RRI website, the development of radio in Indonesia was initiated by Batavia Radio Vereniging (BRV) on June 16, 1925 in Batavia (now Jakarta). Over time, radio continues to grow and emerge. Nederlandsch Indische Radio Omroep Masstchapyj (NIROM) began to stand in Jakarta, Bandung and Medan. NIROM received of funds from the Dutch East Indies government at that time. Every community that has a radio aircraft must provide “radio tax” to NIROM. As a result, this radio grew to become a large and complete radio at that time.
After Japan took over Indonesia, Japanese broadcast radio stations began to reverberate in the country. In addition to providing information, radio broadcasts were also Japanese propaganda media for Indonesia. However, there were also Japanese radios with many opportunities to develop culture and arts, far more developed than the Dutch colonial era. Private radio services were finally frozen and put together in one command of Hoso Kanri Kyoku, which is a radio broadcast center and based in Jakarta. The branches called Hoso Kyoku are in Bandung, Purwakarta, Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Semarang, Surabaya and Malang.
In addition, Hoso Kyoku also has branch offices in the regencies to distribute their programs to the public. Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs were a sign of Japan’s collapse of Indonesia. Thanks to radio information, finally Indonesia could immediately realize its independence through the momentum of the proclamation. Finally Hoso Kyoku was stopped broadcasting on August 19, 1945. The situation was even more urgent when radio broadcasts reported that British soldiers on behalf of allies would occupy Java and Sumatra. In addition, the British will disarm Japan.
Responding to the news, Indonesian people who were active in radio realized that this communication device was a tool needed by the government of the Republic of Indonesia to communicate and provide guidance to the people about what to do. Representatives of eight former Hosu Kyoku radios gathered in the Raad Van Indje Pejambon building, Jakarta. A memorandum of understanding emerged, one of which was calling on the government to establish radio as a communication tool between the government and the people. Radio was chosen as a communication tool because it was faster and less easily interrupted in combat. Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) will continue broadcasting from eight stations on Java, offering RRI to the President and the Indonesian Government as a means of communication with the people, and calling for all relations between the government and RRI.
Until now, RRI is still on the air by providing the best programs. RRI has 60 broadcasting stations and special broadcasting stations abroad. The regional RRI organizes broadcasts in three programs, namely: Regional Programs (PRO 1) for empowerment serving all rural, urban, mountainous and industrial communities. The City Program (PRO 2) provides broadcasts of youth creativity centers. Program III (PRO 3) is a broadcast from Jakarta as a national news network. While the Jakarta branch station has five programs, namely PRO 1, PRO 2, PRO 3, which are almost the same as the area. While the PRO 4 contains various cultures from the NKRI. Meanwhile, the last is Channel V as an overseas broadcast.
