RADIO JOURNALIST SHARES EXPERIENCES
By Samantha Solomon
After being inspired by her father, who was a radio broadcaster, Anne Sapias has continued his legacy by staring her journey as a radio journalist at FM100 formerly known as NBCs Kalang FM in 1985.
Sapias hails from New Ireland Province was a familiar radio voice throughout the country for more than 30 years.
Sapias shared her journey in the radio industry in PNG in commemoration of the World Radio Day which falls annually on every 13th of February.
The first radio to exist in PNG after Australian Broadcasting commission is the NBC.
“It was kind of like a broken journey, because I started with NBCs Kalang FM which is now FM100. I started back in 1985, FM radio was still new, I think it was only a couple of years old at that time. It was quite an experience to enter the industry when FM radio was just starting out in Papua New Guinea.”
When comparing the changes over time in the radio industry, in the past everything was done manually, whereas today it’s all digitized and easier.
As the daughter of radio journalist Austin Sapias, Anne said she got her motivation to become a journalist after seeing her father work as a radio broadcaster in the 1960s, a colleague to Late Grand Chief Sir Micael Somare.
“So much has changed since we first started, it was all analog back then. The things we used to do in the studio, apart from talking on the microphone, had to be done manually, we had to queue tapes and gazettes.”
While working as a broadcaster, she had the opportunity to meet international people such as the royal families and church groups.
“Christian groups like the Heritage Singers came, Hill song and the royal family, including Prince Charles (now King), Carmilla the Queen and Princess Anne they were all part of broadcasting. Everything was done on radio as there was no live streaming so we had to go out there did everything the hard way, and now it’s so much different.
She elaborated on the important role radio played prior to the arrival of television and other media platforms.
“Radio was very important because it was the only medium that would be able to get through to everybody around the country, we had AM radio, short wave radio which was used to broadcast programs through the rural center of the country and so where you can’t pick up TV radio can be picked up. A lot of programs educational, health, sports presentations these all went out so radio has been a very big part not only in PNG but the whole Word.”
She encouraged the radio broadcaster to keep doing what they are doing by giving their best.
