WITH almost all radio stations in Zambia hosting live phone-in talk shows, one wonders whether those complaints, suggestions and advice expressed on air receive any attention.
The old adage, ‘Walking the Talk’, simply means putting words into  practice, to mean that whatever is discussed, more especially if such discussion or debate takes people’s time and money, executing those ideas should be ultimate.
It may be deemed pointless to host Talk Shows, receive brilliant ideas from listeners and do not do anything, only to introduce a new topic the following week.
How we wish there could be follow up talk shows where some highlighted problems and solutions could be reported back.
PHOENIX
When Chibolya residents ran battles with the Police last Sunday, a field reporter heard on Radio Phoenix did not sound that apprehensive.
His voice was calm and relaxed as though the event he was reporting was a ‘church service procession’, when in fact, it was mayhem.
Police raided Chibolya to comb the area off drugs, when ‘hell broke loose’. Where two motor vehicles got burnt and teargas suffocated residents, the scene must have been chaotic, a reporter’s voice should have projected that panic.
Radio’s role in live reportage is that of presenting a ‘picture’ of an event through words and tempo of the reporter’s voice.
RADIO 1
Martin Mapunga, a teacher at Chimwemwe Secondary School in Kitwe has observed that Byamubabuku (From the books), a Kaonde presentation that previews and reviews books is timely.
Presented by Alex Mukuta, this old time programme has become helpful to secondary school pupils learning ki-Kaonde, more especially that Zambia is reintroducing vernacular languages in primary schools.
RADIO 4
Listeners will never have dull moments with Jack ‘HOT STEPPER’ Mwale on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) Radio 4.
The man runs commentaries through his presentations of all types of music, be it reggae or Kalindula.
NKANA FC ANTHEM
The song being played on radio to celebrate Nkana Football Club refers to them as ‘DEVILS’, even when they show signs of God’s favour upon them each time they celebrate a goal.
One might wonder as to whether the interpretation could be that ‘God should favour DEVILS?
DEAR JACK
A few letters came through commenting on last week’s column;
Hi Jack,
As a keen radio listener, I have noticed that there is a group of people calling themselves radio champions who make phone calls on all radio stations.
My concern is that these people only greet each other whenever they call, it appears that they are a wide network who could do more than just passing greetings on radio.
Martin Mapunga
***
Dear Jack,
I have followed radio review column for a long time now. I have since noticed how you have improved this column.
Among the improvements you have brought is that you tackle more than just one radio station, and you put pictures of radio presenters whose voices we only hear.
I agreed with your observation on ZNBC’s Mapalo Chibale, that she is a good presenter both in English and Bemba programmes.
Paul Chatupa
Kafue
***
Dear Jack
I enjoyed your story on the cell phone radio mania.
It was good to see the picture of Karen Nakawala, so, that is my sister who played Jim Reeves song?
It is sad that some Zambian radio stations can’t play classic music, we thank Radio Phoenix for the variety.
Regds
Noah Chileya
***
Dear Jack,
I am a regular reader of your column. I just want to comment on Radio Phoenix news.
I have noticed they have introduced business segment.
But I am surprised to note that sometimes the main news has two slots.
Radio Phoenix has really gone down in terms of news, besides, one other thing I have taken note of is that sometimes one person reads the news the whole week.
Radio Phoenix is a founder of community radio stations in the country and I do not expect them to be equivalent to the new emerging radio stations in terms of content and quality.
Kind regards
Timothy Mambi
TIPS
The producer at work
The work of the producer can be broken down into the following four phases: assignment, preparation, rehearsal, performance.
The assignment
The assignment is the programme which the producer has been selected to make. A senior producer may be assigned a series of programmes for broadcast over a period of weeks or he may be assigned an occasional major production such as a monthly play or a fortnightly documentary.
A more junior producer may be assigned short interviews or talks as contributions to a longer programme. Whatever the assignment, it is necessary first of all to examine it carefully, making ourselves very sure of the answers to a number of questions.
What is the broadcast supposed to do-is it to entertain, to inform or to educate.
Who is the programme intended for-general listening or a particular section of the audience.
What is the most suitable way of handling the assignment-as a talk, an interview, a documentary or in some other way?
Without clear answers to these questions it is difficult to make much progress.
A programme of popular music intended for a wide general audience may fail if the presenter is too talkative and spends too much time between songs giving information of interest to him but which is of little interest to his audience.
This may often happen with disc-jockey programmes where the audience may be interested only in the music as a background but has to suffer from a talkative disc-jockey filling time with irrelevant items of artist gossip.
The producer must be clear in his mind as to which feature of the programme the greatest audience appeal has.
Again, an educational programme can fail if the producer becomes too involved with entertaining scenes in the programme simply because he likes the dialogue or wants to display his virtuosity.
MULTICHOICE NEWS FLASH
La Liga: Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid
Sunday May 18, 2014 20:55 hours | SuperSport 3 (203)
A titanic battle is on the cards when Barcelona hosts current Spanish La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou.
Catch the battle between La Liga title contenders Sunday May 18, on SS3/SSM/SSB/SS3HD at 20:55 hours and via live video streaming on suprsport.com.
Versus
Sunday May 18, 2014 11:15 hours | MTV (130)
Who do you prefer– homegrown talent or overseas?  Tune into MTV on Saturday and Sunday mornings to see local and international artists face off in Versus.
Watch Versus on Sunday May 18, at 11:15 hours on MTV.
The Lincoln lawyer
#DStvMovies
Sunday 18 May 2014 20:00 hours| M-Net Movies Zone (139)
Michael “Mick” Haller, is a slick, charismatic Los Angeles criminal defense attorney who operates out of the back of his Lincoln Continental sedan.
Having spent most of his career defending petty, gutter-variety criminals, Mick unexpectedly lands the case of a lifetime: defending a rich Beverly Hills playboy who is accused of attempted murder.
However, what initially appears to be a straightforward case with a big money pay-off swiftly develops into a deadly match between two masters of manipulation and a crisis of conscience for Haller.
Starring
Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller
Ryan Phillippe as Louis Roulet
Marisa Tomei as Margaret McPherson
The Impossible
Sunday May 18, 2014 20:30 hours| M-Net Movies Premiere (103) A family on holiday in Thailand gets caught up in the destruction and chaos of the 2005 tsunami. After being separated, they begin a desperate search to find one another and help those around them.
Starring:
Naomi Watts as Maria Bennett
Ewan McGregor as Henry Bennett
Tom Holland as Lucas Bennett
For comments, observations and contributions; jackmwewa@gmail.com – 0955115777