Amid daily stories of violence and humanitarian crisis, including in Aleppo, we find a bit of good news in the story of a new radio station in Syria’s largest city.
Agence France Presse reports on Fresh Air of Syria, an initative of Wael Adel, an Arabic literature graduate, and five colleagues.
Right now, because of a shortage of equipment and no sound engineer, the programs are pre-recorded and sent by Internet to another six-person team in Turkey.
Still, it’s a small advance for Adel and his friends. Nine months ago, they were in exile in Turkey when they decided that people needed to know what was going on in Aleppo, racked by military conflict since July 2012.
“In Aleppo, there was no electricity, no TV. People didn’t know what was happening either here or elsewhere in the country,” Adel says.
The group began by spending days painting the radio’s logo on Aleppo’s walls, so that residents would become familiar with it. Now Fresh Air broadcasts 24/7 on the Internet and over the airwaves.
A typical program hosts local fighters, the police, fire department and utilities chiefs, who talk about problems in the city. Another has a doctor talking to residents about health, while the most successful is a satire on daily life with two comedians.
Adel sees the mission as not only one of news but of moral support. “Many people listen to the radio so that they don’t feel alone,” he says, citing accounts of “whole families locking themselves up in a room to listen”.
And he has another dream: “I’d love to set up a television channel, though I know that it’s complicated.”
(Featured Photo: AFP)
