Why Radio? by Helmut Kopetsky (Berlin, Germany)

A quote by Helmut Kopetsky (Berlin, Germany)

Phonetic transcription BG > EN:

 "Vto-rach-vam se 
v za-cher-ve-ni-te si ochi 
v og-le-da-lo-to sre-shtu men, 
sled kato sum pre-ka-ral 
osh-te den i po-lo-vin nosht 
pred kom-pyu-ta-ra 
i si za-da-vam fun-da-men-tal-ny vap-ro-si: 
Za-shto radio? 
Za-shto do-ku-men-ta-lis-tika? 
Ot-govor: 
Nya-ma dru-ga media, 
ko-ya-to mo-zhe da mi pre-dos-ta-vi 
po-ve-che svo-bo-da 
v saz-da-va-ne-to i iz-sled-va-ne-to. 
Ta-zi ot-go-va-riya na zhi-via mi in-te-res 
kum real-nost-ta i zhe-la-nie-to mi 
za "mu-zi-kal-no" iz-ra-ziya-va-ne. 
Ma-te-ria-lat e zvu-kat. 
A zvu-kat vi-na-gi ni za-o-bi-ka-liya. 
I sa-shto ta-ka: 
ne mi do-pa-dat tol-ko-va opi-sa-ni-yata 
na zas-ti-na-ly si-tu-a-tsee, 
kol-ko-to pred-sta-viya-ne-to im 
ka-to pro-ces. 
Na-sha-ta me-dia ne e pro-stran-st-vo, 
a vre-me; 
na-shi-te is-to-ree 
ne sa vko-re-ne-ny v ze-mi-ya-ta, 
ami i-mat dvi-zhe-nie, zhi-vot. 
Eto za-shto!"

BG to EN translation:
I stare at my red eyes in the mirror in front of me, after I have spent another day and a half night in front of the computer screen, asking myself fundamental questions: Why Radio? Why documentaries? Answer: There is no other media that can provide more freedom in creation and examination. It aligns with my vivid interest in reality and my personal desire for a "sonic" / "musical" expression. The materiality is the sound. And sound always surrounds us. Moreover, I don't like that much the description of static(still) situations, instead, their description as a process. Our media is not a space, but time; our stories are not rooted in the ground, they possess movement, and life. That's why!"

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Found a this text below about "Radio Documentary: Slice Of Life Through Sound And Silence" by Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee (The writer is Professor, Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Sanchar Marg, Dhenkanal 759 001, Orissa.)

What are Radio Documentary/Feature/Magazine?

A radio documentary is a documentary programme devoted to covering a particular topic in some depth, usually with a mixture of commentary and sound pictures. Some radio features, especially those including specially composed music or other pieces of audio art, resemble radio drama in many ways, though non-fictional in subject matter, while others consist principally of more straightforward, journalistic-type reporting – but at much greater length than found in an ordinary news report. [1] Radio Feature often is used as a synonym of radio documentary. However, there is a slight difference. Though radio feature resembles a documentary in the way it is made, but differs in its larger scope and subject/time variability. Radio magazine is an umbrella programme on a particular subject, which can have several programmes in it- documentary, features, interviews, music etc. There has to be a synergy in the content of the programmes.

Why Documentary?

Here is what Helmut Kopetzky, a German author answered to this question:

"Staring red-eyed at the mirror in front of me, having spent another day and half of the night with my computer, I ask myself fundamental questions: Why radio? Why documentary? Answer: No other medium can provide me with more freedom of creation and investigation. It meets my urgent interest in reality and the desire for a 'musical' expression. The material (der Werkstoff) is sound. And sound always surrounds us. And: I'm not so much interested in the description of stable situations, but in processes. Our medium is not space, but time; our stories are not glued to the ground, but have motion, life ... That's why!"

Radio Documentary / feature provides the listeners an impression of reality- that is midway between the experience of print, where the reader has to paint the picture all by himself; and television, where reality is visually recreated for his eyes- making him/her passive recipient of the reality. Radio documentary provides the audience the slice of reality through real sound-bites, dialogue, ambient sound and stops short of making the audience a passive one. The audience has to make an effort to recreate the scene in his mind. He has to paint the full picture with templates provided by radio.

A question that is often asked: is there a demand for radio documentary? In an age where entertainment especially music dominates the radio world over, is there any space for documentaries? Answer: Yes. There is a demand, and the demand is growing. When most of the entertainment-obsessed radio stations, mostly in private domain belch the same kind of music, in the same format- people look for something else. Something that provides them some food for thought, fodder for mind. There is a space for good documentaries and features.