In a bid to shake things up within the local broadcasting sphere and to shed off traces of the past history, Natal Newcastle Community Radio (NNCR) management has teamed up with a broadcasting giant to bring authentic flavour to the station.
Previously known as Newcastle Community Radio (NCR), the NNCR is embarking on the implementation of its turnaround strategy to rebrand and regain its presence in the broadcasting space within Amajuba District and beyond its borders.
The station is now under the auspicious eye of Interim Chairperson, Hlengiwe Rhoda Mthembu, also known as ‘HlengiR’. She got into the helm of the station few months ago, having financially rescued the station from a possible closure after failure by previous management to service the station’s frequency as required by SENTECH coupled with non-compliance with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). HlengiR also oversees operations at NNCR as she makes sure that everything runs optimally with her well experienced team. Her passion for development can be traced back to various leadership roles held with different organizations at both national and regional level.
Part of this is ensuring that the station, its presenters and management team have depth, flavour and diversity. It is for these reasons and more that the station teamed up with a renowned broadcaster, Linda “Mr Magic” Sibiya of Magic Media Group to add some much needed magic flavour in a form of an intensive holistic induction workshop for the team on matters pertaining to the industry and growth.
Mr Sibiya is a former broadcaster with over 20-years’ experience in radio broadcasting. He gained popularity during his time with Ukhozi FM. He is still very much passionate about the industry and voiced out his excitement on the opportunity to share a wealth of his knowledge with young talent. “Radio is very vast. You need to be hungry for knowledge, be versatile and be teachable. My team will be armed with advisory resources. We will be looking at the operations starting from on-air personalities, to producers, those dealing in sales and marketing straight down to management. The reason we are involving everyone is because the station, especially the presenters cannot perform to the best of their ability if management is not equipped with certain skills”.
“Our aim is to build a solid ground for them and allow them to capacitate their thinking beyond local boundaries,” said Mr Sibiya.
He said this would not be a once-off engagement as he would still need to continuously engage with HlengiR for the purposes of monitoring the team after the workshop and give necessary advisory and feedback.
Mr Sibiya also mentioned that he will be bringing in “surprise” guests who are also well known faces and voices within the broadcasting space to give motivation and mentorship.
HlengiR was also confident that this platform presented a window of opportunity for NNRC staff for grown and much needed development. She said this was part of her strategic direction to empower the youth in the community with necessary competitive knowledge and platform. Not only is she committed to ensuring NNCR achieves its mission and objective, she is equally serious about ensuring that the audience receives well researched and fresh content that keeps them talking, educated and entertained.
“That is how I want to make sure that everything that speaks to the Amajuba District and beyond reflects pride and diversity of our communities,” she concluded.
The workshop will be held on Saturday (15 May) in Newcastle.
