World Radio Day was proclaimed in 2011 by UNESCO and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012.
It is celebrated every February 13, as a day to appreciate broadcasters for the news they deliver, the voices they amplify and the stories they share.Based on the UNESCO’s proclamation, World Radio Day, 2026 focusses on the intersection of traditional broadcasting and modern technology with the theme: “Radio and Artificial Intelligence”.
For over a century, radio has been a resilient, accessible and intimate medium, bringing news, music and stories to the farthest corners of the globe.
As we enter a new era of digital transformation, World Radio Day 2026 marks a crucial juncture in this journey. With the theme, UNESCO invites broadcasters and listeners to explore how Artificial
Intelligence (AI) is reshaping radio production, distribution and consumption.
The guiding philosophy for this year is clear -“AI is a tool, not a voice”. While AI brings unprecedented opportunities to the airwaves, it also brings challenges regarding editorial responsibility, transparency and ethics.
The 2026 celebration is not about replacing human hosts with automated voices, but about leveraging AI to support human creativity, efficiency and connection.
Despite the rise of social media and on-demand streaming, radio remains the most widely consumed medium worldwide.
Its resilience is unmatched, often remaining the only functioning communication network
during crisis, national disasters and even insurgencies
World Radio Day 2026 highlights that radio remains a critical, free and democratic tool for community connection, information accessibility and education outreach to mention but few.
To celebrate the 13th edition of World Radio Day, UNESCO proposed ideas for radio stations to engage with AI in their programming.
These are:
(i) Using AI for active restoration -Breathing new life into old radio tapes.
(ii)Real-time translation: Making local content global.
(iii)Transparent voice cloning: Using AI for dubbing while maintaining ethical
standards.
(iv)Internal training:Educating staff on using AI as an assistant in journalism.
The intersection of radio and AI offers fascinating possibilities. To help radio stations and listeners understand this shift, UNESCO has outlined several key areas where technology and broadcasting meet.
These concepts highlight how the industry can modernize while keeping its soul.
These includes:
(i) Increasing accessibility for everyone: One of the most positive impact of AI is its
ability to make radio more inclusive. In the past, radio was purely on auditory expensive.
If you have a hearing impairment or if the broadcast is in a language you didn’t understand, you were left out. Today, AI tools can transcribe script into text. This allows hearing impaired audiences to “read” the radio as it happens.
Furthermore, automatic translation tools can instantly convert a broadcast into minority languages. This opens up the airwaves to diverse communities who may have previously felt excluded from the public conversation.
(ii) Protecting truth and transparency: We live in an era where misinformation spreads
quickly. Radio broadcast has a responsibility to verify facts before they go on air.
AI can assist journalists by quickly cross checking sources and detecting potential “deep fakes” or false information. However, transparency works both ways. If a station uses a
synthetic voice or an AI generated script, listeners deserve to know.
The 2026 celebration of World Radio Day encourages broadcasters to be open about when and how they use these tools. This transparency is essential for maintaining the listener’s trust.
(iii) Preserving history and memory: Radio stations process vast archives of history, thousands of interviews, music and news report. Unfortunately, much of this content sit in storage because it is difficult to organize. AI can act as a superpowered archivist. It can listen to decades of old tapes, identify keywords and index them. This breathes new life into dormant memories, allow stations to reshare voices from the past that would otherwise be lost to time.
Understanding the future of radio also means respecting its past. Though, World Radio Day is a relatively young observance for such an established medium but its roots run deep in the desire for global cooperation.World Radio Day 2026 is a celebration of a medium that has consistently adapted to new technologies without losing its soul. It highlights that the future of radio is not a choice between “human” and “machine” but rather, a hybrid approach where technology enhances the human connection.
On February 13, 2026, the Society for Journalism Enhancement Initiatives (S4JEI) join UNESCO in celebrating the voice behind the microphone supported by the tools of
tomorrow, continuing to inform, entertain and connect the world.
Gbemiga Bamidele, Ph.D is the Convener, Society for Journalism Enhancement
Initiatives (S4JEI
