There is something extraordinary about radio that no other medium has managed to replicate. A voice can inform, comfort, warn, persuade and accompany us in ways that television, newspapers and even social media rarely can. Radio asks very little of its audience. It does not require literacy, expensive technology or high-speed internet. It asks only that someone listens.AdvertisementThat simple quality has made radio one of the most democratic forms of communication ever created. It reaches people where other media often cannot: In remote villages, on fishing boats, in the hills, on highways, in fields and factories.Every medium has its strengths. Newspapers offer depth and context. Television captures the immediacy of events. The internet delivers information at remarkable speed. Radio does something different. It accompanies. It sits quietly in kitchens before dawn, in taxis caught up in traffic, in fishing boats at high sea and in tractors crossing fields. It asks for nothing except attention, and in return it creates something increasingly rare: Trust.The Democratic Intimacy of the RadioA battery-powered radio or a basic mobile phone is often all that is needed. In a country as vast and unequal as India, that matters. For millions of people, especially those on the margins, radio remains the most affordable and accessible source of information. Radio also possesses something increasingly rare: A sense of intimacy. Unlike television, which demands our eyes, or social media, which constantly competes for our attention, radio speaks directly to the listener. There is no screen to distract, no endless scrolling and no barrage of competing images. There is simply a voice telling a story. That is why radio has often been called the theatre of the mind. It leaves space for imagination while creating a relationship of trust between the broadcaster and the listener.AdvertisementAt its best, radio is much more than entertainment. It is a public service. It warns communities before floods arrive, explains new government policies, tells farmers about weather patterns and market prices, alerts parents to vaccination drives, carries election results, and preserves local languages and cultures. It informs people not just about the world, but about the lives they are living. Few media have served democracy so quietly or so consistently.Also Read | Before Jantar Mantar, a question of 26.8 million followers: Whose voice is Big Tech amplifying?Which makes India’s relationship with radio all the more puzzling.Despite being the world’s largest democracy, India still does not allow private FM radio stations to produce and broadcast independent news. They can play music, host celebrity interviews and entertain audiences, but they cannot report on a local election, investigate corruption in a municipal office or tell listeners that a bridge has collapsed nearby. If they broadcast news at all, it must come unedited from All India Radio, the state broadcaster. Community radio stations, despite their deep roots in villages and small towns, face the same restriction.The Structural BottlenecksThe policy has remained largely unchanged for more than two decades. In 2013, the public interest organisation Common Cause challenged the restrictions in the Supreme Court, arguing that they violate the constitutional guarantee of free speech and preserve an unnecessary state monopoly over the airwaves. More than a decade later, the issue remains unresolved. Meanwhile, every other major news platform in India has been liberalised. Radio alone remains fenced off from independent journalism.The government’s concerns are understandable. Monitoring thousands of local broadcasts is difficult. False information can spread quickly, and irresponsible reporting can inflame communal tensions or threaten public order. But these are challenges faced by every news medium. Television, newspapers and digital platforms are regulated through law and professional standards, not prevented from reporting. It is difficult to see why radio alone should be treated differently.Around the world, governments have reached a different conclusion. Britain has commercial radio broadcasting news alongside the BBC. Australia, Canada and the United States have thriving private news radio sectors. Across the Global South, countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines allow private broadcasters to report news while holding them accountable under broadcasting laws. They regulate the airwaves. They do not monopolise them.Reclaiming the AirwavesThe idea that podcasts have diminished radio’s public value does not hold up. The two serve different purposes. Podcasts reward choice. Radio guarantees reach. It remains the one medium that can speak to millions at the same moment, regardless of whether they own a smartphone, subscribe to an app or actively seek out the news.The consequences of India’s approach are becoming increasingly visible. Last month, HT Media shut down five FM stations across some of the country’s biggest cities after concluding that they were no longer financially viable. Radio today faces intense competition from music streaming services and podcasts for listeners’ time and attention. But commercial radio has also been denied the opportunity to evolve beyond music and entertainment into a broader mix of news, local reporting and civic information. Those are the very qualities that have helped keep radio relevant in many other countries.Radio does not need a separate set of rules. It needs the same rules that govern every other news organisation. The airwaves should be open to independent journalism, with the same responsibilities and the same accountability that already apply across the rest of the media.you may likeThe airwaves are a public resource. They should serve the public, not merely entertain it. In a country where millions still depend on affordable and accessible sources of information, radio should be doing far more than playing songs between advertisements. It should be reporting from villages and towns, explaining public policy, covering local elections, amplifying unheard voices and holding power to account. Radio is not a relic. It is one of journalism’s most resilient public tools, still waiting for India to let it work.The question was never really about competence or chaos. Television, print and the internet already carry India’s news without the state deciding who gets to report it. The real question is much simpler, and India has yet to answer it honestly.Who is still afraid of radio?The writer is a journalist and independent radio broadcaster based in New Delhi