The audio archive as a repository of media history and developments is vital in our research as media and communication scholars. In this keynote, the focus is on the ANC’s Radio Freedom as a political communication archive. Whilst these media initiatives of South Africa have been widely researched, the role of the ANC’s Radio Freedom continues to be underexplored, especially in research studies focusing on the country’s broadcasting history. From its initial broadcasts in 1963 to its exiled broadcasting initiatives, the ANC’s Radio Freedom grappled with the party’s political communication at a time when the ANC’s political voice was practically outlawed inside South Africa. This keynote contributes to the history and the historical understanding of media institutions by focusing on Radio Freedom and how it enabled political communication through the broadcasts and communication planning/ strategies affecting the platform. The keynote illustrates how the ANC’s Department of Information and Publicity (DIP) in general, and more particularly the Radio Freedom platform, assisted the ANC with political communication battles against the apartheid government of South Africa.

Tyali is Professor and Acting Director of the School of Arts, College of Human Sciences at the University of South Africa. He is also the Deputy Chairperson of the Film and Publication Board (FPB) and sits on the Steering Committee of South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLAR).

2022 is the BBC’s centenary year, and 100 years of public service broadcasting are reflected in the archive.
The BBC was created with the purpose of informing, Educating and Entertaining, resulting in an ever-growing archive catalogue which holds a hundred years of local, national and global material.
Fast forward through the past 100 years of media archiving at the BBC, collecting and cataloguing the memorable, the iconic and the bizarre.

A summary of the past, present and future challenges:

• Storing the collection – many locations, many collections
• Cataloguing the archive – from ledgers to databases
• Technical challenges – how many formats?
• Obsolescence management – Can you play it back?
• The unexpected treasures held in the archives – 100 years of history and social commentary

The highlights and some low lights from one of the world’s largest media archives.

Lead Curator at BBC.