Krause, Amanda E., and Fletcher, Heather (2025) Radio relationships: Perceptions on listenership and well-being. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 44 (1). e70008.

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Abstract

Objective: As Australia boasts large radio listening audiences with high engagement among older adults, we examined Australian radio personnel’s perceptions of their role in delivering radio and how it facilitates listener well-being.

Method: Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 16 radio personnel affiliated with music- and talk-based community and public stations broadcasting in Melbourne, Victoria.

Results: Thematic analysis indicated two main themes: communication style (e.g., making listeners a part of the conversation, speaking to “one” person, and strong listening skills) and authenticity. Presenters focus on both creating and maintaining relationships as well as promoting community through their on-air actions and programming. This inherently fosters connection and facilitates listener well-being.

Conclusions: The findings have implications for considering how the radio can be used as a tool for enhancing quality of life and for how radio stations manage presenter training and programming changes to support listener connection.

Item ID:	84758
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1741-6612
Keywords:	radio, broadcasting, well-being, listening, community, connection, relationships, radio, broadcast media, psychological well-being, community healthcare, social relationships, social psychology of music, music psychology, media, parasocial relationships, social surrogate
Copyright Information:	his is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. © 2025 The Author(s). Australasian Journal on Ageing published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AJA Inc.
Funders:	Australian Association of Gerontology Research Trust (AAG Research Trust)
Projects and Grants:	AAG Research Trust Hal Kendig Research Development Program
Date Deposited:	27 Feb 2025 01:27
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5205 Social and personality psychology > 520505 Social psychology @ 70% 47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4701 Communication and media studies > 470102 Communication technology and digital media studies @ 30%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 80% 20 HEALTH > 2005 Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health) > 200502 Health related to ageing @ 20%
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