Batya Bricker Book Projects is excited to announce the publication of The Story of 702 - In Touch, In Tune and Independent by David Williams and Chris Gibbons with David Saks.

Brimming with instantly recognisable images that transport the reader to the era, the book has strong nostalgic appeal and is of great interest to 702 listeners – young and old. ‘Nostalgic, entertaining and full of the high and lows of the birth of “talk radio” in South Africa, the response has already been tremendous,’ says publisher Batya Bricker.

Much has been said and written about Radio 702, but until now the full story of how it was founded, the impact it made and the enduring legacy it has left has not been told. In Touch In Tune and Independent: The Story of 702 provides just such a history. Largely based on the reminiscences of those who were part of the saga during the station’s formative decades, it will be welcomed and appreciated by the stations many thousands of devoted fans, past and present. 

“No newspaper or broadcasting station in South Africa had been closer to the momentous political events of the 1980s and 90s than 702. More than playing a reporting role, the station had itself become part of the process that opened democracy”. 

In the final decade of apartheid rule, a feisty new independent station called Radio 702 exploded on the scene in South Africa. Innovative, in-your-face and exciting, it revolutionised the local broadcasting scene, breaking boundaries and challenging conventions as never before. Radio 702 became the station that everyone was talking about. From the outset, it imbedded itself in the community it served, continually finding new ways to connect and engage with its audience so that listeners could feel that the station truly belonged to them. In the process it became a beacon for much of the country’s most promising broadcasting talent, from the legendary John Berks to John Robbie, Jenny Crwys-Williams, Dan Moyane and many others.