In the late 90’s to early 2000’s I produced
a current affairs radio show for Choice FM called the “Schumann Shuffle” every
Saturday morning. It was three hours long; the first hour was music and general
radio banter. In the second hour we would get important guests to discuss a
pressing issues (Trevor Philips as Chair of the Equality and Human Rights
Commission was a regular guest, Simon Woolly from Operation Black Vote often
came into the studio and we had the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone a few
times) if they were important to black Londoners we got them in front of the
mic. The last hour was a current affairs phone-in discussing the news topics of
the week.
At the time it was arguably the most influential
current affairs programme for black people in the UK. It got larger audiences
than its counterpart at the BBC and was where black politicians and decision
makers spoke directly to black people and black people spoke back to them -
holding them to account. Despite working at the BBC for 24 years in many ways I
think this was the most important public service broadcasting I ever did.
It was also my first foray into news and
current affairs and it was an excellent training ground for a young journalist.
Without this experience I do not think I would have been able to do the other
news and current affairs programmes I went on to do in the rest of my career.
I firmly believe that black led journalism
organisations can provide a valuable service to the black community and nurture
black journalists by creating a pipeline for them to go on to other mainstream
media organisations. Gary Younge, Afua Hirsch, Henry Bonsu and Dotun Adebayo
all worked at black newspapers at some point in their careers.
But the truth is “ethnic media” are under
threat. Choice
FM became Capital Xtra in 2013 and no longer plays the community role it
once did. The New Nation newspaper printed its last copy in 2016. The Voice
newspaper still exists but my understanding is that it is under severe
financial strain. British Asian media is under similar pressures with Eastern
Eye close to closure just ten years ago.
This week the UK government’s Cairncross
Review was published, its remit was to investigate ways to secure the
future of high-quality journalism in Britain. The government is worried that
too many newspapers are making a loss, due to advertising migrating to Google
and Facebook. Yet, high quality journalism is essential for an informed
electorate to know how to vote and make informed decisions. The review says we
cannot afford to lose it.
The Cairncross Review made several
recommendations, but the one that has caught the most attention is the idea
that the government
should provide direct funding to local newspapers to make sure they can
support important local journalism. Frustratingly they did not say anything
about the BAME press and media.
The BBC,
Google
and Facebook
all currently have different initiatives worth millions of pounds to fund local
newspapers either directly giving them money or paying for journalists.
Because, like the Cairncross Review, they recognise the importance of local
journalism and fear what would happen if it vanished.
The UK government has also set up the Audio Content Fund worth £3
million a year to fund what Broadcast
Magazine calls; “original commercial radio productions that are
traditionally more difficult to support commercially.” To put it another way
this is precisely the kind of fund that could have paid for the work I was
doing at Choice FM which was more expensive than just playing three hours of
music. When radio stations are strapped for cash often quality journalism is
the first thing to go.
If the government, BBC, Google and Facebook
are all worried about the demise of quality journalism, they can’t just look at
the problems facing local newspapers, they must also turn their attention to
how they can support BAME focused newspapers and media From legacy publications
like The Voice and Eastern Eye to new digital publishers
such as Black Ballad and Media Diversified.
Add the fact that 94%
of British journalists are white the demise of BAME media outlets has cut
off one of the most effective pipelines to increase the number of BAME
journalists.
Back in the 90’s when I was producing the
Choice FM current affairs show, black people would often use the phrase “40
acres and a mule” when they felt they were owed something. A reference to the
supposed promise that freed slaves were promised 40
acres and a mule by the US government. So in my best 90’s vernacular I
think it is about time black journalists were given their “40 acres and a
mule”.
I remember it well. Great show! I met the man as well. I wish Choice FM still existed with a stronger signal!
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