Delivering a Public Service? The BBC Asian Network and British Asian audiences.

This thesis examines how minority ethnic producers employed by the BBC Asian Network, the BBC’s only ethnic specific digital radio station, construct a distinctive audience for the broadcaster. The study looks at the challenges, barriers and conflicts that have emerged as a consequence of BBC strategic attempts to make the radio station relevant for younger British Asian listeners. This research sets out to fill a gap regarding the experiences of ethnic staff working within a public service remit. This type of study is necessary because evidence suggests the number of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff working in the media remain small and this impacts the views articulated in the media. The study combines a production studies approach with a grounded theory framework for the analysis of thirty in-depth interviews with editors, producers and presenters working at the BBC Asian Network. Three different audience strategies are examined from the perspective of staff working at the station: 2006 young strategy, 2009 friend of the family and 2016, young digital native. What is also exposed through the in-depth interviews is the existence of an internal divide between two groups of minority ethic staff; the older traditional British Asian staff members who are concerned about the dilution of ‘Asian’ identity, and the younger group, comprised of third or fourth generation British Asians, who are likely to be integrated and better placed to promote a broad vision of British Asian identity. The interviews illustrate that a rigid gatekeeping system limits the dissemination of original journalism about the British Asian communities because the wider BBC ignores or marginalises the expertise and stories pitched by minority ethnic journalists working at the BBC Asian Network. Therefore, this thesis evaluates how the BBC as a public service broadcaster, articulates and manages issues pertaining to race and ethnicity within the organisation. The study is significant and timely, because the BBC as a public service broadcaster, is under increased pressure since the Charter Renewal in 2016, to demonstrate that it is taking diversity seriously, and meet its own self-imposed diversity initiatives; in terms of the recruitment of staff from minority backgrounds, both on-air and behind the scenes, and improve the representation of minority groups in content. This study explores the BBC’s endeavours to attract minority listeners through music, news and programme content on the contemporary BBC Asian Network. The study focuses upon a period of time between 2006 and 2018

Public Service Broadcasting: The challenge of representing ethnic minority audiences

This paper examines the problems the BBC in engaging and representing minority audiences. The Director General of the BBC, Tony Hall, has claimed that he wants the future BBC to “represent every family and community in the UK” (June 2014). Not an easy feat when the BBC’s own research indicates that it is failing to attract ethnic minority audiences (BBC Service Review 2012). Critics such as Hall (1990) have suggested the problem is the media construction of “race” as an issue and its definitions. The paper will focus on the BBC Asian Network, a radio station which was almost closed down in 2010, ostensibly because it was the most expensive BBC radio service to operate, and had very low listener figures. Producers and Editors explain the issues they face in attracting and retaining the target audience

Producing Diversity in BBC Radio

The voices of minority ethnic staff working in radio are very rarely heard. In fact, the UK radio industry has been singled out, by the government approved regulatory body, as continuing to fail to reflect the diversity of British communities ‐ both on-air and in terms of employment. This article illustrates the perspectives of minority ethnic workers employed at the BBC on the Asian Network, a specialist ethnic radio station, and examines how they craft programme and news content for a distinctive audience. Through in-depth interviews with 30 BBC employees, there is look at the challenges, conflict and barriers this group of staff face. The interviews expose a difference of opinion among staff over the core target audience and the version of Asian identity articulated on-air and demonstrate that a rigid gatekeeping system restricts the dissemination of news content about all the communities that comprise the group British Asian

The BBC Asian Network The Cultural Production of Diversity

This ground-breaking new book provides a unique, in-depth analysis of the BBC Asian Network, the BBC’s national ethnic-specific digital radio station in the UK. Gurvinder Aujla-Sidhu offers an insight into the internal production culture at the radio station, revealing the challenges minority ethnic producers faced as they struggled to create a cohesive and distinct 'community of listeners'. Besides the differences of opinion that emerged within the inter-generational British Asian staff over how to address the audience’s needs, the book also reveals the ways in which 'race' is managed by the BBC, and how the culture of managerialism permeates recruitment strategies, music playlists and mother tongue language programmes. In-depth interviews unveil how the BBC's 'gatekeeping' system limits the dissemination of original journalism about British Asian communities, through the marginalisation of the expertise of narratives created by the network's own minority ethnic journalists

The BBC Asian Network, the search for younger digital listeners in Ethnic Media in the Digital Age

In response to the increase of Asian radio in the U.K., the BBC’s only minority specific service The BBC Asian Network, a digital radio station, embraced a stronger social media policy to attract new audiences. The service faced potential closure in 2010 after failing to attract its target audience in significant numbers, but was reprieved a year later. Internal BBC research has revealed that young British Asian’s engagement with social media is good and that the BBC Asian Network has secured a high level of smart phone listening. Therefore, the BBC Asian Network is attempting to appeal to a younger audience via social media, and to challenge the stereotypes that the station is for older people or immigrants. This chapter examines the uniqueness of this service within the BBC portfolio through in-depth interviews with staff. They describe their strategy to target digital natives and the challenges this poses

How to serve British Asian communities? The dilemmas facing the BBC

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.This article examines the BBC Asian Network digital radio station which is tasked specifically to serve the ‘hard to reach’ British Asian diaspora. The station was established as a national digital service in 2002, expanded in 2006 and saved from closure in 2011. In 2016 the BBC’s Royal Charter included diversity as a key public goal, which requires the BBC to better reflect minority ethnic communities in the UK on screen and behind the cameras. The BBC Asian Network needs to increase listener figures. However, interviews with staff working on the BBC Asian Network highlight how top down policies conflict with the needs of British Asian audiences. Specifically, this article argues that that long-standing core public service values that emphasize news and current affairs programs and minority language promotion conflict with the BBC Asian Network’s goal to attract young audiences

“You could almost hear the racism without them saying it”: An exploration of Racism within Grassroots Football

Final ReportSince the Black Lives Matter global movement in 2020, organisations have been forced to honestly reflect on how racism persists and manifests, to question if there are equitable outcomes for all their employees, clients and stakeholders, and to take meaningful action. In 2020, the London Football Association (London FA) took action by setting out and delivering a number of racial equality actions. These actions included working with the Football Association to strengthen the reporting of discrimination incidents, updated recruitment practices to appoint a new, more diverse Board and Council and racial equality training delivered to the staff team, the new Board and the new Council. Alongside these actions the London FA also established a Racial Equality Group. This group agreed that it should engage in a detailed consultation with its clubs and leagues, to explore the extent of racism across grassroots football in London. This consultation would lead to a report and form the basis of a detailed racial equality action plan to tackle the issues raised. This report is the outcome of that consultation and reveals that racism exists within grassroots football and is manifested in a multitude of ways, affecting players, volunteers, employees, fans and other participants in grassroots football. Whilst this study provides some stark and depressing findings, it also provides a unique opportunity to set out plans to create real and meaningful change across the game in London, led by the London FA. These cultural and organisational changes take time but with the support of the grassroots football community and a refocusing of priorities, transformation can and should be achieved. The following is a summary of the main issues and findings of this research: • There is consensus that racism exists in football and that it has a significant impact on Black and other racially minoritised groups in the London area and beyond. • Football remains a predominantly white institution, especially within positions of influence and decision making, and some spaces felt hostile to Black and other racially minoritised people. • Most participants believed that overt racism was less likely to take place in London but more likely when the teams play in the Home Counties. • Racism manifests itself in subtle ways and as such permeates the structures through which grassroots football is organised and governed. • Black and racially minoritised players continue to be stereotyped, for example as being more aggressive, and this has implications on their opportunities in football. • Participants highlighted the feeling that Black and racially minoritised players were not treated equally or fairly. • Institutional racism exists and is manifested in the lack of representation of Black and other racially minoritised people in positions such as coaching and other senior roles within football. • Some groups do not feel welcome to play in ‘mainstream’ leagues. • There is an urgent need to create safe spaces where Black and racially minoritised people feel comfortable and where racism can be reported and discussed. • There is a serious lack of confidence in existing mechanisms for reporting racism and especially in disciplinary processes. • There is a perception that racists face no consequences or sanctions and that therefore racism is implicitly condoned. • Black and racially minoritised individuals have to be able to negotiate ‘white’ spaces in order to progress or merely survive in football. • There is a need for people working and involved in football to have a range of diverse lived experiences. • There is nepotism in football which perpetuates racist and discriminatory practices and attitudes. This research is unique and should underpin how racism in grassroots football in London is addressed by the London FA. The London FA should continue to learn and challenge the existing ways of thinking whilst remaining open to constructive criticism and feedback on the approach they implement to make sustainable and meaningful change

Decolonising DMU: Interim Report, 2022

The aim of DDMU is to create the anti-racist University. In the first phase of the project, work built upon a previous Office for Students' project on the awarding gap, Freedom to Achieve, in order to focus work upon the following priorities: institution; students; staff; Library and Learning Services; and research and evaluation. This interim report gives an overview of the evaluation of these workstreams between November 2019 and December 2021, and the ways in which this work supports equality, diversity and inclusion/Race Equality Charter commitments. The report includes the collection of qualitative and quantitative data, and analysis of relevant documents, to look at the impact an challenges of project activities. The purpose of this report is to ascertain the impact of decolonising at DMU on staff and student stakeholders so far, and the extent to which it has been embedded across the institution at a range of levels. The report closes by showing how this work has now shifted in Phase 2, to focus upon 4 commitments: equality of education and research; progression, talent and representation; governance and accountability; and understanding culture and behaviour. These demonstrate a renewed mapping across to DMU's Access and Participation Plan, Race Equality Charter, and the awarding gap

Decolonising DMU: Interim Report, 2022

Interim Project ReportThe aim of DDMU is to create the anti-racist University. In the first phase of the project, work built upon a previous Office for Students' project on the awarding gap, Freedom to Achieve, in order to focus work upon the following priorities: institution; students; staff; Library and Learning Services; and research and evaluation. This interim report gives an overview of the evaluation of these workstreams between November 2019 and December 2021, and the ways in which this work supports equality, diversity and inclusion/Race Equality Charter commitments. The report includes the collection of qualitative and quantitative data, and analysis of relevant documents, to look at the impact an challenges of project activities. The purpose of this report is to ascertain the impact of decolonising at DMU on staff and student stakeholders so far, and the extent to which it has been embedded across the institution at a range of levels. The report closes by showing how this work has now shifted in Phase 2, to focus upon 4 commitments: equality of education and research; progression, talent and representation; governance and accountability; and understanding culture and behaviour. These demonstrate a renewed mapping across to DMU's Access and Participation Plan, Race Equality Charter, and the awarding gap