BBC says it has no plans to cut broadcasting to the Gypsy and Traveller community
According to the Roma Network via Romea.cz, Rokker Radio, the two-hour radio programme established two years ago by the BBC for the Gypsy and Traveller community, is to be axed at the end of April. Romea claims that, as the show prepares to celebrate two years of broadcasting across local BBC radio in the East of England and across the world on the Internet, the BBC has decided not to fund the programme beyond the end of April. However, the BBC Press Office has contacted Media Network to say that this story is incorrect.
The programme began on BBC Three Counties Radio on Romany Nation Day in 2006 and has since grown to broadcast on 6 local radio stations across the East of England. Each Sunday night, between 7 and 9pm it broadcasts to Britain’s 300,000 Gypsies and Travellers, many of whom must drive long distances to hear it because they cannot receive it in their area or listen to it on the Internet.
Over the last two years, BBC Rokker Radio has attempted to address the lack of proper representation of Europe’s largest ethnic minority community in the media in Britain. It has raised issues of importance to the community whilst literally providing a common wavelength through which Gypsy and settled communities can begin to understand one another.
| The BBC has sent us the following statement:
“There is no intention to close Rokker Radio. It is true that we have had discussions with the presenter about a range of options for the programme, including whether there might be potential for expanding the range and scope of programming covering these issues – for example by offering programming to other radio stations across the BBC local radio family. We will continue to look at how best we can refresh our coverage and to ensure that we are achieving best value for our listeners, but we can reassure listeners that there is no plan to close the programme down at this time. We are, however, keen to find new ways of reaching underserved communities, including the travelling community. It’s important to explore options to provide wider and better coverage of the issues and concerns of this community across the whole of England, not just the East. Technology is delivering a wide variety of new ways to deliver content to audiences and we will continue to explore a number of innovative ideas to help give the travelling community a voice and to improve understanding with the settled community of their issues.” |
