Going to the heart of Black and British

2016-11-16T21:14:20+00:00

Hermeet Chadha took part in a BBC Outreach workshop with young adults in preparation for radio debates on BBC Radio 1Xtra exploring the Black British experience.

‘There is nothing like face to face interaction with the audience’

I'm a producer at BBC Radio 1Xtra. I currently work on the MistaJam Show which is the gateway specialist show for new music. My job mostly involves listening to music and suggesting tracks to be played on the show. I also have to book guests and organise the whole programme and come up with ideas for features, mixes and specials.

1Xtra is an urban music station which essentially means it's a station rooted in black music and black culture. We aim to appeal to a diverse audience and therefore it's important to be in touch with this audience as much as possible.

Meeting people from diverse backgrounds helps us as programme makers to understand both the culture and the music our audience responds to so we can adequately reflect these on air.

The BBC is running a major season in November 2016, Black and British, exploring the Black British experience and its impact on Britain as a whole. As part of the season 1Xtra will be broadcasting a radio debate about what it means to be Black and British.

I’m looking after this debate with my colleagues, so decided to ask John Offord, BBC Outreach Manager, to help us arrange a workshop with some of the young people he works with, to test out some questions that we proposing for a forthcoming series of radio debates on 1Xtra.

Hermeet, left, working on radio debate ideas with some members of Hackney CVS

John brought together a group of around 12 young adults from Hackney CVS. Hackney CVS supports hundreds of people to run successful community organisations by giving them access to the skills, knowledge and resources necessary to respond to the needs of local people.

During the workshop we talked about what they're interested in, who they'd like to hear from on this topic, and the issues that they're debating with their friends. We tested the questions we had already identified for the debates and asked whether they would tune in/click to listen?

Questions such as: "how important is US influence on Black culture in the UK and how does the UK set itself apart?" We were not only able to pose our questions and get open and honest feedback from the youngsters, but they also made suggestions which had not occurred to us previously.

Some of these suggestions have influenced how our debate is going to pan out. It's great to see examples like this, where audience insight helps us shape content for broadcast. It is in effect, true Outreach.

As a thank you, we invited them all back to see the live debate show being broadcast on 16th November, hosted by Ace and Bridgitte Tetteh, and featuring a panel with Murkage Dave, Judi Love and Charmaine Hayden, and live performance.

Whilst we pride ourselves at being at the forefront of youth culture here at 1Xtra it’s not always possible to know what issues and concerns are affecting people half your age, so this exercise was invaluable and practical. I would certainly work with the BBC Outreach team again and I would encourage other members of production to do so too. There is nothing like face to face interaction with the audience. It’s something we need to do more of.

BBC Outreach & Corporate Responsibility brings the BBC closer to its audiences - particularly those audiences we have identified as harder to reach - with face-to-face activity, community support and staff volunteering.

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Going to the heart of Black and British