The BBC Asian Network
the cultural production of diversity

1. Introduction -- 2. Public Service Versus the Politics of Representation -- 3. British Asian Audiences -- 4. Recruitment and Progression of Minority Ethnic Staff -- 5. Audience Strategies at the BBC Asian Network -- 6. Diverse Journalism -- 7. Language and Identity Politics -- 8. It’s Not Just Bhangra and Bollywood! Mediating Music Genres at the BBC Asian Network -- 9. Future of the BBC Radio and the BBC Asian Network.

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. Gurvinder Aujla-Sidhu is an Associate Professor in Journalism at De Montfort University, UK.