Have you heard of George's podcast

• Is a podcast recorded by awarded winning rapper and spoken word artist George the poet for BBC radio 5 live
• Isn't a convential radio show
• Recorded in chapters and released on bbc sounds
• Produced by Ben brick with guest contributors
• Each episode focuses on a particular theme relevant to it's young diverse educated audience eg. Flying the flag about celebrity and US history and sabrina boy about exploring trauma through black art
• The product is acclaimed for its engaging mix of drama, music, poetry and intelligent discussion of social issues
• After winning numerous UK podcast awards in 2019 it won the prestigious peabody award the first podcast outside the USA to win the award
• The bbc is often accused by its critics of being too white and middle class
• In 2017 an ofcom report stated that there was too little diversity at the cooperation both on and off screen
• It was also reported that young people and ethnic minorities felt particularly alienated from BBC content
• In 2021 bbc launched a diversity and inclusion plan overhauling recruitment and commising content that authentically and accurately presents diversity in the UK
• Part of this strategy is to have a 50:20:12 target ie. 50% of women workforce, 20% people of colour 12% disabled people
• Has an unconvential structure often jumping from topic to topic genre to genre
• Also uses specialised vocabulary that mixes high brow terms with the street dialect of London
• Purely commercial institutions would be less likely to produce similar products
• In November 2018 the bbc launched its sound streaming service featuring live broadcasting on demand, podcast, available on pcs laptop, tablet, phones
• George's unique and experimental approach and his evocation of young black British life might never have found a slot in convential radio schedule
• One element missing from podcasts compared to live radio is the interactive element in the shape of calls ins song requests, emails
• To add this dimension of interactivity and audience engagement George has launched a social media forum called common ground
• Common ground after signing up the user can listen to episodes then answer discussion questions after
• They can also enter the common area to read each other's responses and share audio, video, art and music that episode has inspired
• The BBC's charter requires that content reflect the diverse nature of British culture including minority groups and niche audiences
• Before on demand services via player this content was usually scheduled late at night on a less mainstream channel such as BBC
• The on demand nature of the podcast means it can reach a wider audience
• Podcasts have soared in popularity in the past decade with many like this American life becoming cultural events
• Minority groups who have been traditionally excluded from mainstream radio have used podcasts to find a voice
• The bbc charter requires that content reflects the diverse nature of British culture including minority groups and niche audience
• George is given complete control of the podcasts content this means he can mix styles, story telling, poetry, radio, drama and discuss serious social issues particularly offering space for marginalised voice
• Chapter 1 episode 3, a grenfell story offers a narrative about a teacher who role in the local community who dies in the disaster. Presents an unusual perspective on modern urban uk life especially for young people
• Curran and Seaton, challenges that media is controlled by a small number of companies driven by the logic of profit and power
• Nature of bbc content broadcast is at odds with logic and profit power. The licence fee feeds bbc producers from the pressure to generate profit and the way in which this impacts content
• The unique and fluid format of have you heard you George's podcast might also be used to support that socially diverse pattern of ownership help to create the conditions for more varied and adventurous media products
• Proliferation across a wide range of topics and genres in recent years
• Low production costs and inexpensive hosting costs offer producers to take risks and develop adventurous content. Still manage to reach diverse international diverse
• Regulation, livingstone and lunt as a psb the quite strict guidelines about what content can be broadcast and published
• BBC rarely features sex, nudity, swearing, follows the watershed
• As an unscheduled podcast it doesn't follow watershed follow watershed has written and verbal warnings that there might be adult lang and mature content. This challenges livingstone and lunts idea that new media is harder to regulate bbc has considered the access of potential audiences and regulated within the institution
• Social and cultural context, issue of diversity and inclusion have become significant in recent years especially after the blm protest of 2020
• The grenfell tower disaster of 2017 became a focus point for debate about how society treats underprivileged social groups some referring to the disaster as hurricane katrina moment comparing grenfell to the 2005 new Orleans disaster that exposed class division and economic disparity in the UK
• Dedicated 2 episodes in the first chapter to exploring lives of people in the community and how the disaster affected them