Unpacking London's Pirate Radio "Problem"

[The Poet]

Unpacking London’s pirate radio problem

By Matthew Lasar

I’ve been thinking a lot about reports that the United Kingdom’s broadcast regulator has shut down 400 pirate radio stations over the last two years, many of them situated in London. Well over a third of those Ofcom busts took place in two boroughs: Haringey in North London and Lambeth in South London. Why these specific areas? Radio Survivor reader Jerry Drawhorn asks some good questions in a response to my post:

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“I’m wondering if these are ethnic neighborhoods where the broadcasters might be filling a gap in the regulated BBC and community radio programming? Are they predominantly music programmers? Religious? Foreign language? Kids with a knack for electronics? Why the desire for broadcast rather than an internet station?”

I pondered some of these queries in my contribution to our sixth podcast. To get at the situation I tapped into the London Poverty Profile, which has tons of data about that city’s nearly three dozen boroughs. Here’s what the profile says about Haringey:

Read more:
http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2015/07/20 ... o-problem/