This website does not attempt to present a history of BBC radio, nor does it claim to offer a comprehensive history of Britain's population of African and Caribbean background. There are several resources for those histories; for example, David Hendy's Life on Air: a History of Radio 4 and Hakim Adi's African and Caribbean People in Britain: a history, among many.
We instead foreground the primary sources and voices we have chosen to represent: that is, the original news scripts and the podcasts.
The theme pages are drawn from around 200 original news scripts. Each collection has an introduction that outlines our key findings and questions. Alongside the individual news scripts we ask probing questions, inviting the user to do further research and make their own connections. Wherever possible, we provide media context, using BBC's own news style guides and newspaper databases, such as the British Newspaper Archive. Alongside some of the news stories, you can also find extracts from our Clapping Back podcasts, giving either the perspective of people who lived through the reported events, or offering an intergenerational discussion and understanding of the historical context of the news reports. We do understand the value of the broader context when assessing primary sources, and we link, where possible, to more resources users can access to help them fully evaluate the news scripts.
Important Notice: Several of the histories and issues covered by this project are sensitive and can be upsetting. You may also find some of the language used in the original news scripts offensive or triggering. We have endeavoured to include content warnings where appropriate, but if you spot something that you feel needs a warning, please let us know by emailing us at e.liarou@bbk.ac.uk