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Local radio maters


Dominic Blake, senior reporter and FoC for BBC Radio Solent, on radio’s role during Covid-19


which the BBC found itself planning at the start of the pandemic. Te response was immediate. Within a week 16,500 employees were working from home. BBC local radio stations switched to four- hourly programmes designed to keep presenters in reserve and to make programme sharing easier in the event of widespread infection. Visitors were banned and working areas rapidly reconfigured to comply with social-distancing rules. Local journalists continued to report live and on location, but only when safe and necessary. Tese results have been astonishingly successful, with no known cases of virus transmission between staff. Local radio bulletins became half-


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hourly and have been kept up 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Our programmes contained a constant stream of help, support and advice. We launched the Make A Difference campaign, which has already seen 800,000 listeners geting in touch to offer help to their communities.


ow can we stay on air, with only 20 per cent of staff available to us? Tat was the worst- case scenario for


Every week we broadcasted the Clap for Carers, virtual church services and even a virtual pub bringing people together for important moments such as weddings, birthdays and anniversaries. We have explained complex new rules, the government’s Covid-19 aid packages for workers, highlighted problems and challenged the authorities whenever that was required. Where was the PPE (personal protective equipment)? How would the elderly be protected? When, where and how would be people be tested for the virus? As I write, my station is looking at the proposals which will allow more shops to open and finding out how they plan to keep people safe. As the disease spread,


it was our grim task to report hundreds of deaths in local hospitals and its devastating impact on care homes, but we have also helped people to make it through the darkest days. Listeners have talked about their hopes and fears. Tey’ve used the airwaves to thank and


encourage key workers; people like 75-year-old Pam who called to pay tribute to the NHS for the support given to her dying son. Across BBC local radio, the reaction has been inspiring. It is estimated that regular listener figures have rocketed from six to eight million since the end of March. One day, we hope to report that the pandemic is over, but until then we will continue to serve our communities, providing facts, free from opinions, with the reassurance of trusted and familiar voices.


Bob Norris Solent branch has launched an award for


three journalism students in memory of its “cherished” former chair, Bob Norris, who believed passionately that education and training would bring about diversity in the industry. Bob, a former NUJ assistant general secretary, was on the NCTJ board. Te prizes will awarded in summer. htps://www. holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2020/news/ new-award-launches-in-journalist-and- training-chiefs-memory/


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