A lttle interaction goes a long way

I spent yesterday afternoon in the company of a BBC radio producer and an expert on the built environment. And then I rushed off to my job as a cleaner. The unusual encounter came about as a result of a comment I made on the BBC’s website, specifically the Radio 4 “iPM” programme’s comment section, regarding CCTV.

Internet access has opened up opportunities for communication that were unheard of just a few years ago. There was a time when you had to rely on the post to get your point of view across to a news programme, which took a while and there was likely to be some editing. Now you can email an opinion and, depending on the time available or the number of emails received, your comment could be aired as soon as it arrives.

The radio phone in show has been a huge success in Iraq, following the fall of Saddam Hussain, Iraqi citizens rushing to exercise their right to express an opinion after years of having to keeping them to themselves. This form of expression seems to have been born in 1940’s America, when some talk show hosts began to take calls from their listeners. Now they take emails and text messages as well.

The BBC has become particularly good at involving their viewers and listeners in programme making. That’s how I came to be standing under a busy flyover on a hot afternoon with two people who were far more confident about what they were doing than I was. We were feet away from the place where a man had died, alone, after being stabbed in a grimy subway. Even before this happened I had felt that this space needed to be used in order to prevent an assault of this nature. The incident had led to calls for CCTV, which I feel would be expensive and pointless, and this was confirmed by Henry, an expert on this kind of problem.

I couldn’t quite believe that I was actually talking to the man whose book I had read in order to give me some plan of action but Chris, the radio producer, had arranged it so that we could discuss the phenomenon of SLOAP (space left over after planning). We hope that the feature about this on a Saturday afternoon radio programme will encourage some debate about the problems caused by these blank underused spaces. They tend to come about when large structures like flyovers are imposed on existing communities by urban planners who don’t go back to see the impact of their creations.

The presence of an expert allowed me to test the ideas that I had for using the space in a positive way. I would probably not have had access to him had I not expressed my opinion in the way I did. Someone at the BBC recognised that my story would have some appeal to other listeners which made it worth their while investigating. Everyone gains.

The Vanessa Feltz Show on BBC Radio London is a very popular call-in, airing between 9am and noon, Monday to Saturday. Charming, funny Vanessa has just won the Sony Radio Academy Speech Radio Personality Award. I think part of her appeal is that she really has been through the mill and isn’t afraid to talk about it. She comes across as someone who gets it when her callers describe their experiences but she isn’t afraid to declare herself if she disagrees with you. Her show is a very good way of gauging the opinion of a cross section of Londoners which is why politicians and other significant public figures are prepared to appear on it and take questions from listeners. The Mayor of London is a regular. Listen online and see if you agree with me.

I hope that my rather rambling comments will lead to a positive outcome in my neighbourhood as a result of my interaction with the media. It was certainly made easy for me by a friendly BBC man with smiley eyes and a man who is (thankfully) obsessed with his subject.

I love the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0089nbb
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/radio/presenters/vanessa/index.shtml