The Voice (newspaper)

The Voice, founded in 1982, is the only British national black weekly newspaper operating in the United Kingdom. It is owned by The Gleaner Company Limited and publisher, GV Media Group Limited, and is aimed at the British African-Caribbean community. The paper is based in the London Docklands and is published every Thursday.

History

The Voice was founded in 1982 by Val McCalla,[1] who, while working on a London local paper called the East End News in 1981, led a group of businessmen and journalists in a new and uncertain endeavour – the creation of a weekly newspaper to cater for the interests of British-born black people. Until then the black press in Britain had always addressed a generation of immigrants, relaying news from their countries of origin in the Caribbean and Africa. Publications were named accordingly, with titles such as the West Indian Gazette, West Indian World, The Caribbean Times and West Africa. According to Beulah Ainley, who worked with McCalla on the East End News, "nobody thought the Voice would work",[2] however, as The Independent has noted: "The previous summer, Brixton had rioted, and black enterprises of all kinds were now being encouraged in the hope of preventing a repetition. London's councils, in particular, were keen to advertise for black staff, and even keener to do so in a black newspaper. McCalla also had a business partner, Alex Pascall, with BBC connections; soon the Corporation was advertising too."[2]

The Voice got off the ground with a £62,000 loan from Barclays Bank. At a time when black businesses found it particularly hard to get backing from banks, The Voice was helped by two factors.

One was Barclays' desire to show support for black causes, to counteract the adverse publicity attracted by their investments in South Africa. The other was the existence of the Loan Guarantee Scheme, set up by the Conservative government as part of Margaret Thatcher's policy of aiding and encouraging the growth of small businesses in Britain. Under the Loan Guarantee Scheme the Government secured 80% of the loan, thereby reducing the risk taken by the bank. As it turned out the loan was fully paid off within five years.

The first issue of The Voice was printed to coincide with the Notting Hill Carnival in August 1982. Its cover price was 54 pence, and was only sold in London.

The Voice′s first office was in Mare Street, Hackney, East London. The first editor, Flip Fraser, led a team of young journalists who set about addressing the issues that mattered to Britain's Black community. They laid the foundation for the future success of the paper, combining human-interest stories and coverage of sports, fashion and entertainment with hard news and investigative reporting.

Within two decades it had become "Britain's most successful black newspaper".[3] and had fought off a challenge from the New Nation, an upbeat, aspirational rival (funded by Rupert Murdoch's son-in-law) that accused The Voice of being "just a doom-and-gloom sheet".[4]

Controversies

The Voice has been involved with a number of controversies in the past. In 1995, its "inflammatory reporting" about police behaviour was alleged by other media to have "fuelled discontent" among the black community that resulted in rioting that year.[2] In 2000 Val McCalla led an investigation into alleged financial irregularities after £400,000 of the paper's money apparently could not be accounted for.[5] In 2002 there were calls to boycott The Voice after remarks in a BBC interview by the then editor, Mike Best, about "stop-and-search" policing.[6]

2004 takeover

Two years after the death of McCalla in 2002, ownership of the newspaper was taken over by the Jamaican Gleaner Company.[7][8] Its publisher is GV Media Group Limited.

The Voice headquarters are at: 1st Floor East, Moorfoot House, 221 Marsh Wall, London E14 9FJ.

Type and circulation

The Voice is produced in tabloid format and is a weekly newspaper, published on a Thursday, priced at 90p. There is also an online version.[9]

The Voice newspaper is available nationwide through 5,000 retailers. It is reported that its circulation peaked at 57,000 in the early to mid-1990s and that the newspaper later abandoned ABC circulation certification.[1][10]

Newspaper sections

The newspaper has different sections:

Monthly features covered in the newspaper include:

Communities visited by The Voice include: Lewisham, Lambeth, Croydon, Hackney, Newham and Birmingham.

Staff

The editor is George Ruddock. Other employees include Rodney Hinds – Sports & Features Editor; Davina Hamilton – Entertainment Editor; and Dionne Grant – Online Editor.[11]

Well over a hundred people have been on The Voice′s payroll over the years. Many of today's most popular black television, radio and print journalists have in the past have been associated with the newspaper and its website.

Its roll of honour includes former Commission for Racial Equality chair Trevor Phillips,[12] former BBC and currently Al Jazeera newsman Rageh Omaar,[12] ITV's Martin Bashir,[3][12] authors Diran Adebayo,[3] Leone Ross, and Gemma Weekes; film maker and novelist Kolton Lee and Vanessa Walters, broadcasters MTV Jasmine Dotiwala, Henry Bonsu,[13] Dotun Adebayo, Onyekachi Wambu[14] and publisher Steve Pope, among others.

Recognition and awards

The Voice has received many awards which include:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Newspapers", Black In Britain.
  2. 1 2 3 Andy Beckett, "The Voice in the Wilderness", The Independent, 11 February 1996.
  3. 1 2 3 Angelique Chrisafis, "McCalla, publisher who gave black people a voice, dies", The Guardian, 24 August 2002.
  4. ↑ Decca Aitkenhead, "Black and successful? Here's the good news", The Independent, 13 October 1996.
  5. ↑ Paul Lashmar, "Whispers of strife at The Voice", The Independent, 22 August 2000.
  6. ↑ David Rowan, "Best is out of tune, say black community's 'real' voices", The Observer, 10 March 2002.
  7. ↑ Chris Tryhorn, "Voice sold off in £4m deal", MediaGuardian, The Guardian, 20 May 2004.
  8. ↑ Chris Tryhorn, "Gleaner group acquires the Voice", The Guardian, 21 May 2004.
  9. ↑ The Voice website.
  10. ↑ Steven Pope, "From a shout to a whisper: The death of Val McCalla, founder of the Voice, has turned the spotlight on the black press in Britain", The Guardian, 2 September 2002.
  11. ↑ "Contact us", The Voice online.
  12. 1 2 3 Ian Burrell, "Lester Holloway: 'Victim stories have had their day in black papers'", The Independent, 5 May 2008.
  13. ↑ Steve Pope, "Total blackout", Comment, The Guardian, 19 March 2004.
  14. ↑ "Author: Onyekachi Wambu", Random House Group.
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