Jewish community station for Leeds in UK
November 12th, 2007 | by aobaoill |The United Kingdom has been rather late to the game in developing community radio – undoubtedly a legacy of the Thatcher years when, of course, we were informed that society (and presumably community) didn’t exist. New stations are now, however, being rolled out, with the latest being an announcement today of a new station to serve the Jewish community in Leeds. Here we see an example of the ‘community of interest’ model, which has been restricted in Ireland primarily to student stations, though there are numerous examples in the United States, from religious offerings to farmworker-focused services. Radio JCom will, we are told:
broadcast on medium wave for the Leeds Jewish community with information and programmes about the various interests of the community. The station will encourage participation by organisations and individuals, and offer training.
The initial website is already quite impressive. According to a preliminary check online:
The Leeds Jewish community is the second largest provincial community in Britain (exceeded only by Manchester), currently numbering over 8,000 (out of a total population of approximately for 430,000 for Leeds itself and 730,000 for the whole metropolitan borough).