CSP – THE VOICE

The Voice

Language

The newspaper originated in 1982, following a year of civil unrest throughout 1981.

“The media bias” of the previous year’s civil unrest in Brixton was noticed by Val McCalla. So, at the 1982 Notting Hill Carnival, he launched The Voice because he “saw the need for a newspaper that would address the issues that mattered to British-born African-Caribbean people who were trying to stake their claim to the only country they had ever known.”
Linking to Paul Gilroy: It seems evident that ‘The Voice’ are ever trying to dispel negative stereotypes and views of diversity across the UK by giving a voice to Black people who share their experiences/stories/words for change. He too noticed the racial binaries that were present in the media saying that “Black communities are constructed as an ‘other’ to white culture and are associated with criminal activity and lawlessness”

Compared to Black newspapers from the past who targeted Black immigrants, The Voice was originally keen to target the “second generation” who were born in Britain.
On their website, there is a link to a page called ‘Black British Voices’ which includes several articles that focus in on particular individuals and their ‘voice’

The Voice’s target audience is “the African and Caribbean diaspora (movement of people from their geographical origin) in the UK” which make up 4.2% (2.4 million) of the UK population

Clay Shirky’s ideas on Mass Amateurisation:

Whilst The Voice has moved to a hybrid way of distribution (they still produce a monthly print edition although lots of their day to day news can be accessed through their website or social media channels
It is evident that they need to keep a younger audience through quick,easy viewing whilst also trying to appeal to an older demographic who have been loyal to the newspaper since its origins