CSP – The Voice

The Voice is a British national African-Caribbean newspaper located in the UK. The newspaper was founded back in 1982 by Val McCalla which he aimed to be the voice of the British African-Caribbean community. He addressed the interests of a generation of immigrants by passing on news from their countries of origin in the Caribbean and Africa, rather than addressing the concerns of the generations born in the UK. The print was issued weekly on a Thursday until 2019 when it then became monthly, the newspaper has also expanded onto social media and it even has their own website.

Industry:

  • The Voice was established with a £62,000 loan from Barclays Bank, at a time when African-Caribbean businesses found it particularly hard to get financial backing from banks. 
  • The cover price was 54 pence, and it was only sold in Greater London
  • The newspaper’s first editor Flip Fraser, led a team of journalists who set about addressing issues of interest to Britain’s African-Caribbean community. They combined human-interest stories and coverage of sports, fashion and entertainment with hard news and investigative reporting
  • In under a decade the paper was selling more than 50,000 copies weekly
  • The Voice is produced in tabloid format 

Representation:

  • “Britain’s most successful African-Caribbean newspaper”
    • In 2012, The Voice journalists were denied entry to the Olympic stadium despite the strong presence and interest in Black British athletes
    • July 2017 – The voice hosted a charity dinner for Usain Bolt before his final appearance in the World Championships. The event raised over £30,000 for Bolt and coach Glen Mills’ Racers Track Club
    • In 2022, the paper launched a survey to find out more about the lived experience of Black British people – linking to their active engagement showing a more genuine concern for their audience
    • The Voice newspaper is committed to celebrating black experience and aims to deliver “positive change by “informing the black community on important issues

Recognition and awards:

  • Young Voices – two “Best Magazine” awards from the Urban Music Awards  2010 and 2009
  • BBI Media and Entertainment Award 2008
  • Voice of Sports – Performance Award 2003 from Western Union
  • BEEAM Awards for Organisation Achievements 2003
  • Black Plus Awards 2002
  • Britain’s Ethnic Minority Federation at the Bank of England, Partnership Awards 1999
  • NLBA Enterprise Excellence Awards 1996
  • BGA Gospel Awards – Best Media 1980s

Audience:

 

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