This episode of Spotlight on Leicester features Dave Bushby from Age UK’s Carers Support Service. The discussion explores the realities of unpaid carers in Leicester, the support available through groups, trips, and activities, and the importance of carers’ health and well-being. Dave highlights the role of community connections, GP referrals, and social prescribing, as well as the challenges of funding and recognition. The conversation shows why carers’ contributions matter and how services help them feel supported and valued. In this episode of Spotlight on Leicester, John Coster and Rob Watson are joined by Dave Bushby, Team Manager of the Carers Support Service at Age…

Explore how communications managers can counter polarisation by rebuilding civic media from the ground up. This article sets out a participatory storytelling approach, showing why first-hand, place-based accounts outperform top-down messaging. Learn the Community Reporters model, design principles (proximity, continuity, capability), and practical steps for anchoring channels in local institutions. It explains how archetypal motives sustain change, and why treating communication as civic infrastructure strengthens trust, service innovation, and social-democratic legitimacy.

Labour’s cultural agenda is being shaped by a technocratic focus on the “creative industries,” prioritising scale, growth and industrial frameworks. This risks sidelining community arts and civic media that build cultural democracy at the local level. Drawing on experience at the 2025 Labour Conference in Liverpool, this critique argues that the missing middle of cultural practice—grassroots arts, local media, and participatory initiatives—must be supported.

The latest Spotlight on Heritage podcast features Rob Watson in conversation with John Coster about the upcoming Saturday Heritage Fair in Leicester. They discuss the importance of independent heritage, where family stories and personal artefacts are valued alongside official narratives. The fair offers a space for intergenerational learning, storytelling, and authentic community connection. With live broadcasts from Soar Sound and contributions from Radio Lear, the event highlights how lived experience shapes understanding of the past, present, and future. This edition of Spotlight on Heritage turns the tables, with Rob Watson interviewing John Coster about the upcoming Saturday Heritage Fair.

In this edition of Spotlight on Arts we talk with Nicholas Daniel OBE, one of Britain’s most celebrated oboists and the long-standing Creative Director of the Leicester International Music Festival. Nicholas shares his story of how he first came to prominence as BBC Young Musician of the Year at just 18, and how his passion for performance, teaching, and commissioning new works has shaped a career that now influences audiences worldwide. The conversation explores the themes and programme of the 2025 Leicester International Music Festival, which takes place from…

The latest Spotlight on Arts podcast explores the work of the Bell Foundry Community Committee in Loughborough. Rob Watson speaks with Trevor Potter and Miffy Ryan about grassroots responses to deprivation, poverty, and social isolation. They describe how local residents are developing self-sustaining projects such as gardening, upcycling, and community-led creativity to strengthen resilience and independence. The discussion highlights questions of class, empowerment, and the value of grassroots action in shaping stronger neighbourhoods built on trust, talent, and shared responsibility. This edition of Spotlight on Arts comes from Loughborough town centre, where Rob Watson spoke with Trevor Potter and Miffy Ryan about the Bell Foundry Community Committee.

The Spotlight on Leicester programme at the Communities Together Festival 2025 highlighted the role of community radio in fostering civic dialogue, creativity, and shared identity. The discussion raised wider questions about how grassroots media can address the UK’s pressing challenges: declining social cohesion, economic stagnation, antagonistic mainstream outlets, and the reduction of BBC local services. Can community media be sustained as essential civic infrastructure for democratic life and cultural exchange?

This Spotlight on Arts episode features live artist and curator Miffy Ryan in conversation with John Coster and Rob Watson. Miffy reflects on her journey from early creative interventions at school to her current practice of live art, curation, and community collaboration. She discusses using art as a language to process emotions, challenge institutional expectations, and create open, improvisational spaces where people can explore creativity on their own terms. Highlights include her “Lady of the Sea” performance at Leicester’s Highcross shopping centre, her focus on trust and vulnerability in collaboration, and her role in the upcoming Docspace exhibition.

The Leicester Communities Together Festival on 13 September 2025 brought Jubilee Square alive with advice stalls, performances and community spirit. Hosted by John Coster for the Spotlight on Leicester podcast, the event featured engaging conversations with local leaders, artists and volunteers. Topics ranged from diversity and resilience to mental health and creativity, showing how Leicester’s communities work together. Well attended and lively, the festival proved both informative and entertaining, highlighting collaboration as a strength of the city. The Leicester Communities Together Festival, held on 13 September 2025 in Jubilee Square, brought hundreds of people together for a day of shared learning, celebration and connection.

At the Leicester Communities Together Festival on 13 September 2025, Jubilee Square hosted advice stalls, performances and family activities. Reporting for Soar Sound, Helen Pettman, editor of the Evington Echo, interviewed local organisations including Citizen's Advice, Age UK, Leicester Libraries and Turning Point. Her conversations highlighted support for housing, mental health, carers, fostering and community creativity. Well attended and energetic, the festival showed how Leicester’s communities share knowledge and build connections, with organisers praised for delivering an event that was both informative and enjoyable. The Leicester Communities Together Festival, held on 13 September 2025 in Jubilee Square, proved to be a lively and meaningful occasion, bringing local people and organisations into the heart of the city.

BBC Radio Leicester’s claim to be “the only station made in Leicester for Leicester” has been challenged, with the BBC now admitting the promotion overstated its case. In a Freedom of Information response, the BBC acknowledged the vital role of community radio, regretting the campaign overlooked their contribution. This episode highlights the importance of collaboration and respect across the city’s media landscape.

Do Ofcom’s proposals on local radio news fall short of what is needed to restore trust, accountability, and civic value? In its response Better Media stresses that local means local: news must be gathered and produced within the communities it serves. The call is for more creative and innovative thinking, centred on decentralisation, subsidiarity, and open data. By building a…

This blog explores how UK public service communications can align with the Public Sector Equality Duty. It asks key questions for Equality Impact Assessments and highlights how community media provides bottom-up, place-based engagement that strengthens belonging, representation, and inclusive dialogue. Public service communications in the UK are under pressure to be more accountable, transparent, and responsive. One area that cannot be overlooked is the duty to consider equality in every aspect of policy making.

Grounded sociological research into media use in the UK is limited and under-attended. While community radio repeats outdated formats, social media creators like Billy Moore’s All or Nothing show how people adapt media for social cohesion, creativity, and everyday needs—beyond Ofcom and BBC control. Our media is ubiquitous. It is everywhere. From streaming services and podcasts to community radio, WhatsApp groups, and TikTok feeds, our daily lives are saturated with platforms and channels.

The Minneapolis church shooting has reignited debate over how news outlets handle gender self-identification in reporting. While some prioritised empathy by affirming pronouns, others stressed accuracy by identifying biological sex. Drawing on Jung’s warning about the dangers of absolutising virtues, this blog argues that empathy without accuracy erodes trust, just as seen in the Casey Review. Public service media like the BBC risk collapse if audiences believe compassion is being used to obscure facts rather than inform truthfully.

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit recently rejected complaints about its use of gender identity terms in coverage of the trial of Joanna Rowland-Stuart. By following the court’s own language, the BBC avoided exercising independent editorial judgement at a time when legal clarity has been established by the Supreme Court: sex in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex. This raises concerns about the corporation’s role as a trusted national broadcaster.

Hi, I've issued this statement about Ofcom's decision today to let the BBC go ahead with Radio 3 Unwind. Radio Lear expresses disappointment at Ofcom’s proposal to approve the BBC’s application to launch Radio 3 Unwind on DAB. While we support the principle of offering a greater range of reflective and culturally meaningful content on national platforms, this move risks undermining the already fragile ecology of small-scale, arts-focused radio services.

Dear Supporter Each week at Decentered Media, we hold space for thoughtful, purposeful discussion about the role of community media in supporting democratic participation and inclusive communication. Our Thursday 4pm Zoom sessions have become a regular opportunity for subscribers to explore leadership challenges, share experience, and shape ideas that reflect the values and realities of grassroots media practice. This Thursday, we’ll continue our ongoing work developing a shared language for evaluating community media.

Community media plays a vital role in shaping the conversations that matter, but too often, social policy fails to account for the real needs of people when it comes to communication and media. While market-driven approaches dominate, there’s a growing gap in how we recognise and support media that serves communities, fosters social cohesion, and strengthens civic life. This week’s discussion will explore the development of an evaluation toolkit for community-focused communications.

Hello Decentered Media Patrons, I hope you’re all doing well. I’m writing with an important update about the next phase of Decentered Media and how your support is shaping our work. Over the past few months, we’ve been refining our purpose and clarifying how we can make the most significant impact in community-focused communications. We’re especially excited to share that we’re developing a…

How do we demonstrate the personal, social, and civic transformation that community media enables? How can participatory and developmental media practices be evaluated in ways that reflect their true impact on individuals and communities? This week’s Community Media Leadership discussion will focus on the development of a Community Media Evaluation Toolkit, exploring how we measure the value of grassroots media beyond conventional audience metrics.

This week’s Community Media Leadership discussion (Thursday, 4pm UK time via Zoom) will focus on a key challenge: How do we evaluate the impact of community media? For leaders in community-focused communications, the ability to measure and articulate impact is critical—not just to secure funding, but to ensure media initiatives are truly serving and empowering communities. Without meaningful evaluation, we risk reinforcing superficial engagement metrics rather than fostering…

Dear Decentered Media Patreon Subscribers, I wanted to bring to your attention a critical yet overlooked issue in the current General Election campaign: the role of media policy in fostering social cohesion. Despite the passing of the Media Act, political debates have largely ignored how media policies affect the representation of diverse groups, dissemination of information, and shaping of public opinion.

Dear Decentered Media Patreons Many thanks for your ongoing support, it is much appreciated. This week, we will continue our exploration into the development of communities of practice. It is essential to clear the ground first, so our discussion will focus on the terms and language that are used to define, bound, and structure our sense of community and shared experience.