It was good to be asked to appear on Aled Jones’s show last Sunday.

Here is part 1 of 2, re: the Interview …

And I’m pleased to say that our regular Sikh contributor Dr savi Arora is with us today… morning Savi… good to see you again.

Now we’ve been talking about places of worship on the show this morning what can you tell us about Sikh places of worship?

• Sikh temples are called Gurdwaras… which literally means Guru’s House or Door. So it’s the place to goto to learn from the Gurus. Each Gurdwara houses the Guru Granth Sahib… which is the holy book and of course religious ceremonies take place there including events like weddings.

But the gurdwara is for more than just worship isn’t it?

• As well as being a place for religious services, the Gurdwara also serves as a community centre, a school, a guest house for pilgrims and travellers – and not just Sikhs , occasionally a clinic, and a base for local charitable activities.
  
  

Now the famous Golden Temple in Amritsar is recognised as one of the most beautiful religious buildings in the world… what are Gurdwaras like in the UK?

• • Well most of the Sikh community in this country was established after the second world war so for a long time Gurdwaras were in people’s houses or commercial spaces. And then communities would buy a school or industrial complex that were no longer being used… but now we have some large and spectacular ones… for example, both Southall and West London based Gurdwara’s have been visited by Prince Charles and the Queen over the last few years. In fact one that my father went to was originally in a an old dairy that the community purchased (this is true? Yes?)
  • One of the oldest Gurdwara is Britain, in all of Europe in fact, which is in Shepherds Busch in London and it is celebrating it’s 100^th anniversary this year.

It’s interesting that churches are often used by other religious communities when they are no longer required for Christian worship… what does that say

• • My understanding is that there have been church halls that have been made available for groups to run Yoga classes and community events. I believe that this shows there is not a sense of possessiveness or a demand for exclusiveness related building ownership
  • If we all respect each other in terms of the cliché that there are many paths and they all lead to the same goal, then as a message for greater interfaith understanding this has to be viewed as a positive. I personally am a big fan of bringing people together to raise funds for a common cause. Amazingly people then forget their differences and focus on the common cause a common love for doing something for humanity under a house that happens to be where some go to pray.

BREAK FOR MUSIC

Popularity: 45% [?]

I’ve recently put together the following based on an Interview with Harinder Singh of the Sikh Research Institute (http://www.sikhri.org).

I welcome feedback…

Popularity: 49% [?]

I’ve heard that the new look for BBC World news will be in place from 21st of April. Apparently, this is after 18 months of work costing over half a million pounds. The purpose of the exercise is to bring together all strands of the BBC News brand, for example: online, local, international etc, i.e: under a strong recognised brand / logo. Its weekday bulletins on BBC One will be renamed The BBC News at One, Six and Ten while BBC News 24 becomes BBC News. Under the changes viewers outside the UK will watch BBC World News, rather than BBC World, and all news programmes will feature a revised globe graphic.

The BBC has said…

“We are simplifying the branding structure. The marketplace is getting more and more cluttered and it was important to harness the various parts of BBC News”

I wonder about this cost, albeit that it has been suggested that the latest branding will last 5 years. My concern is about the return on capital employed. No, not as a financial measure of investment vs return but in terms of the value that we get as the main end clients and source of BBC funds.

I’ve spoken about the need for positive media in the past but I also believe that any news service must be reflective of today’s society. Too many times key events are overlooked or simply considered as non-newsworthy. Take for example, the need to spread good news in the areas of community cohesion. On many occasions massive events are given less that 10seconds of air time. Surely, the communication of communities working for good causes will create a sense of common purpose. The nations psyche will then evolve around mutual respect.

Who does set today’s agenda? Is the media lead by what is fashionable or is there a sense of sadistic pleasure to raise someone’s profile and then to drop them from a great height.

It is easy to blame the media and outlets, maybe we should consider that the media is simply reflecting what is happening in today’s society.

On Sunday I gazed at the magazine racks of a local supermarket. It always amazes me how there are so many different interests and hobbies. Each has its own set of enthusiasts and followers. It must be hard for outlets like the BBC to filter news that it believes will have a general appeal. This is where my main issue lies, re: the cost of the revamp. Don’t get me wrong, I value the impartiality, the wonderful presenters and format of many of the documentaries and features. My concern is about the need for greater investment in time, research and understanding what matters to people. Revamping to re-enforce a brand is fine but if the quality of what is being delivered remains unchanged, then it is a bit like placing a new coat on an existing car. Maybe what is really needed is the fine tuning of the engine.

* More community based stories
* The voice of diversity
* Allowing the public an opportunity to present news
* Not being mean on the time given to massive community gatherings

Popularity: 37% [?]

One of my pet subjects has been the power of media and also the advent of what is being described as ‘new media’. In recent years I have suggested that those are hoping to ‘fight’ against traditional reporting and stereo typing should create their own media. Now I’m not saying that this strategy should be abandoned but there is an opportunity to consider how the current media operates.

The whole arena of reporting got me thinking about the role of Press Relations and its role on influencing editorial chief’s, especially in leading periodicals and commentators sound bytes.

Wikipedia suggests that modern PR can be defined as the ability to  evaluates a product or individual’s public perception through market research. Once data is collected and challenges are identified, solutions are presented in a campaign strategy to meet goals. Techniques may vary from campaign to campaign but some standard tools used are; press releases, press kits, satellite feeds, pod casts, web casts, wire service distribution of information and Internet placement. Others include entertainment product placement (television, events, celebrity), product launches, press conferences, media seminars, producing events, speechwriting, establishing partnerships and more is often required.

Last week I met a specialist in PR and he suggested that the media simply wants to ‘talk’ about stuff! In other words sometimes by being more creative or creating a ‘buzz’ around the things that we do can create an interest and therefore coverage. I then considered his point in the context that maybe we will not totally overcome the obessession of some media outlets to feature celebrity lifestyle or even scandals but we may be able to generate positive stories.

Interestingly, he also suggested that generally there was a negative tone to reporting news and views. When you think about it he s quite right. In the UK we may get a 30 seconds of a good news story at the end of News at 10 but it is often positioned as a quirk or even a funny item to lighten the mood. However, lightening the mood should not be at the cost of respectability or victimisation.

Take Bollywood’s relentless negative portrayal of some religions. The humour element is not global and on so many levels and occasions blasphemous. Yet, we appear to not be able to stop them. One suggestion could be to ‘push’ positive stories about people. Those individuals from different backgrounds that are helping communities. The theory being that negative images could be potentially knocked out by positive ones, i.e.: With enough good news in the air that celebrates life, maybe we can change the behaviour of editorial staff and ultimately the way that we should respect each other.

Popularity: 60% [?]