Fair way to deal with debate?
Borough: Radio show on golf course sale is cancelled
A Windsor councillor has said he feels ‘censored’ after his radio show was pulled off the air following complaints about its content before it was even broadcast.
Cllr Wisdom Da Costa (WWRA, Clewer and Dedworth West) was due to speak to Cllr Geoff Hill (tBF, Oldfield) and Debbie Ludford on his radio show, Politically Correct.
Broadcast from 6-7pm on Monday on River Radio, the show was due to discuss the Maidenhead Great Park protest outside the town hall (see p6).
However, according to River Radio director
Michael Bourton, the show received complaints from ‘more than one person’ at the Royal Borough, but he could not confirm if it was from officers or councillors.
The complaints caused the show to be pulled and led to Cllr Da Costa’s suspension from the station.
On Tuesday, Cllr Da Costa said the show had now been terminated.
Speaking to the Advertiser, the independent councillor said he felt the show, which he has hosted since March, had been ‘censored’ by suppressing views opposing the golf course development.
Cllr Da Costa said: “It’s been a great show, I’ve learnt so much through it.
“We’ve had a whole range of MPs, we’ve had a fantastic
discussion on political thinking with Gareth Bacon and James Sunderland, we’ve had Matthew Barber on – the list is endless.”
“The strapline of my show is to entertain, inform and empower, which is why we were slated to have Debbie Ludford and Cllr Hill from the Maidenhead Great Park group on the show.
“Here are residents taking action and doing something, so it is a standard interview [to ask] ‘why are you doing this?’, ‘what’s going on here?’ and ‘what’s the problem?’”
Cllr Da Costa added he was ‘absolutely horrified’ to find out that he was taken off air as he prepared to ask questions that ‘any good journalist would cover’.
He claimed that he had ‘more Conservative politicians’ on the show throughout its history, and said: “You can’t accuse me of having any bias there – even Ofcom use the term ‘due impartiality’ – and I think if you look at my show, I’m straight down the middle.
“It was really horrifying that this (the Great Park movement) is a key thing which residents are doing locally that we want to tell other residents what’s going on here only to receive a complaint.”
After the show was initially suspended, Mr Bourton, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “As we are about to launch River Radio on DAB, we will be subject to Ofcom rules and regulations.
“That means we must adhere to impartiality at all times.
“We take any complaint seriously and as a part of our protocol have suspended Mr Da Costa until we have all the information.
“We are not attributing any blame to any party at the moment, but it would be irresponsible to broadcast until we have all the facts.”
As the issue is a political matter, the council said it could not comment.