Journalism lecturer on the search for local radio listeners

A journalism lecturer is on the hunt for local radio listeners to help with a research project.

Alex Kocic, a lecturer and programme leader for BA Journalism at Edinburgh Napier University, is working on a study of local radio in Scotland as he does his PhD.

He wants to find out what people make of radio in Scotland, how often they listen to the radio, which stations they like and which ones they avoid, how satisfied they are with the stations’ local news provision and if there is anything people would like to see improved.

‘Scotland lacks significant regional and local news provision by radio,’ said Alex. ‘It finds itself in a peculiar position of not having any local public service radio, neither in major urban areas such as Glasgow or Edinburgh, nor in the rural ones like the Borders or Highlands, except for a few, limited BBC Scotland opt-outs.

‘My study aims to establish whether the current local news provision in Scotland – dominated by a network of commercial radio stations and supplemented by a national BBC station and a range of community stations – serves Scottish audiences well or not.’

Alex is looking to recruit participants for a focus group, lasting around 45 minutes, to be held online in July – face-to-face might be possible subject to government lockdown rules.

To express your interest and to find out more, email Alex via a.kocic@napier.ac.uk

Alex Kocic, Edinburgh.