A new radio show for travellers and gypsies in the East of England was launched this weekend. Rokker Radio is presented by Jake Bowers, Britain’s only Romani journalist, and is a weekly radio show broadcast across six local radio stations in the BBC East region.
Jake started working for the BBC a few months ago when he launched Rokker Radio on BBC Three Counties Radio, broadcasting across Beds, Herts and Bucks.
The show has been a big success with travellers and regular Three Counties listeners so is being expanded to broadcast across the East of England on BBC Essex, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, BBC Radio Norfolk, BBC Radio Suffolk and BBC Radio Northampton. The weekly show focuses on issues affecting the whole of the travelling community and gives an opportunity to talk about subjects that are rarely aired outside the travelling community.
The show aims to report their stories in a balanced way, and to dispel some of the myths about travelling communities. Jake Bowers says: “I’m really looking forward to broadcasting across the East of England. Rokker Radio is the only programme for traveller communities on UK radio and I’m looking forward to hearing from gypsies and travellers based in the region.”
Karen Shrosbery, the programme’s producer, says: “News of the show’s existence has been passed by word of mouth and we’re getting people contacting us from all over the country and as far away as eastern Europe, where there is a large gypsy community.”