IC Radio in exposé shutdown
Complainant objects to alleged defamation of character
IC Radio was shut down last Friday after the college received a serious complaint following a show in which the presenters discussed the “dirty little secrets” of an unnamed student organisation. The complaint is thought to have been from a former or current committee member of the organisation who stated that their primary objection to the programme was “defamation of character”. The show, which aired on Sunday 23 October, has since been removed from the IC Radio website.
Hamza Shaikh, a fourth year Imperial student, and Ibad Rizvi, a student at UCL, who hosted the controversial show later told Felix that they felt an “obligation to expose the corruption of the organisation and protect students.”
During the show, Shaikh described how “charity money [raised by the organisation] that was supposed to be used to support flood victims in Pakistan was used to fund business class tickets to fly friends from Pakistan to London, and that total cost was around £16,000.” Rizvi later told Felix, “It still haunts me that [this organisation] isn’t registered as a charity, but they still do charity events. Where does all the money go?”
It haunts me that [this organisation] isn’t registered as a charity
Shaikh and Rizvi also stated that there is a lack of democracy within the organisation, using one example of the events manager being promoted to the position of manager with no elections. Shaikh exclaimed, “Talk about democracy, shall we?” He went on to say that the organisation “is not backed by anyone, students assign each other roles, there is no merit involved, no competence.”
Meanwhile, Shaikh and Rizvi feel that they were well within their rights to have such a discussion, stating: “It’s free media and we were expressing our opinions. And anyway, we don’t have anything personal against these people. We’re just saying what other people say.”
The pair is adamant not to let any complaints put them off doing similar shows in the future. Shaikh told Felix that, “I really like to use radio in a productive way. If we hear of corruption again, we will talk about it.” Rizvi added, “There are a lot of people who want to expose [this organisation], but not everyone has the opportunity.”
This marks the second shutdown in a year following a similar event last February following a complaint made to the Rector regarding the use of racially offensive language during a broadcast.
If we hear of corruption again, we will talk about it.
The Station Manager at IC Radio, Aislinn Hayes, has reminded all society members that they are responsible for what they (or anyone else on their show) say on air. Remarking that such a situation should not detract from students enjoying their involvement with the station, Hayes added that, “something like this could really hurt the reputation of the establishment, so IC Radio will always help in these situations."
