An announcer with an Irish accent says the next show is presented by \u201cHussain Bakhshi, who is originally from Afghanistan, but is now living in Ireland\u201d.<\/p>\n
A soft voice with a different twang is next.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello everyone, welcome to Home for All, with me, Hussain Bakhshi, and I would like to say for you, Happy Nowruz today and Eid Mubarak,\u201d he said on a 22 March show.<\/p>\n
He then introduced his guest, Genia Mahato. \u201cWelcome to our show, Dear Genia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Until recently, Hussain Bakhshi would commute every week to Ballyfermot Civic Centre to record a show for Together FM<\/a>, a community radio station serving west Dublin.<\/p>\n He still does the show, but pre-records a few episodes each month to run week by week because it takes him an hour by bus to get there, said Bakhshi, recently, sitting at a city centre caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n Bakhshi has a full-time job. He volunteers on the radio show in his spare time.<\/p>\n He\u2019s not new to broadcasting, though. In Afghanistan, he worked in the media for years. In 2015, he set up an education centre, where he taught kids how to present and speak eloquently in public. \u201cAnd continued until 2023,\u201d said Bakhshi.<\/p>\n Then, about two years into the Taliban\u2019s recovery of power, Bakhshi moved to Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n Volunteer-run community radio stations are the most likely places to hear differently accented voices presenting their own shows, said Brian Greene, chair of Community Radio Ireland (CRAOL).<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the same glass ceiling that women have had breaking into the male-dominated broadcasting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Over in Cork, Fahmeda Naheed, who was born in Pakistan, has been presenting her own chat show on Cork city community radio for the past three years, she said.<\/p>\n At the moment, there are a few presenters<\/a> on national public radio who have immigrant parents or moved here as kids with their family, but it\u2019s harder to come by programmes presented by people with varied accents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both Bakhshi and Naheed say they have thought about the idea that their accent might not be seen as the right one for horizons beyond community radio.<\/p>\n But from his perspective, Bakhshi said, accent shouldn’t be an issue as long as you speak clearly. Besides, he said, everyone has an accent, right?<\/p>\n \u201cEven Irish people themselves or American people, one part of the country speaks in one way, the other part, another way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Greene, chair of CRAOL, said in his view, national radio can still snub people born here<\/a> who don\u2019t have a cut-glass south Dublin lilt, let alone people with accents from different countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n A spokesperson for RT\u00c9 said in response to an interview request about the national public broadcaster\u2019s perspective on the issue that it was looking to arrange one, but couldn\u2019t fulfil it in time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tune into 87.5 FM<\/p>\n When driving on the M50 or any road in or around Dublin, said Greene, tune into 87.5 FM.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no channel on 87.5. It\u2019s just static,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But if you listen carefully, it gradually picks up a parade of sounds from other cars\u2019 radios, each wafting in the air for a few seconds as the cars slide out of view, Greene said.<\/p>\n The voices are revelatory, he said, showing just how many people around us are listening to radio shows and podcasts in different tongues.<\/p>\n \u201cYou hear a kaleidoscope of different sounds musically and in accents. The variety that you get there is astounding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For Greene, he said, that serves as proof of just how crucial it is for national public radio to broadcast voices that speak with accents that lots of other Dubliners have.\u00a0<\/p>\n Almost one in five people living in Dublin were born outside of Ireland and the United Kingdom, said the 2022<\/a> census results.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now I see me<\/p>\n Part of the reluctance to hire people with diverse voices might be fears that listeners might push back and complain, said Greene.<\/p>\n And that can be true, he said \u2013 it happens.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why people who don\u2019t exactly have what’s perceived to be the standard radio voice gradually shed their real accents and cultivate a D4 one, he said.<\/p>\n He watched that happen to a former college friend, said Greene.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a culture in broadcasting that there is a perceived acceptable standard voice,\u201d Greene said.<\/p>\n And that can exclude out-of-towners in Dublin and working-class Dubliners, he said.<\/p>\n This is also an issue in the United States.<\/p>\n